Weaning kittens, developing country, no formula

Hello, 

 I live in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, which is a country in Central Asia. I am an English teacher and I live at my school. There was a cat that lived near our school, which I took in and began to take care of. I noticed her gain weight, but thought nothing of it until one day when she gave birth on my bed.... Surprise! That was exactly 34 days ago. They are safe and sound in my room and they are now walking and moving about. The mom has been taking care of them so far but I am trying to prepare for the process of weaning them. 

The services here for pets are very limited. When one of the kittens had an eye infection I took them to a vet and he told me to put vodka in his eye.... so there is no formula here as far as I can tell and the only option for kitten food is Whiskas Junior which I can buy in the Turkish grocery stores. I have attached a picture below. 

Any advice? She apparently has given birth twice already over the past eight months and all of the kittens were either killed or stolen. I am trying my best to take care of them and I will get the mother fixed as soon as she has stopped nursing but it's hard... I'd love any advice. 

Has she not started weaning them herself at all yet? What do you have her eating?  Ordinarily mom will help out with the process at least some, and kittens will become interested in what mom is eating.  Are they not expressing any interest?

This situation is rough. I would in your situation mix a bit of fry food with a bunch of water- the consistency should be like oatmeal or even thinner- and rub a bit in the kittens mouths with your finger.  This will get them intrigued and interested in/farmiliar with the taste.  Once you've done this a few times, direct them over the the food bowl and guide them toward it with a finger.  The water should be mixed with the food in the same oatmeal like consistency.  Do NOT shove their heads down into it, but you can sort of guide them toward it and let them do their thing.  Don't be surprised if it's a bit messy! Once they are getting it you can slowly reduce the amount of water over a week or so until the food is on its own.

Good luck! Vet care sounds rough there

I want to add, as you DO mention formulas, or lack thereof.   I suppose you can get goat milk there? Probably even lots of goat milk...   Goats milk works nicely for most such porposes.    So you can give goat milk as it is, both for big cats, kittens or even newborn orphans.    Human babies too, btw... Dog puppies you want to save...

Or use it as extra with whatever you have, to mix in or just as it is...

Bottled goat milk is OK, fresh goats milk even better.

Welcome to our Forum!

Ps.  As everyone knows,  konjak is the best medicine for practically every  medical condition.  If you dont have konjak, brandy should be ok.

But if you dont have konjak nor brandy, for examply living in Kyrgizstan, vodka should do.  

But if spirits are an absolute no no for you, try with goat milk.    )

Yes, goat's milk should do. But if the babies are still with their mother they don't really need formula for weaning. It's so much easier with mother-raised babies than with orphans. Mostly, just let her teach them---feed her where the kittens can see her eat; give her mushier food so they can eat with her; once you see them eating her food, give them their own dish of mushy food. It may take a few weeks but they will get the hang of it. And they'll still be nursing occasionally so that will provide extra nutrition.

Hello! 

Thank you all for your replies! 

This cat apparently hunted full-time until a few months ago. She was known for dropping headless rats and other little creatures on our doorsteps. However, when my co-worker offered her some dry food, she began to not hunt as much. I told him I was worried that she would become dependent on us, but he simply said that she was too skinny and that he just hoped the next teachers that come along would feed her. Once she became pregnant she didn't seem very interested in going outside much and has started to rely, as far as I can tell, full-time on dry food. I am a bit worried because my contract ends at the end of May and after that, I have no assurance that anyone will feed her. I just hope she will go right back to hunting..... 

Anyway, in reply to tulosai, perhaps with her previous kittens she would teach them how to eat the headless rats, but now that we've interrupted this cycle perhaps she is a bit confused? The kittens have just started showing interest in her food, but she has not offered any to them and I had no idea what to do. 

StephanZ, yes, I can most certainly find goat's milk. Lots of it! Also, sheep's and mare's! And I'm pretty vodka'd out honestly. Some people here drink it like water....don't know how they do it. But yes, I also have lived in Georgia (the country) and there the cure for the common cold was a shot of cognac and and cup of tea..... I didn't put the vodka in the kitten's eye though. I bought him some medicine! =) 

And Willowy, thanks for the advice. I guess I forgot that for years and years mothers have weaned their kittens on their own without human help!  I will try taking some of her dry food and making it mushy. I'll let you know how it goes. 

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