Need some New Advice

Well it has been a week since my little Tiberius passed away and I still miss him, however, a lady at my work knew how sad I was, brought me two girl kittens. We call them the twins because they are pretty much identical.

The lady said she was in the process of weaning them. I made a mixture of KMR and used a blender to break up the Science Diet dry food. They ate it up and loved it.

My questions are:

What is the best way to get them to drink water? They dove right into the mush I made and ate it up, but they will just walk through the water.

And they are cleaning themselves, should they be using the restroom by themselves or do we need to stimulate still? I know they have peed but I don't think they have had a bowel movement since we got them yesterday.

She didn't know how old they were, but I would venture to guess they are 6-7 weeks old.

I was so used to a 4-5 week old that I'm not sure what all I still need to do for these bigger kittens.

As always, thank you guys/gals!

That's a little early to leave mama, but not to young to survive well.

At that age, they should be able to use a litter box on their own. It has to be convenient, so they get in the habit of using it. In other words, you may want to keep the kittens in a small room, say, a bathroom most of the time, so they don't have "accidents." They may forget where the litter box is, or not be able to make it there in time, if they are in another part of the house.

The litter box should have low sides so the kittens can get in it easily. I have used a large cake pan successfully.

Some cats just don't like to drink that much. it sounds like what you're feeding them has got a lot of liquid in it. So, they may not be seeing the need to drink extra water.

If and when they are going to be eating primarilly dry, then you want to see them tackle the water dish more often. Cats can be fussy about where and when they choose to drink. At minimum they should have a nice sized dish (ceramic or metal) with fresh clean water changed twice daily.

Some cats only like to drink running water and then cat fountains are good.

After 4-5 weeks of age they should be pooing and peeing on their own. Time to set up a shallow tray (like a disposable cookie sheet) with a small handful of non-clumping litter (Very important, you don't want the litter to clump inside the kitten if it eats it!) and seeing if they'll go at it. Keep them in a small room or confined area where the "box" is close at hand. Kittens, like small children, have short memories and won't remember where the box with the nice sandy stuff is when they need it. They also don't seem to realize they need to go, until they really need to go.

Some take to it naturally. Some need a little encouragement. Depends on the cat. If you catch them in the act someplace else, place them in the box and encourage them by scratching at the clean litter with your fingers, don't scold them.

I wanted to update this earlier.

I got the water thing down, or I guess I should say the girls got the water thing down. It took them each a few dips of their noses in the water to figure out they didn't need to go all the way in.

I know 6-7 weeks is early to leave their mom but from what I understand the lady who gave them to me states the mother would leave them for hours and really for the past week has wanted little to do with them.

I am just very worried since my little guy recently passed away that something might happen with these two. I cross my fingers though.

I understand they should be pooping on their own but I don't think they have pooped and it's been over 24 hours. Could they be eating their poop? I have tried to stimulate them this morning but just a little pee.

I will try again tonight but I think they should be going on their own.

I also thought they would have some sort of diarrhea seeing as they are going from milk to wet (well, i made it wet) food, but nothing. Maybe Science Diet is just that good.

We are big Star Trek fans, just thought I would tell you all that before I told you their names. Their names are Ezri and Jadzia. I will try to get some pictures soon.