Problem Kitten

My daughter found a litter of newborn kittens and has been hand rearing them. There are 2 males and 1 female. The kittens are now 7 weeks old, one male and the female are fine, eating well and growing well. The second male is much smaller than the others. At 5 weeks old he was still refusing to lap milk or eat any solid food at all. All he wanted was his bottle but it was not filling him and he was permanently hungry and crying for food. We knew he could eat as he managed to eat a couple of cat treats but he totally refused to drink milk or eat any solid food. At 6 weeks old he was failing badly, wouldn't play and would not eat at all. In desparation we gave him some sardines which he loved and would eat but they gave him diarrhoea. So as a last resort my daughter gave him some cooked ham and now that is all he will eat. He is now thriving and growing well but my question is how can we get him onto normal cat food like his brother and sister. My daughter has tried to starve him into eating but he totally refuses and today has gone all day without eating, he just follows her around crying for food he is so hungry but he will not eat cat food of any kind. We have a home lined up for him but obviously until we can get him to eat properly he won't be going anywhere.

We would be grateful for any help anyone can give

Thanks

Jaydee

Omigosh. Sure hope some of the experts here at TCS can help. I always spay/neuter all of my rescued cats, so there are no kittens here. BUT I would recommend calling a vet and asking him/her for advice, first of all. Then, if you have a blender or food processor, I'd try putting some wet kitten food (premium hopefully) in it and pureeing it. Then offer it to him in a small bowl. If he does not eat, put some on your finger and see if he'll lick it off. If not, put it on the top of his paw and see if he will lick THAT off. If not, put it directly on his mouth! and he will HAVE to lick it off. Do this slowly and gently so he won't be scared and equate food with fearful things. After trying it, he should get a taste for it almost immediately. Hope the kitten forum folks will have more and better info for you; please keep us posted, okay? Oh and btw, for diarrhea, try mixing some cooked white rice into the food; yes, you can puree that right in with the food itself.

Thanks for your reply, most of your suggestions we have already tried. All the kitten really wants is his milk in a bottle but at turned 7 weeks old this doesn't fill him and he is permanently hungry. We have tried fooling him in all ways with cat food but none of it works if any gets into his mouth he spits it out and will not wash any of it off his paws if we put it there. I know the ham is not ideal but it was given to him in desperation as last Sunday he was so week but still crying for food, we really thought he was going to die.

Jaydee

I would say food is not the main problem with you kitty. My now 9 week olds started on solid food only when they were 7 weeks old, I had such a hard time offering them all kinds of foods in different ways, textures, temperatures, even different plates and bowls. However, they would drink the bottle and be pretty much happy with it, and they kept on gaining weight and growing bigger. It may not be all the nutrition they need at that age, but it definately won't let them die or be so hungry.

I'm here to help.

I have four kittens (with a mum) and Lola will not eat catfood. She ended up eating cat litter because she was so hungry and Ziggy wasn't feeding them so much. The other 3 eat loads of cat food and are pretty much fully weaned.

So anyway, I make up meals for Lola especially and put her seperate from the others to they don't steal her food. I've just cooked up a large batch. It constists of:

Part cooked chicken thigh, (fresh) with the bone and skin removed. Its white on the outside but pink deep inside.

Boiled rice

A small amount of complete kitten dry food.

I put the dry food in so that she still gets the nutrients she needs, and she doesn't notice it if its soft and mixed with the rice and chicken. I put a bit of the rice water in too, so thaat the kibble goes soft. Eventually more and more kibble will be added.

I've just frozen about a weeks worth of portions ready to pop in the microwave (Thats why I say fresh chicken as you shouldn't freeze it twice)

She loves it and is now thriving.

She will be going to her new home in a week and her new owners are more than happy to help with the weaning to cat food.

Just mention it to his new owners and hopfully they will be happy to cook up some food for a while in batches. It really only takes about 30mins for a weeks worth of food.

PM me if you need any more help on this

Until you figure out how to get him to eat properly, I'd highly recommend you give him Nutrical (is a paste with all kinds of vitamins, etc.) several times a day - maybe 2-3.

Have you tried to force feed some shredded boiled chicken breast?

I think SadieandZiggy might have the right of it. I was going to suggest a raw diet, and my personal opinion is that it should be done without grains or carbs, *however* that's completely up to you.

I've had two kittens, now, who stick their nose up at canned food and so forth and went immediately and voraciously to the raw meat I served up for the other cat.

Now they'll eat more than that, but sometimes I think it's just what they need. Cooked meats might work well too, and I imagine that you'd be able to transition them over to dry if needed, just slowly with adding a bit more in at a time.