6 week old (barely) bottle fed...tips?

jezahb

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Just got my girl today, the foster could no longer keep the litter and these babies have been bottle fed and away from mom since 2 weeks. My girl is the runt and so tiny its hard to imagine she is even 6 weeks, but that is what the foster mom said cause she 'guessed' they were 2 weeks when she got them. Anyways, any hints or tips on how to raise he well adjusted since she was deprived of her siblings and mother so young? She is already very demanding, she plays independently but if she doesn't see me for a while she cries. She seems confident around my 2 huge maine coon mixes and they are cautiously curious about her. I just want to raise her right, I don't mind needy, but I don't want skittish.

Added: The foster mom was feeding her meow mix (blegh) mixed with Hartz milk replacer (double blegh) and she feels a little bony to me. I can feel her spine and ribs. I have her on Blue Buffalo Wilderness Kitten canned and dry plus lots of fresh flowing water. Anything I should be doing more to fatten her up?
 
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catsallaround

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Has this kitten been to the vet and looked over?

You say when she got them then say she was single?  Not sure what it was but if single or others died I would REALLY want another vet visit/bloodwork soon before intro to the other cats.

Try to have people come over especially in next few weeks.  Don't shelter her much from normal noises.  You may do it all and still end up with a shy cat or do nothing and an outgoing.  There is lots of genetics going on.
 
 
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jezahb

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Sadie went to my moms, my cats were just never comfortable with her and she was really aggressive with them...my mom's house was just a better fit.

I see where you were confused, I meant deprived of her litter mates because she was adopted without them, obviously. I couldn't take the whole litter as much as I wanted to! All her sibs seemed healthy but quite bigger than my little runt! So now she is a single kitten here, no mom or sibs. Its hard not to want to shelter her from noises since she is so scared by them. I will try though, she seems outgoing and confident considering her minute size!
 
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jezahb

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I also did have the health records of the mom and dad who were UTD on shots.
 

catsallaround

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Oh got you.  I didn't have to many issues with the taken at 6 weeks.  For awhile I did have issues with the hand raised but they were fine after a year and they were together.  It may help her to not be paired at your house cause she will play/learn from the adults as opposed to just staying bonded with her sib.

Glad it worked out for Sadie then:)

Was she taken to the vet yet though? 

If either parent got outside he could have picked up something from fighting. Since shes so thin it would be a concern.  Bottle feeding doesn't mean thin kittens.  And rejecting the litter could be mom back in heat a medical reason or just because.  Fiv and Felv could still be an issue.  Felv being easily passed onto your adults Fiv not so much but good to know she is negative from the start or if extra cares needed.
 
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jezahb

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She went to the vet today and came back with a clean bill of health, but the vet said she could use some more weight though as she is a bit skinny.

That leads me the question, seeing as she is about 5 1/2 weeks shouldn't she be off KMR? I ask because I offered her canned food and she refused to eat it, even watered down a bit. So today my mom brought over KMR and my GOD did she gulp it down. Like she drank a quarter of the can and had a huge balloon belly! She has soooooo much more energy now, and is quite a handful. So is it safe to be feeding her just KMR or KMR mixed with wet food (haven't tried this yet)? I don't want her to be nutritionally unbalanced but if I give her just canned she will starve. 
 

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I always mix KMR/goat's milk with canned food until they're 10 weeks old. . .probably longer than strictly necessary, but I like to give them the extra nutrition. At this age, if she still wants a bottle I wouldn't deprive her. Except I would give it maybe only once a day :).
 

catsallaround

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Will she take the milk out of bowl?  Feed her more meals and less milk if bellys that big may not digest very well.

My one bottle baby stayed on sooooooo long with milk.  Some of the kittens I had with 2 mom cats  here were nursing well past 3 months.  Mom seemed ok with it and they stopped at some point.

As long as she is active the weight will catch on her.  I took 2 from a farm that were so thin and many ticks they grew up just fine and the littler of the 2 is very small but weight wise fine.
 
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jezahb

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She seemed really frustrated with the bottle, I don't think the milk was coming out quick enough for her, so I did offer it to her in a bowl and she lapped it up...so that is at least good! She has now eaten half the can of KMR tonight but she doesn't seem to be feeling badly at all! In fact I have a funny video to share of just how much energy she got after downing all that milk!



Tonight I think she has had enough food, but tommorrow I will atempt to mix wet food with KMR and see how she does, she has teeth so she should be eating kitten food but I guess she isn't quite mature enough to want it. She purrs quite loud when drinking the KMR so I almost think its a comfort thing as well. 
 

catsallaround

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Wow she is cute.  Love when she hits the toy and starts trying to figure out how to get it back.

Maybe start offering some wet added and increase it over time to all food no milk.
 
 
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jezahb

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Oh no! I fed her some wet mixed with KMR today, and she ate quite a bit plus already had a decently full belly from just KMR in a bowl earlier and she just now vomited. I feel so bad! I let her eat as much as she wanted figuring she would stop when she had too much, but she looked so uncomfortable and her tummy was making awful noises right before she threw up. Do you think she just over ate or was maybe the wet food too much??
 
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