Weaning and litter training

Hi everyone! I have four - 1 mth old kittens. I'm in the process of weaning and I have a few questions. First, is it okay to warm up  the KMR? I have the liquid version of it. Also, when do I start giving them water? Thanks!

Its wise the kmr has body temperature.  More than that isnt necessary, unless you by any reason wants to raise their body temp some...

Have some water standing nearby, from now.

You dont need to yourself add water to kmr, unless you suspect they need more, by any reason.   Better a little too much [water intake]  than too little is another good rule of thumb.

Good luck!

It isn't clear to me if you are weaning the kittens from a mama and want to give them KMR or if you have been bottle feeding them and are trying to wean them off the bottle.  Instructions would be different in each case.  If they are with mama, I would not wean them at 4 weeks, and the liquid version of KMR often causes diarrhea whereas the powder form does not.

I am also confused.  If they are with mama, there is no reason at all to give them KMR.  You should be weaning them if anything onto solid food (and this is an okay time to start doing so) but they will not be fully weaned from mama for several weeks still.

Hi. My babies are 4 weeks old and I'm trying to wean them and litter train them. They will lap from the bowl, but of course they still want milk from mommy. Also, I'm having a hard time litter training them. Can anyone give me any advice on weaning and litter training? 

So glad you started this thread. I just logged on to ask the exact same question. My babies are 5 1/2 weeks old and have zero training. I've seen no evidence of pee or poop in their closet so I guess mom is taking care of them. I haven't introduced them to food or water either.

There is a foster baby that joined them that mama cat is also raising. I guess living in the wild it learned the essentials. This one will drink from a bowl and use a litter box. The others know nothing of it.

Experts..... Please tell us how to train our babies to eat/ drink and use litter box!

Ill be following this as im also at this stage sort of :-)

I have mum and a nearly 6wo kitten that due to our tiny laundry and bathroom have the run of the laundry, lounge n kitchen area. Probably about 25m2. Bubs has started picking at mums food (we've been wiping mums food on her legs to lick off) n this morning ate a fair bit of wet kibbles n mince mixed YAY

Bubs has used the litter tray a few times for weeing but I just found a 4inch poop in the loungeroom. Couldnt believe something that long came out of a little kitten.

Doesnt help mum cats in raging heat at mo....really want bubs more independant food n litter wise so we can spay mum in a few weeks.

I am weaning them from momma cat. Some of them will eat solid wet food, but of course they still want mommy. I can't get them to use the litter box either. I put them in it after they play, sleep, and eat, but they still go outside of the box.

LoveMyCats, at 4 wks of age (maybe close to 5 wks now?) they should still be nursing. I'm not sure why you are trying to wean them and give them KMR??

As for the littet box issue...
They are just beginning to gain control over their bowel/urination output.

Basic tips on litter box introduction:
1.) Confine kittens to a small space (if mom is around, mom should have access to this area, but babies should not be able to get out.)

2.) LOTS of litter boxes. There should be a litter box in every corner of the room and, if the room is large, litter boxes scattered throughout the room.

3.) Use either pellet litter or NON-clumping clay litter.

4.) Expect accidents, and LOTS of them. It's just like potty training a toddler. Some will catch on quicker than others.

5.) If there is an accident, pick it up and place it in the litter box.

I've read several articles on the internet saying to start weaning them at 4 weeks old. They turned 5 weeks today. I'm using the pine litter pellets. 

LovesMyCats said:

 
I've read several articles on the internet saying to start weaning them at 4 weeks old. They turned 5 weeks today. I'm using the pine litter pellets. 

Click to expand...

They mean to start giving them solid food not to take them from mother's milk, if it's available.

And aren't those pine pellets horrible? Well our kitten hates them. So I put them in a blender to make them more like clay and now she at least tolerates them. I can't wait until she can have the clay litter. I gave that to her at first before I knew it was bad and she used it right away! It's taken her a while to get used to the pine even chopped up.

So I have had so many different people tell me how to wean the kittens...from "the mom cat will wean them herself", "start weaning them at 4 weeks old by giving them KMR, and when they have mastered lapping the milk from the bowl then move on to solid food". I'm confused. How can I start the weaning process if I don't introduce them to KMR or solid food? Will mom eventually stop nursing them and they go straight to solid food? I figured they would need to be transitioned from mother's milk to solid food.

As far as the litter goes, I'm using pine pellets because its non-clumping and I don't have to worry about the kittens eating it. Is it dangerous for them to use? What would you suggest I use? I changed the litter from pine pellets, to the clumping litter and noticed one of the kittens had got some on and in her mouth.

Re weaning I was told just to intro extra sloppier food when feeding mum. Let the kittens get it on themselves n wash it off. Its worked for us as our 6wk old is now eating kitten food with mum twice a day and ad lib kibbles. Ideally I'd feed 4 times but cant with our work hours. Our momma cat has been very good re keeping kitten clean and teaching her about the litter tray. The last few days after each meals shes called the kitten after each feed to the laundry with the litter trays.

We've also started separating our 2 for a few hrs at a time so they get used to it as mum will be spayed next week and gone for 24hrs.

And YAY I just got a text from my partner the kitten just used the litter tray for numbers 2's for the first time :-)

LovesMyCats said:

 
So I have had so many different people tell me how to wean the kittens...from "the mom cat will wean them herself", "start weaning them at 4 weeks old by giving them KMR, and when they have mastered lapping the milk from the bowl then move on to solid food". I'm confused. How can I start the weaning process if I don't introduce them to KMR or solid food? Will mom eventually stop nursing them and they go straight to solid food? I figured they would need to be transitioned from mother's milk to solid food.

As far as the litter goes, I'm using pine pellets because its non-clumping and I don't have to worry about the kittens eating it. Is it dangerous for them to use? What would you suggest I use? I changed the litter from pine pellets, to the clumping litter and noticed one of the kittens had got some on and in her mouth.

Click to expand...

The pellets aren't dangerous but they aren't appetizing either. My kitten hated walking on them. Hated it. That's why I put them in a blender. I was just wondering if you had the same experience.

You do get very mixed information on the internet. The thing about weaning is: mother's milk is the most nutritious. KMR is a replacement for it when it's not available and it will do but it's not as good. So why would you take a kitten way from mother's milk to put on KMR? KMR is for when the kitten loses the mom or the mom won't nurse the kitten. Weaning is going from mother's milk to solid food and there are lots of ways to do it. I think NIkiwink's way sounds very sensible but it will also depend on your kitty.

Ours likes solid food a lot and has gotten into our adult cat's food when we weren't looking and won't touch it when we mix KMR into it. But we can't give her just any adult cat food. Some of them are too chunky for her. We give her kitten canned food and pate adult food and feed her KMR in a bottle because she's an orphan with no mom. We gave up on mixing KMR into the solid food because she won't eat it like that and it just makes a mess. But most cats like it like that just fine and it makes a good transition.

I know its a process, but I'm having a hard time getting the kittens to use the litter box. Maybe I should change to the clay litter?? I put a piece of fecal matter into the box yet it doesn't attract them. I've also put them in the box after eating, playing, etc, yet they continue to go on the carpet. I realize they are babies and will make mistakes, yet I wonder if I will ever get them trained.

They will eat solid food, but mommy still feeds them. This is all just stressful to me. I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. They are five weeks old and I feel they should at least be using the litter box. I guess every kitten is different and I can't rush things. I just don't want them to be a year old and still feeding on mommy and not using the litter box. lol

LovesMyCats, do you have the kittens confined to a small area? How many litter boxes are available to them? (Litter boxes can consist of cardboard boxes, pie tins, etc for kittens this age.)

I still wouldn't be overly concerned about them not using the litter box at 5 wks. You could certainly try using Non-Clumping clay litter (or Blue Buffalo's walnut based litter...we're currently using their pellet litter for our kittens and will switch to their clumping litter next.)

If your get to 7 wks and the litter box is still a no-go, then I would start to consider being more proactive in their training.

My understanding is that most kittens are fully weaned by 8 weeks so you have plenty of time. Also, mom really encourages this process because she doesn't want kittens hanging off her forever any more than you do! As long as you leave kitten appropriate food out for them, they'll eat more and more of it as time goes on.

For the litter box, it really is an instinct with them and also their mom will teach them through example. Mainly, if they go outside the box, you want to clean it up right away so they don't associate that place as an acceptable place to go. If they poop outside the box, you put the poop in the box so they learn "oh, poop goes in the box" but you also have to keep the box clean because if it has too much poop in it, they will react kind of like we do when you go to a public stall and the person before you forgot to flush!

What we did is put the poop in and put her in too then helped her cover the poop using her paws. Then at the end of the day we cleaned the box and the poop came out. Our kitten has no mother so we had to show her a little bit of what to do more than you would with a kitten who has a mother. She really likes the box so it was just a question of finding the right litter as she hated the pine pellets.