another weaning question

I have a quick question, My newly adopted cat Kabuki is about 4-6 weeks ( she was abandoned so not sure) Her eyes are still blue. Anyway she is eating canned kitten food and eats royal canin kitten food ( the mini bites) but she will not drink water, I have been giving her Kitten replacement milk from an eyedropper and also she will drink it from a bowl. Can I start to mix water and the milk replacement, 50/50 and then less and less milk replacement until she will drink plain water. When I got her she was severely dehyrrated so I want to make sure she is getting enough liquids. I am a total noob so any advice is appreciated.

thanks

Kabuki's dad

Honestly, I've never tried it but I don't see why you couldn't start watering down the KMR. The KMR is good for her right now because she didn't get her full supply of mother's milk so I wouldn't drop it out, but as long as she is eating a good nutritional food, you should be OK. Most kittens are fully weaned at about 6 weeks old, but there are mom cats that will nurse well beyond that time.

And did I tell you that while dogs are motivated by "what's in it for you?", cats are motivated by "what's in it for me?". If a kitten wants to continue with KMR, they can be stubborn little ones and train you to do what they want. I had an orphaned litter do that to me one time. It breaks your heart to deny them what they want.

And you also have a kitten that's a torbie or tortie (short for tortoiseshell) - tri color of black, red and tan. Torbies are known to have "torbitude", or "tortitude" - an attitude that they are superior to everyone and sometimes can be quite stubborn. There are people who are devout fans of torbies because they can have a larger than life personality. While not a recognized breed in cats, they can be just as unique as a pick-your-breed in dogs.

If it will get her to drink water, do it. But I've never had a problem with young kittens drinking water - they mimic mom drinking (have seen 3 week olds drinking out the dish mom does).

I'd still have two bowls - a milk/water one and a water one.

thanks, I 2 have 2 bowls, one for water, one for milk. I mixed the milk with water, she is still choosing the milk mix, so I think I am going to go down a bit more in a week, and slowly wean her off milk.

Keep in mind that kittens are still nursing up to 8 weeks or so, so she should have some kind of kitten milk for awhile in addition to the food and water.

thank I will make sure she gets plenty of both