kitten advice

when will my kitten start cleaning her own bottom? she is 8 weeks old on saturday, at the minute im doing it with wet wipes but it smells unclean. Is there anything i can do?

Kittens often are smelly especially if like your kitten they are away from their mother too young.

Has she been vet checked?  What do you feed her on?  Are her stools normal (e.g. firm but not hard)?

Thanks for replying, no she hasnt been vet checked yet. Her stools are really soft and im feeding her on whiskas kitten food with a couple of kitten biscuits.

I got Mac at 6 weeks old and Mia at 7 weeks old. Neither one cleaned their bottoms very good when I got them as they were so young. I cleaned their bottoms for a couple weeks with a wet wipe (Huggies Natural wipes with aloe) after every bowel movement. It didnt take long for them to start doing it themselves after a couple weeks. I believe that was because they became aware of and accostemed to being clean.

I would start by getting her vet checked, wormed, and checked for fleas.  Is her food the same as she was eating before you got her?  Changing the food suddenly can cause problems as well.

Agree with Oriental.

As hinted, part of the problem is the soft stool - which ARE usually smelly. Normal cat stool is firm but not hard, as Oriental mentioned.

Why the stool is soft may be several reasons, including you could try with another brand of kitten food.

But begin with the vet check up including deworming.  A vet check up should be done anyway, so you dont lose anything, but may gain.

Good luck!