Kitten Stages?

I have a 3 week old kitten and i know its coming close to the time where we have to start training him.

Does anyone know the stages of which we start training the kitten?
Like when do we start giving it kitten food? How do we train it to eat?
When we do start litter training itt? How do we do that?

Sorry for all the questions, but we are really clueless... The birth was unexpected

I am not an expert, but I have experience with this. I started introducing my cat, Monster, to solid food when he was about 5 weeks old. Some start eating solids or showing interest around 4 weeks. I moistened dry kitten food with KMR and mixed it up. Some use canned kitten food, mixed with water or the KMR. Dip your finger into the mixed up food and offer it to the kitten, and if it doesn't seem interested you can dab it onto the kittens nose. The kitten should lick it off. Then you can show the kitten the saucer and allow it to eat, if it wants. Eventually, you can lessen the amount of KMR that is mixed with the food. Around the time I started giving him solids was also around the time I realized he didn't need stimulation to pee. That is when I started litter training him. Its pretty simple, because its kind of instinct to them. I would put Monster into the box and use his paws to teach him to dig into the litter. I would put him in after eating, and every half hour to an hour throughout the day. Then he would go, and he caught on quickly and soon he was going into the box himself and going potty on his own. When a kitten is that small you should use a cheap tin baking pan, or something like that with low sides so the kitten can get in on its own. You should also keep several of them around your house so the kitten has easy access, it might not be able to make it across a long distance in time.

Good luck with everything and I'm sure someone with more experience will post withmore information. I hope mine helps for now. Keep us updated and post some pictures please! =]

Does the kitten still have its mother or are you bottle feeding?

With mine I put out dry kitten food for them at four weeks, but they didn't start eating it until about five weeks. I know some people say it's better to start with wet food, but mine didn't show any interest in wet food until some time after eight weeks, when momma cat had them almost completely weaned. They definitely don't like kibble that's been wet with anything.

I started litter boxes about the same time, around 4-5 weeks. I put a shallow pan next to each of the regular litter boxes and the kittens learned basically by watching the older cats. Be sure you use non-clumping litter. Kittens tend to eat it at first and litter clumps are not good for kitty tummies.

Yes its still with its mother.

Right now we have Special Kitty - Clumping litter.. Its clay also
Is that alright for the kitten to use? Or do we buy a different litter?


And about the food.. Should you also mix the kibble with KMR? Or water also?
Or could i try and feed it just the kibble alone..

If the kitten is still with mom, he will learn by watching her. At 3 weeks, he wont be able to chew the dry food yet.
With my kittens, I start with plain chicken baby food (check the ingredients to make sure there are no onions or salt added) and mix that with a bit of water to make it soupy. Offer it to the kitten on a saucer or very shallow bowl. You can dip their nose in so they lick it off and get a taste. Some kittens will start lapping right away, and others can take a week or more. If that is the case, just keep trying. Once they have eaten the chicken baby food for a couple days, I start mixing in a pate type canned kitten food (Wellness) still with a bit of water, gradually less until it is more like oatmeal.
You can do a google search for guidelines on weaning and ages...
I would do canned twice a day from 4-5 wks, 3x a day from 5-6 wks, and at 6 wks start offering dry food. You can offer the dry alone and by this age they can chew it, you can mix a bit of canned with it to entice them, or you can add a tiny bit of water to soften the dry food.

Originally Posted by TashaaM

Yes its still with its mother.

Right now we have Special Kitty - Clumping litter.. Its clay also

Is that alright for the kitten to use? Or do we buy a different litter?


And about the food.. Should you also mix the kibble with KMR? Or water also?
Or could i try and feed it just the kibble alone..

Click to expand...

Special Kitty also comes in the non-clumping type. You should get that for your kitten. The problem with clumping litter is that if the kitten eats some of it, as soon as it hits his stomach it will absorb enough liquid to form solid clumps. That can cause blockage in the kitten, which is a serious risk to his health.

As far as feeding goes, it's mostly personal preference. As long as he's getting nutrition from his mother there's no need to force solid food on him. Leave the food where he can get to it easily. His mother will probably eat it at first, but that's okay. He'll figure out eventually that it's something good. I would start out with whatever you intend to feed long-term. If you're giving your other cat(s) dry food, then offer dry kitten food. If you feed wet, then give the kitten wet as well. Or whatever combination you use.

Personally, I never wet down the kibble. It makes a horrible mess, can't be left out for long periods of time, and my cats won't eat it. If you do want to add something to soften it, just use water. Since the kitten is still getting milk from mom he doesn't need the extra calories from the KMR. By the time he's completely weaned you will need to teach him to drink water.