Kitten Care Questions

orrendamente · Jul 4, 2007

I received a stray kitten from my girlfriend yesterday, her and her friend found her abandoned and she's about 4 weeks old.

She has a bit of an eye infection, but I took her to the vet and they gave me some ointment, so that should be a done deal but I'm taking her back for a check-up next week.

She eats fine, uses the litterbox fine, but she refuses to drink water and that's our only real problem, can anyone suggest anything?
Also, can someone give me some advice on how to handle her when putting the ointment in her eyes?
I give her formula, she drinks it from a bottle and she bites the crap out of it (really cute actually) and when I put it in her bowl she drinks it there as well, but water she refuses.
I've been giving her canned food, and I've picked up some dry kitten food and put water in it to sog it down, but she doesn't seem to enjoy it too much.
I've also been mixing small amounts of kitten vitamins with her food.

Also, would it be safe to take her to my girlfriend's house over weekends, she's very familiar with the kitten and knows how to take care of it well, but I don't know if taking her back and forth would make her sick or not.

mickey14 · Jul 4, 2007

Originally Posted by Orrendamente

I received a stray kitten from my girlfriend yesterday, her and her friend found her abandoned and she's about 4 weeks old.

She has a bit of an eye infection, but I took her to the vet and they gave me some ointment, so that should be a done deal but I'm taking her back for a check-up next week.

She eats fine, uses the litterbox fine, but she refuses to drink water and that's our only real problem, can anyone suggest anything?
Also, can someone give me some advice on how to handle her when putting the ointment in her eyes?
I give her formula, she drinks it from a bottle and she bites the crap out of it (really cute actually) and when I put it in her bowl she drinks it there as well, but water she refuses.
I've been giving her canned food, and I've picked up some dry kitten food and put water in it to sog it down, but she doesn't seem to enjoy it too much.
I've also been mixing small amounts of kitten vitamins with her food.

Also, would it be safe to take her to my girlfriend's house over weekends, she's very familiar with the kitten and knows how to take care of it well, but I don't know if taking her back and forth would make her sick or not.

Sounds like you are doing fine with her. I don't think going back and forth will make her sick. When we first got Mickey I took him to my moms house every day for a week till he could go 8 hours between feedings.

As for water if you can figure it out let ME know!! Mickey does just fine with his bottle (he bites it too!) but in order to get water down him I take an eye dropper and place a few drops SLOWLY into his mouth and he acts like it tastes awful!! But I do mangae to get a few drops in. Good luck with her!! You are wonderful to take her in!

orrendamente · Jul 4, 2007

Thanks for the info.
Yeah, I couldn't think of not to, I've wanted a cat for awhile and she's absolutely perfect. I love her to death already, she's so sweet. ^_^

AbbysMom · Jul 4, 2007

Welcome to TCS.

This is a fantastic link on how to care for very young kittens:

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/

whisper2me · Jul 4, 2007

At four weeks old, she is barely weaned. I would give her kitten formula in a bowl just dilute it a bit more with water. If you feed her wet food (and you really should) then she is getting moisture from that. You can also add water to the wet food. Pet fountains are good because small kittens have curious souls and they will often drink out of a fountain versus a bowl with still water.

orrendamente · Jul 4, 2007

Originally Posted by whisper2me

At four weeks old, she is barely weaned. I would give her kitten formula in a bowl just dilute it a bit more with water. If you feed her wet food (and you really should) then she is getting moisture from that. You can also add water to the wet food. Pet fountains are good because small kittens have curious souls and they will often drink out of a fountain versus a bowl with still water.

She's been eating wet food, so I guess I'll keep her on that.
I don't believe that I've ever heard of a pet fountain, I'll have to check that out.

orrendamente · Jul 4, 2007

Just to add on to my questions.
I left her in the bathroom last night while I slept because it's pretty much the safest room in the house for her and it's big and she seemed to be depressed in a cage. I woke up every 5 hours to check on her and feed her, and then left her to do what she pleased for the rest of the day.
Would it be okay to continue this procedure?

kalikat · Jul 4, 2007

Welcome to the forum. It will be ok to leave her locked in the bathroom as long as she has a warm bed to sleep on, her litter box & a small bowl of water. Make sure there's nothing there for her to get hurt on or with, such as deep water, string. Feed her every 4-5 hrs while your home.
My son rescued my kitten Blossom when she was 3 w/o & I bottle fed her for about 2 weeks. Then I started her on wet food which she took awhile to get used to. She didn't drink water until I took her off the bottle. I didn't give her a litter box until she was nearly weaned, so I had to rub her bottom to make her go to the toilet, like their mums do.
You'll get lots of info from the web, as I did. I didn't discover forums until she was about 5-6 m/o.

Kitten Care Questions

orrendamente

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mickey14

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orrendamente

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AbbysMom

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whisper2me

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orrendamente

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orrendamente

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kalikat

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