We got a new kitten today from a girl that we both work with - not sure the sex of the kitten its ambiguous at this point (trying to go to the vet on Tuesday) - we think the kitten is approx 4-6 weeks old - we took it in early because she had them (10 of them) in a small cardboard box living outside (and im sorry its just TOO cold for these little animals to try and brave the cold) - is there any pointers you guys could offer? i picked up the kitten milk and bottle (it seemed to not know how to lap from a dish) - but ate wet food like a champ - also we have had the kitten since 4:30pm and have yet to have the kitty go to the potty ---- need ANY help... TIA
MrsInglima
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Re: NWR - New Kitten Help!
Cats usually only go to the bathroom once a day, and when you get a new kitten sometimes it takes a few days, probably because of anxiety. When they're really young, feeding it baby food might help to steady its stomach after not having mothers milk. I would give it plain chicken or plain turkey for a couple of weeks then start to mix in hard kitten food and eventually replace it all together. You really don't need to feed it wet food, but you can get up to that when it's a little bit older (like maybe 2 or 3 months).
Before you switch to hard food you'll want to feed the kitten 3 or so times a day at least (half of a jar of baby food at a time) and leave it out until all the food it gone. Once you start adding the hard food and eventually have the hard food out, it's just easier to leave it out all day long this way the baby can eat any time it wants and grow big and strong!
Cats don't drink too much either, but the only way they'll figure out how to do it is to leave it out in a bowl and it'l figure i tout when it gets thirsty enough. You can continue to feed it milk replacement for another week or too, then you really don't need it after 6-8 weeks. Obviously you'll want to leave the water out all the time even if you're feeding it milk.
Don't be upset if for the first few days the baby cries a lot at night. That's just because it's still separating from it's mommy and siblings. That'll pass soon. And try to keep the baby up as long as you can before going to bed to try to get it used to your schedule. Otherwise at 3-5 in the morning it will be waking you up and playing with you. It's not really fun to be woken up from a dead sleep by a foot bite/scratch.
I've had a lot of new kittens tiny over the last few years.
Soon2BMrsC09
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Re: NWR - New Kitten Help!
thats a big help - thanks so much! im trying to talk FH (who is my boss at work) let me take the kitten to work tomorrow because i cannot imagine leaving the kitten home alone for 8 hours - especially when it needs to be fed and it is still so tiny - but im sure i can have someone check up on him. Also the chicken that your talking about - i should just go and get like a chicken at the supermarket and grill it or get a rotisseree chicken and take off the skin and cut it up nice and small (sorry ive never had a kitten this small) our other 2 were 12 weeks old and 7 months when we first got them...
MrsInglima
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Re: NWR - New Kitten Help!
I would do baby food chicken. like in the jar. it's soft so they can lap it up easily. and there's something about the consistency that helps their digestive system. plus their teeth are still so small that it won't be difficult to chew or anything (which i think is the main reason why you wait on the hard food).
i think that the kitten should be ok in the apartment on its own, but you have to make the apartment safe. check any area it could crawl behind (dressers, beds, shelves, the fridge, etc.) and block that off. and also make sure there's nothing that can fall over easily (glass, books, etc.) that the cat would either break or knock on to itself. it's also a safe bet that if you're going to be away you might want to keep it in one room that you've kitten-proofed. like your bedroom, the kitchen etc.
i know when i got a kitten on my own for the first time i was home with it for a couple of days so i could watch it and see what areas it liked the best and guess based on his behavior where he would hide and figure out what to block off from him. we domesticated him from the wild so he was really afraid of us at first. we got half of a box and cut a hole out in it so he had some place to hide that was safe and not behind the tv shelf, behind the radiator, or in the motor of the fridge (that was a scary one!).
MrsInglima
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Re: NWR - New Kitten Help!
Just to give you an idea of the kind of food I'm talking about:
http://www.gerber.com/prodcat?catid=511
2nd FOODS®: Meats
Chicken and Chicken Gravy Turkey and Turkey Gravy
Just plain chicken and plain turkey pureed in a jar.
Soon2BMrsC09
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Re: NWR - New Kitten Help!
thats what i will pick up tomorrow thanks and ill post pix of him this week
MrsInglima
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Re: NWR - New Kitten Help!
Awesome!! i can't wait to see!!
Here's the two kittens I used to have with my ex (they're about three now) where I learned all this stuff from:
This little guy was the one we domesticated who liked to hide in the motor of the fridge and he had a hard time adjusting to hard food so we had to feed him baby food for over a month:
And this little guy we got at 4 weeks so we had to give him baby food because he couldn't chew anything else:
We got them a month apart, but because they're so close in age they acted like brothers. It was really cute!
And then attached is my cat...Cat. Haha. She's about 6 now, but she's still that tiny! I her. She's my favorite pet ever!
I know this is true with puppies and i believe its the same with kittys but have you seen the kitty go number 1? If not take a cloth that is wet with warm water and just wipe its little tushy a little bit. Usually when you see a mother cat licking the kittys tushy its is cleaning it to make it go especially after you feed him. So the warm cloth with stimulate it like the mom is cleaning it and will help it do its business. Good luck.. and happy Kitty mothers day! Congrats on your new arrival!!!! What are you naming the little guy?
Soon2BMrsC09
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Re: NWR - New Kitten Help!
we are letting FHs daughter name the kitty on tuesday - so once i have a name and photos i will have to post - hes beautiful - tiger striped with white paws and a white belly with BLUE blue eyes
Im a Pepper
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Re: NWR - New Kitten Help!
Posted by MrsInglima
Awesome!! i can't wait to see!!
Here's the two kittens I used to have with my ex (they're about three now) where I learned all this stuff from:
This little guy was the one we domesticated who liked to hide in the motor of the fridge and he had a hard time adjusting to hard food so we had to feed him baby food for over a month:
And this little guy we got at 4 weeks so we had to give him baby food because he couldn't chew anything else:
We got them a month apart, but because they're so close in age they acted like brothers. It was really cute!
And then attached is my cat...Cat. Haha. She's about 6 now, but she's still that tiny! I her. She's my favorite pet ever!
