3 week old kitten

tashaam

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Hello everyone, I know I haven't posted in a few months but I am up again!

A girl I know has a litter of 4 kittens that are a week old and she is giving them away at 3 weeks. I told her that's way to young for them to be seperated from the mother, but for some reason she has to give them away in 2 weeks. I accepted to take one kitten when it's 3 weeks old and I wanted your help.

I have a female cat that gave birth about a year and a half ago to one kitten (we kept the kitten) and I am hoping that her motherly instincts will kick in again for this new kitten and help complete the weening process because at 3 weeks the kittens will not be weened.

If my mama cat doesn't step in as the new mother, how do I take care of a 3 week old kitten?? What kind of nutrients does it need? Will I have to bottle feed it? Hand feed it? How/where should I keep it?
I took care of Peeko as he was growing up but he had Truffles there taking great care of him also, but I am scared that Truffles will not take care of this new kitten.
 

feralvr

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Why would this person have to give the kittens away at three weeks? That is soooo wrong. The kittens need to stay with the mother until at the very least six weeks. it is very nice of you to offer to take one of them, but please try to convince this person not to do this. Could you take the mother and the four kittens then until they are weaned if this person won't follow through with doing the right thing? I do not understand why she would be doing this. Why would another three weeks be a problem for her to keep those kittens with the mother? She should also get her cat spayed when the kittens are weaned so the cat doesn't get pregnant again, especially since this owner is not being responsible for the health of this litter of kittens.
. I commend you for trying to help one kitten, but they all will need help. That is just wrong.

They will need to be bottle fed. I hope you can talk some sense into her
 

Willowy

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3 weeks is when I start to introduce canned food mushed with kitten formula to orphans, but a kitten just pulled off its mother might be harder to convince. You'll probably have to bottle-feed the kitten for at least a week or two, while slowly introducing solid food. That's also the age they start to scratch around in the litterbox, but you'll likely have to help the kitten go potty for a while, too.

In some places it's illegal to separate kittens and puppies from their mothers before 7-8 weeks. Any way you can use that to the kitties' advantage?
 

my4llma

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3 weeks is to young to be taken away from the mother. At 3 weeks they can eat solid food. Midnight was found and given to us at 3 weeks old. He ate dry food. But he didn't have all his teeth just his baby fangs, so we watered the dry food down, and also gave him can kitten food. We had to watch him each meal so he didn't choke. He wound up choking a couple of times. Also he had some stomach trouble that wouldn't have happened to him, if he hadn't gotten lost from his mother.
 

northernglow

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Originally Posted by Willowy

In some places it's illegal to separate kittens and puppies from their mothers before 7-8 weeks. Any way you can use that to the kitties' advantage?
Yeah, this is one of those places. If kittens are given away before 8 weeks of age, it's animal cruelty because they will very likely suffer later in life because of it. But any person who let's their cat to have kittens should know and shouldn't let them go before they're 12 weeks old, you can check out any cat organization (like TICA, CFA) and they have the same rules.

I would also suggest, if anyhow possible, you to take the mommy and kittens and keep them until they're 12 weeks old and ready to leave. It would be best for all of them.
 

StefanZ

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Originally Posted by NorthernGlow

if anyhow possible, you to take the mommy and kittens and keep them until they're 12 weeks old and ready to leave. It would be best for all of them.
Yes, it would be a good solution for this dilemma, if possible to organize.

You TS will surely manage this kitten, especielly if your residents wants to help some.
But what will become of the siblings?? Not all adopters are of your calibre...


Good luck!
 
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tashaam

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Originally Posted by Feralvr

Why would this person have to give the kittens away at three weeks? That is soooo wrong. The kittens need to stay with the mother until at the very least six weeks. it is very nice of you to offer to take one of them, but please try to convince this person not to do this. Could you take the mother and the four kittens then until they are weaned if this person won't follow through with doing the right thing? I do not understand why she would be doing this. Why would another three weeks be a problem for her to keep those kittens with the mother? She should also get her cat spayed when the kittens are weaned so the cat doesn't get pregnant again, especially since this owner is not being responsible for the health of this litter of kittens.
. I commend you for trying to help one kitten, but they all will need help. That is just wrong.

They will need to be bottle fed. I hope you can talk some sense into her
I dont know her personally, she is a friend of a friend and I am not to sure she will listen to anyone. There is no way i'll be able to take the whole litter PLUS the momma until they are weened, one because my family was hesitant to bring another one in, and two - I dont know her like that. It's really complicated because I am not comfortable with the fact that she's giving them away at three weeks, but there's nothing I can do about it.. I agreed to take one because I have some knowledge from my kitten right now, and I hope to give this kitten a better chance than if it was given to someone who has no knowledge at all.
Like I said before, I really hope my momma cat will step in and help the poor kitten, but if she doesn't .. At least it has a better chance in my house then someone else's.

I really appreciate everyone's help with this issue but I hate to say it. The girl is giving them away at that age and she's doing it whether people tell her to do it or not, I am not to sure why but it is what it is
 

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Definitely have some KMR (kitten replacement milk) and a bottle on hand. It's possible that a 3 week old kitten can eat solid food, but not likely that it will be enough. Goldy's kittens didn't even show an interest in solid food until they were 5 weeks old, and she didn't start weaning them until they were 7-8 weeks.
 
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tashaam

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Originally Posted by StefanZ

But what will become of the siblings?? Not all adopters are of your calibre...


Good luck!
She is giving them away to whomever wants one

I do not like the situation at all but I want to help my kitten as much as possible and give it the best chance at life it can get
 
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tashaam

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Originally Posted by GoldyCat

Definitely have some KMR (kitten replacement milk) and a bottle on hand. It's possible that a 3 week old kitten can eat solid food, but not likely that it will be enough. Goldy's kittens didn't even show an interest in solid food until they were 5 weeks old, and she didn't start weaning them until they were 7-8 weeks.
With this KMR, would I use a regular baby bottle? And how much/often would I feed the kitten?
I am hoping I can use both some sort of KMR along with softened kibble until it gets old enough to eat kibble alone.
 

GoldyCat

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Originally Posted by TashaaM

With this KMR, would I use a regular baby bottle? And how much/often would I feed the kitten?
I am hoping I can use both some sort of KMR along with softened kibble until it gets old enough to eat kibble alone.
There are special bottles for kittens. The nipple on a regular baby bottle is too big to fit in a kitten's mouth. There is a lot of good information on the Kitten Rescue website. It happens to be set up by one of the TCS members who has done a lot of rescues.
 

feralvr

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She looks beautiful. I am very upset about this situation though. If I lived close to you (I see you are in Canada, quite a drive
), I would take the kittens and bottle feed them. I would have a place to bring them and they would get adopted right away, when they were old enough. I wish I could do something.....
 

farleyv

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So sweet, thank goodness you have stepped in to take a kitten.


There is nothing nice I can say about the original owner. Nothing.
 
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tashaam

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Originally Posted by farleyv

There is nothing nice I can say about the original owner. Nothing.
She is lucky I don't know her personally or she would be hearing a few things she wouldn't like ....
 

Willowy

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You would need a kitten-sized bottle. . .you can get them at Wal-Mart or any pet store. For an older kitten you'll need to cut a larger X in the nipple so enough milk comes out. You can get KMR at a pet store. Wal-Mart has a kitten formula (Hartz brand, I think) but KMR brand is better. You can also make your own with canned milk, there are recipes available online.

I wouldn't try kibble, even moistened. Canned food mixed with formula would be much better. Iams, Nutro, and Fancy Feast all have good canned kitten foods that are smooth and easily mixed.
 

StefanZ

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If you can get goat milk - it is useful too as kitten milk.

- In some countries goat milk is easier to get than made subst milk...


Good luck!
 

hissy

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Use my website to guide you www.kitten-rescue.com That gal is lucky I am not in her area- I would slap her!

If you have any questions,please feel free to PM me. You need to keep this baby warm. Your other cat might hurt it, so be careful and don't let them have alone time together. What generally happens, at first a female cat will express interest in a baby. But if it isn't her kitten, bad things can happen fast. A grooming session may result in a biting session becoming so aggressive the kitten is hurt or even killed. It just depends on the cat in question. But the kitten is going to smell foreign to the cat and she may not help her prey drive kicking in and doing damage. Plus you don't know what if anything this kitten might be carrying? You won't know for quite awhile. Play it safe, and YOU be the mom. I would be happy to help you along the way- PM's are fastest to get to me right now.
 

my4llma

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She's so cute
Lucky to be getting adopted by you. I hope her siblings are just as lucky
 

kittyl0ve4

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I'm really confusd. Why would this idiot let her cat become pregnant if she would have to get rid of the kittens WAY before they can be away from mom? Sure I understand, accidents happen, but it comes with the territory if you don't do the responsible thing - spaying & neutering you pets.

I had an accidental litter myself. & honeslty, I wasn't even supposed to have the Momma cat to begin with, and so I really wasn't supposed to have the kittens. We kept it a secret from my boyfriend's father, because he was really the only one in the house who really didn't want me to keep Precious (mommy cat). He did eventually find out about the kittens, but this was after I had already given most of them away to their furrever homes. He was mad, but he didn't really do much except ignore my existance for a couple days. Ill be honest, I had to give my kittens away earlier than I wanted to, at 10 weeks. I really would have liked to keep them for another 2 weeks, but I really had no choice in the matter, and I don't think it harmed their develpment. I am good friends with the person I gave one kitten to, and I see a guy I gave 2 kittens to every once in a while. The kittens are growing up beautifully, and they are all very, very sweet, one of them follows the guy's 3 year old daughter everywhere she goes.


Anyway back to the topic, everyone knows that 3 weeks old is way way way too early for any animal to be away from its mother. Does this girl expect everyone she's giving a kitten away to, to know how to care for a kitten that's too young? And what if nobody (besides you) wants to take on a kitten that basically needs 24-7 care? What would she do then? Idk if she would be able to take them to a Humane Society or the SPCA, cuz last summer I found an orphaned kitten that was about 3-4 weeks old that I wasn't able to bring into the house, so I was going to take her to my local HS. I didn't surrender her though, because they said if she was too young to be away from her mother that they would just euthanize her, which really upset me. Luckily I called around and found a woman willing to take her in.
So sorry for rambling, but I just can't stand people who take in animals and don't do right by them. If you're not going to spay or neuter, than you need to take responsibility for the consequences of that decision! And the ones who will suffer here are the innocent babies
 
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