Canned food at 5 weeks?

zohdee

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My kittens are five weeks old and I was wondering if that was to early to start on canned food. I currently offer baby food and one kitten is eating that quite well. The other two show no interest in it. Are there any brands of canned food that would be better for their digestive system than others?

This is also a rather stupid question, but since mother's milk is still the primary source of nutrition, when do I offer water? Is that something I should be doing now or is the milk enough for fluids?
 

nes

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There are no stupid questions
.

I think you should start offering water now if you're going to start offering food. They may not go for it but it's good for them to have the option. Don't make the bowl too deep though! Or you'll end up with nothing but wet kittens
.
 

nes

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To get the kittens interested in the food, try warming it in the microwave for a few seconds (15-20ish) just to heat it up enough that it's super-stinky. They LOVE that!
 

jack31

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I started offering kitten wet food, when they starting showing interest in what mom was eating which was at 29 days I believe. Some prefered moms dry and some only wanted wet food. I used petsmarts authority kitten wet as it was the inexpensive and came in 6 oz cans. I fed them wet food 1x a day that first week then 2x a day the next week then 3x a day the next week, they always had access to mommas water but didn't show interest in that until 5-6 weeks. They started showing interest in real food right about the time they starting using the litter box as well.

Leslie
 
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zohdee

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Originally Posted by Nes

To get the kittens interested in the food, try warming it in the microwave for a few seconds (15-20ish) just to heat it up enough that it's super-stinky. They LOVE that!
Eww...super stinky, the baby food smells bad enough
.

What I find odd is the runt of the litter is more advanced developmentally. She is eating, not lapping food.
 

nes

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We're all different. My two are funny too, Mango was first born but Pink is definitely a little further along, and now she's a good amount bigger too. He's not too interested in food (well, he's only 2 weeks!) but Pink LOVES wet food
.

Yes I know how bad baby food meat is
. Specifically the meat why I made my son all his baby food when he was younger (and I guess I still do, but he's a toddler now
). We were all sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner (I think he was 6 months?) we got him a "turkey dinner" food just too see if he'd eat it; I took one sniff, he ate mommy's turkey instead!!

But trust me, cat LOVE it when you heat up their food a little, I do it every time one of our guys is feeling under the weather & it never fails to get them eating again (see Health "postpartum farts"). That's how I got Peaches eating her dinner again
.
 

kai bengals

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I'm completly against against Science Diet food, BUT, the Science Diet A/D canned food is excellent for kittens weaning from mom and needing a good weight gain food. They seem to all love the taste of it. Once they are happy and eating like pigs, you can switch them to a better food.

I feed raw, and get perfect results, but I understand that is not for everyone.
 

goldenkitty45

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Yes, leave a shallow bowl of water out for the kittens to start drinking. I've had Rex kittens lapping water in the cage at 3 weeks old!

I never start kittens on human baby food - they get a soupy mix of canned kitten food (chicken or lamb at first) mixed with KMR and warm water and fed from a shallow plate.

Kittens will be messy, so feed on a washable surface and you might have to wash them off after eating (their feet). My kittens usually wanted to eat solid foods around 5-6 weeks old.

BTW think of milk as a food - not as something to drink like water.
 

calico2222

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Our newest kitten (found in the yard by my dogs) just started eating solid dry food today. She is about 4-5 wks old we're guessing. One day she didn't want to have anything to do with it and only wanted KMR. Then, I made mashed potatoes and she ate them off my finger. I don't know if that got her taste buds going but she has been a non stop eating machine ever since! First just watered down dry food, then actual dry food today...and water!! I was so excited that she is actually drinking out of the water dish!

If you are feeding her wet food you can add some water to it to give her more liquid in her diet, but I think cats learn to drink on their own (as long as they know where the water is).
 

wellingtoncats

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When it is time to start giving kittens water I normally take a few days out of my busy life to supervise. You have to be so careful - make sure it's a really shallow bowl and keep topping it up. I have heard horror stories, which I will not repeat. I start my babies off on solids at about 25 days old.
 
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zohdee

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Neither of the two kittens who are eating wet food were messy. I put it on a paper plate and they went up and ate just like any normal cat would.

Baylen is using the litter box now!!!

Aberdeen shows no interest other than mama cat and trying to climb up my leg while I walk.
 
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