5 week old kitten

chichigohan

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A friend of mine gave me a kitten. He is 5 weeks old and I am not sure how to care for him. I also have a 1 year old cat...I raised her since she was a few days old..her mom left her in my back yard.I knew I had to feed her formula and did so but with Gohan I am not sure if he still needs formula..I have been feeding him cat food.He sleeps all day and Im worried something is wrong. ChiChi was a very active kitten.
 

catsarebetter

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Oh, my. Um, that's at the stage where they're transitioning.. he might still need formula as well as dry or wet food. I'm not an expert on kitten care, and hopefully someone will be along soon to help you more, but I'd go get some KMR, and a bottle and attempt to bottle feed him, I think.

Also, have you seen him potty at all? He may still need to be stimulated, and may not have gone in a while. Do you know how to check for dehydration?

How often has he been eating?
 
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chichigohan

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Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

Oh, my. Um, that's at the stage where they're transitioning.. he might still need formula as well as dry or wet food. I'm not an expert on kitten care, and hopefully someone will be along soon to help you more, but I'd go get some KMR, and a bottle and attempt to bottle feed him, I think.

Also, have you seen him potty at all? He may still need to be stimulated, and may not have gone in a while. Do you know how to check for dehydration?

How often has he been eating?
He has used the potty..twice since yesterday. I dont know how to check for dehydration. I have to bring him to his food every so often so he can know to eat. I know how to make formula if he needs it...I dont want him to be sick
 

catsarebetter

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Let me see if I can find a website for checking for dehydration. Basically what you do is you pinch the fur on the scruff of their neck. Kind of pull it away from his body while your pinching it (you don't want to really put any pressure, you just want enough to get ahold of the skin to be able to pull it away from the body). If the skin goes right back into place, quickly, he's not dehydrated. If it takes more than a few seconds, or goes back to normal slowly, then he's dehydrated.

I know that's not a very good description. Let me go look for a link.
 
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chichigohan

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You've been a big help thank you soooo much.....He isnt dehydrated so thats good!! Thank you once again
 

catsarebetter

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Oh, that's a really good sign. I have no idea why he'd be inactive. Maybe that's normal for that age? Although, honestly, I thought they were a little more active at that stage... Hopefully everything will be fine. We'll just keep trying to bump this up so you get someone with better insight and experience on this.
 

danimarie

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We were given Sophie at five weeks in a big rush so I was in the same position. He did sleep all day and I fed him mushed up wet kitten food, at first from my fingers and then he learned in a few days to eat on his own. (he refused the bottle at repeated attempts)

I was so worried that something was wrong and then a few weeks later he was running around and climbing on things like a regular crazy kitten.
 

catsarebetter

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bumping this up, hopefully... (chichi, bumping means posting something to the thread so that it gets "bumped" up to near the top of the "new posts" so that people see it, in case you weren't familiar).
 

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If he is 5 weeks I don't think formula is necessary. I took in Frisco when he was approx. 5 weeks old and I fed him moistened kitten food and he never had any problems.

He was fairly inactive as well, but I think that was just because he was getting used to a new place, and people... He started becoming really playful about a week later.

Good luck with your baby.
 
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