5 wk old not drinking

I just got a kitten from one of my friends yesterday and getting him to drink has been a bit of a concern to me. I have a food and water bowl set up for him and he eats fine but he will not drink out of his dish. The only way i can get him to drink is if i put water in my mouth and let him drink as i let it slowly dribble out of my mouth. besides that he uses the litter fine and does everything else pretty ok.

I was wondering if maybe it would be a good idea if i replaced the water in his dish with some kitten milk formula for a little while untill he gets use to going there to drink and then replacing it with water a little ways down the road?

Thank you in advance for your help.

thats what i did with my kitten because she wouldnt eat or drink anything. just get that supplementary (?) mother's milk and i'm sure he'll figure out how to drink out of a bowl once there's something in there that he definitely likes.

At 5 weeks old, he still would be nursing from mom. I've had younger kittens "sample" water, but that's about it till they are totally weaned or eating more solid foods.

5 weeks old is far too young to be away from mom/siblings. Any reason WHY this kitten was given away before being weaned?

The person who had the kitten before me said that since he had teeth he could leave his mother, he seems to be doing fine with the solid food, and i just went home to check on him and i got him to drink for a couple of seconds. I might just buy a bottle and some kitten milk formula and feed him a little like that.

OHHHH geezzzzzzzzzzzz I need a brick to use on some people's head! Why oh why don't people get it. My kittens were only beginning to sample kitten food (solids) at 5 weeks old. Just cause they have teeth doesn't mean they are ready to leave.

I'd go thru the threads in here and find out some more hints on dealing with this. IMO only those experienced in raising kittens at a young age should be having to deal with situations like you are.

Kittens need to STAY with mom till a minimum of 10 weeks old - because they need certain social and behavior experience that only mom can give. Is this kitten the only kitten/cat you have? If so, I'd adopt an older kitten about 12 weeks old so your little kitten can learn these lessons that only another cat can teach.

I do hope you don't have any social/behavior problems but you probably will - especially a sucking problem or not socializing with other animals/people right.

My roommate has a cat but it hisses at my cat whenever they get close to one another. i havent noticed anything weird yet with my cat, he seems to be curious and social with people. The only thing i could think of is that he always wants to be licking my lips, i thought that this might just be normal behavior for a small kitten his age and also i think he likes the moisture.

Sorry to bump but does anyone know if this is something so serious that i need to take him to the vet? will he let himself get dehydrated to the point that his health will suffer even though he always has fresh water?