5 week old only nursing?

fostermomm

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Hi I need some advice. Im currently fostering a mom and her 6 5 week old kittens. Ive had them for a week and they are all doing pretty well. Skye (mom) who was very thin and sickly when she came here is starting to fill out nicely. Though you can still see every bone in her body. 5 of the kittens are also doing well theyve started eating canned food and nibbling on Skye's food. But one of the kittens Luna (the runt) isnt eating any of the canned or Skyes food. She is only nursing and Skye isnt producing that much milk anymore. Luna weighs about half as much as her littermates. Shes active and playful but Im worried shes not getting enough to eat. Should I be worrying about her not even trying the canned food. She wont even lick it at all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I havnt ever fostered cats/kittens before. Just dogs and Im really nervous!
 

xxtashaxx

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my kittens will be 6 weeks old this weekend , 1 of them will eat wet and dry food with no problems , but the tabby boy wont even smell it.
just a few things you can try.

try adding a small amount of KRM to the wet food and mush it up to a paste , put a little bit on your finger and rub it on his/her mouth.

you can try baby food heated a little , nothing with veg or onions in it though , something like chicken.

tuna mashed up? my girl had her first taste of that before she tried anything else.

normally i wouldnt be to worried about this as there only 5 weeks old so there still young , some kittens dont start trying untill 6+ weeks, but you say mum dosnt seem to have much milk , is she losing weight atall??
 

chromodactyl

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mine are 6weeks old too this weekend and only just started nibbling.today they had some boiled chicken-shredded to tiny pieces and loved it!!and are licking kitten food-its just so cute but sad to think they are growing up and will one day be leaving me...forever!!
 
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fostermomm

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Originally Posted by XxtashaxX

my kittens will be 6 weeks old this weekend , 1 of them will eat wet and dry food with no problems , but the tabby boy wont even smell it.
just a few things you can try.

try adding a small amount of KRM to the wet food and mush it up to a paste , put a little bit on your finger and rub it on his/her mouth.

you can try baby food heated a little , nothing with veg or onions in it though , something like chicken.

tuna mashed up? my girl had her first taste of that before she tried anything else.

normally i wouldnt be to worried about this as there only 5 weeks old so there still young , some kittens dont start trying untill 6+ weeks, but you say mum dosnt seem to have much milk , is she losing weight atall??
I do wet the food for her even the canned food. Ive tried putting a little in her mouth but she just spits it back out. Luna isnt losing any weight but she isnt gaining either. Shes getting bigger (taller/longer) but not gaining weight. Skye is trying to wean all the kittens already. The other ones dont seem to mind to much. They like the canned food alot and eat 1 can a day all by themselves. Im thinking about getting Luna some formula since Skye doesnt have much milk and doesnt want to nurse them any more.
 

xxtashaxx

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thats a good idea just to be on the safe side.
im still haveing the same problem as yourself , anne is trying to ween them of her , not feeding much atall but the tabby boy is stubbon and will not touch the food.
maybe try with the kmr mixed with his wet food so its like a paste? or chicken shreded like the other poster suggested. with the baby food when its warmed up it lets of more of a smell so it appeals to the kitten more. good luck.
 

goldenkitty45

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Since mom may be getting low on milk, you will have to almost force feed the kitten to get him to start eating. Normally I'd tell you not to worry (our queens always had milk for kittens when they were 2-3 months old!) But they also ate cat food in between.

So take the little kitten aside and start by putting canned food (soupy) in their mouth - just a tiny bit. The kitten will probably fight you at first, but keep offering it a few times. Once the kitten will take some without forcing it, then you can offer a spoonful on a paper plate and let him lick it off.

You might have to do this a few days in a row. I would push the canned food several times a day till he gets the idea.

You also might take a very tiny bit of boiled chicken and force the kitten to eat.
 
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