Weaning With Human Baby Food

My two kittens are turning 6 weeks old this coming Monday. Yesterday, my vet asked if they had been weaned and I told him I was working on it. I was trying with KRM 2nd Step and Royal Can. baby kitten food. My two hated both. A couple of times, they'd bite my finger with the KMR 2nd Step on it and lick it, but then they moved on to another finger. No interest in the Royal Can.

Vet said it was essential that I wean them now because the KMR didn't have the nutrition they needed at almost 6 weeks. He told me to try Beef and Chicken human baby food. He suggested leaving it out for them, stopping the bottle and forcing them to try it.

I didn't go that extreme on them - I offered the beef on a spoon and the female "got it" right away and ate. When I turned my attention to the male, she climbed out of my lap and went to the saucer of baby food and continued to eat it. The male was afraid of the spoon... and afraid of the saucer. He's afraid of anything that isn't me or his sister. He did eat the baby food from my finger. Sucking it at first, then biting it. I'd guess they ate maybe 2.5 teaspoons of baby food each. I gave them 2 TBS of KRM milk at their late-night feeding.

Morning feed I gave 2 TBS of KRM and offered more beef and they ate the beef from my finger, about 1 teaspoon.

Afternoon feed, I put out a saucer of chicken baby food, the female at about 1 TBS off the saucer, male ate about the same from my finger (still afraid of saucer and spoon).

Both weigh exactly 11.25 ounces. That's about 1.75 ounces gained in 5 days. Seems too small for their age.

Does anyone know how much human baby food they should be eating?

Anyone have suggestions on if I should continue bottle of KMR... daily? Twice a day? Limit the ammount? Or does the bottle plus food on saucer confuse them?

The male isn't afraid of the litter pan, he's going #2 in the pan, #1 with wash rag still. Female is going #2 in the "corner" and #1 with wash rag. Also, poor female made a rock-hard stoll this morning... like passing a cinder-block, I assume from the baby food being introduced for the first time. Her behavior is fine.

Wow, sorry again for the LONG post, but I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate the AWESOME suggestions. I a complete "newbie" at this. It's been 2 weeks now and I'm still have a blast with them, I don't regret taking them in for one minute.

Aw....it's good to hear a nice post like this. You not regretting taking them on and having a great time with them. There is nothing more fun than watching kittens play.

My concern is that your kittens will get used to human food and develop a distaste for the food they should have.

Is mama still with them? If so, she will wean them when she has had about enough!

My daughter, Finsterhead on the site, is raising orphans 5-6 weeks old. They wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with kitten food. Wanted their bottle only. She is using Fancy Feast Kitten. All of a sudden, one went to the bowl. Seemed interested, but refused to eat out of the bowl. So she put it right on the tile floor! That was great, kitten ate it right up. It took the others one more day of watching her eat and then all three were eating out of a bowl. I don't think they have stopped!!

They learn to eat from watching their mother eat. That makes me think yours have no mom. If you get one to eat, the others will follow very fast. It was like one hour they weren't eating and the next they were!! It was that fast.

Have the kittens been wormed? That will play havoc with their BMs for a day or two.

Again, follow your vets instructions, but as I said, I would be concerned that they will only want baby food. Then you have another fight on your hands.

Look up other threads and you will find tons of info on how to get these stubborn little cuties to eat.

One last thought.....Are they washing yet? If so, smear some kitten food on their paws, and they will wash it off and realize, hey this ain't so bad!! Have you mixed the KMR with the wet food and warmed it up. Everything tastes better warm.

Let us know what happens!!

Thanks for the reply!

Nope, no momma. She was around for 3 or 4 weeks "on and off", I think. She's a feral neighborhood stray. They were born under my deck, way back in a spot where no human could ever reach. Then she either moved the two survivors to my crawl space and abandoned them, or they crawled there by themselves. I'd think they did it themselves because their legs and pads were nothing but bloody bits of flesh and hair when I finally could get to them. Their eyes weren't even 100% open and they could not stand, only crawl. They had cried non-stop for 2 days...obviously in distress and alone. I had three other guys come over with lights and tools trying to get to them, but there was no way. Then the next day, they magically appeared in a "reachable spot". And, their legs are almost healed now. Lots of scar tissue on back legs, I don't know if hair will grow back or not.

Thanks for the suggestion about the food, I'll try anything to get the boy to eat on his own. I may try mixing the human baby food with the Royal Can. soft food tomorrow and see if they turn their nose up or not.

Oh poor sweet darlings!! You have a good heart and good hearted friends!

Let us know tomorrow how it goes. I think they will start very soon.

The female has taken to soft food fairly well. She's eating from a flat saucer. It's amost impossible to tell how much she's eating, she face-plants into the saucer, licks, bites and makes "swimming motions" with her arms while she eats. She also makes a really funny vocalization, like the baby VelocaRaptors from Jurassic Park. Food gets EVERYWHERE!

Brother is STILL afraid of the saucer! He'll eat soft food as long as it's in my hand and he's in my lap. I tried putting him on the ground and offering food in my hand, he'll eat - but, that gets his sister's attention and she leaves the saucer to see what I have in my hand and nudges him out of the way.

I tried putting her in the nest to feed him, but she gets very, very upset.

I've been offering the soft food 3 times a day and the bottle in the morning and evening (with less KMR in it). She's having trouble with the bottle now. She has stopped sucking and is biting it, not getting the milk and getting frustrated. Should I stop the bottle all-together with her? I've read that human-raised kittens need the bottle for comfort until at least Week 8, even if they're eating solids. Any advice?

Also, she's making pretty normal stools, and in the litter pan about 80% of the time. Brother had worms really, really bad - made normal stools for 48 hours after de-worming, but is now back to squirting. No blood this time, just really dark brown gooey mess. Again, I've read that this may be common when starting weaning, any clue on when I should start go get concerned.

Behavior on both is really good. Female is more active than male, but male seems fine. Playing, trying to run, wrestling. Female just discovered she has a Reverse Gear - she's really in to "backing up" now...

on my way out but wanted to say if she is not getting the milk, cut an "x" in the nipple and gently put pressure on it. Try a dry run so you don't drown her!

My daughter Finserhead has kittens. Her posts on feeding are under A&A's moms thread. Read that and it will give you some info.

Her kittens didn't want the saucer either, now as I recall. She ended up putting the food directly on the floor (tile of course). That might work and leave a little on the saucer nearby.

give that a try. Her kittens are about 6-7 weeks now and they have been off the bottle for about a week now. I don't think it will hurt them to leave the bottle. They are getting social just by you playing with them and loving on them.

It is so great to see someone take such time and care of these little ones.