Feeding and litter training

We have three kittens and mum, the kittens will be four weeks old tomorrow. This morning we found something that looks like poop in their bedding (see photo) - we havent put them on solids yet so haven't litter trained them either, they are still feeding from mum, so we were suprised to see this!

Could someone confirm it is in fact kitten poop? It had a sort of tried outside and was tick and pasty on the inside...


Any advice welcome, this is the first time we've had kittens!

Thanks!

It looks like poop, but would not have come from the kittens. It would have been from the mom. For whatever reason she did not use the litter box.

hmm, there is a litter tray in that room but she doesn't like to use it, she did go in the other one yesterday lunch time (she tends to save it up and go once a day or sometimes waits 2 days) and subsiquently she did go this morning too. We're going to start letting her in the whole house over night now anyway, and hope she doesn't try and move the kittens! Maybe that will help and stop her doing it again!

Thanks

Thank you everyone for the advice so far, it's been so helpful and great to have such a good community full of people that have done all this before!

The kittens are now in week 5 (they were 4 weeks old last Friday). They've been showing an interest in Poppy's food for a while (only smelling not tasting), we've tried kitten mousse and kitten milk a few times but they just back away. I've tired popping some on their mouths but again they're not fussed. Is it to early? They do still quite happily feed from poppy and are each between 550 and 650 grams.

We also had a kitten squat and pee on a blanket yesterday. So I've put out their kitten litter tray (with wood chip litter as its all Poppy will use). I keep putting them in it but they just look a little scared and jump out. As far as I can tell there has been no more accidents but likewise nothing in the tray.

I've put the tray in the middle of room which has result in the. Running through it a few times, I'm hoping this will make it seem a bit more normal? Poppy won't use the littler tray that's in the same room as the kittens so there's no chance of them lea ring from her. Ived also put more litter in it so it's less slippy. Is there anything else I should do or try?


Thanks in advance

Can anyone give me some pointers? We've had more accidents today whilst we were at work...

Would you consider putting a tray of non-clumping unscented litter in with the kittens in case they don't like the wood?  You can put them in the tray before and after feeding them when you are home.  Having puppy pads on the floor helps with clean-up.

Yes, I agree that changing the litter is the answer.

I would continue to try the kittens on the wet food and kitten milk. They really should go for it soon. Have they seen mom eat it yet? You can also try kitten chow.

Ok so we changed the litter (we had some left over non clumping anti bac so used that). They immediately all sniffed it which is more than they ever did with the wood chip, and they've all had a taste, one in particular keeps trying to eat it so I don't think we'll be able to leave it over night, she eaten quite a bit!!

We had another accident this evening (from the same kitten, I'm not sure the other two have peed at all...)

We've tried warmed up kitten milk but a couple have sniffed it and it's still a no go! Poppy just drinks it and eats the kibble for them!

They were 5 weeks yesterday. Maybe it's still to early for food. I do wish we could get little number one to stop peeing on the floor though!

Blot her pee with a paper towel next time and put it in the litter box. Then put her in to smell her own pee, and take her paw and show her how to cover it. Maybe this will help.

Still battling with this, they seem to pee everywhere except ethe tray! We've had to change the litter back as all they wanted to do was constantly eat the other stuff. Not interested in food but love to continuously eat the litter!!

Can anyone point me to some good resources? We've tried different litter, putting paper towel with pee on it in the tray, a sprinkling of litter from mum cats tray, puppy pad under the tray, putting them in it and showing them how to dig, rubbing their tummys, trying to catch them squatting (which is really difficult, as they don't always lee after feeding and sleep right after being fed too).

Maybe I'm just not being patient enough?

I don't know what to tell you, as you seem to be doing all the right things. Most kittens litter box train very quickly. Hopefully yours will catch on soon. Hang in there!

Have you tried stimulating them whilst they are in the litter box? I had to do this previously with one of my fosters. I just stood him in the tray as soon as he woke up and gently rubbed his genitals with my fingers dipped in warm water. As soon as I felt him start to pee I let it drip into the tray. If you use a cotton pad its harder to detect when he will start peeing. Just remember to wash your hands!! And give kitty aa little wipe with a damp pad to clean him up x

Hi all, I was wondering if someone could talk me through what to expect during the weaning process and any problems we might have from kittens or Poppy. They have been drinking kitten milk here and there and today one of them licked her food while she ate it, but she's also nursed them very little and seems uncomfortable as her teats are really hard and full of milk. When they fed earlier she only let them suckle for a short time - thats also the only time I've seen her feed them since I got home 3ish hours ago. Is this typical and what will happen to her teats? They look and feel eady to burst!

Basically I'd like to know what is 'normal' otherwise I'm going to worry about every little thing - we've never had baby kittens before!

Thank in advance!

How old are the kittens?  The  momma kitty might have a bit of mastitis and this can be helped by applying some warm compresses but if it continues or gets worse you should get a vets advice.

They are 6 weeks on Friday. We took her to the vets Saturday because one of her teats was rock hard, the vet said he wasn't concerned at all and told us what to look for re mastitis, it resolved itself within 24 hours.

More of them are hard this time, she finally gave the kittens a feed for a couple mins before kicking them off.

Is it normal that they'd go hard during weaning or should her body naturally know when to produce milk?

It sounds like she may have mastitis. She should still be nursing quite a bit now, but isn't. Warm, wet compresses over her mammary glands may help, as suggested. If nothing changes she needs to see a vet asap. In the meantime you'll need to give the kittens pate style wet food mixed with KMR to make a mush that they can lap up. They must eat or they can go downhill quickly.

No, it's not normal for her teats to go hard. Something is wrong. See my above post.

Thanks, I really appreciate your advice. Will do the warm compresses and see how she is in the morning (it's quite late here now) and get her to the vets if I need to tomorrow.

Will keep you posted!

We called then emergency vet last night and decided to hold tight til today, I kept my eye on poppy over the day and the hardness went down and this evening has completely gone. I wonder if she just hadn't fed them properly yesterday and got to full? Is that a thing?

She did feed them for ages at breakfast and lunch today (breakfast was for half an hour).

Mastitis can clear up on its own...  Warm compresses help to loosen that, and also, to massage the affected area to get things flowing again (which momma was probably doing yesterday).  Momma probably didn't nurse too well yesterday because it was sore, but she handled it herself, and thats a good thing.  Then this morning, when she was feeling better, she nursed better, and that makes sense.  With kittens this age, and getting teeth and also bacteria from the foods they are trying to eat, infection could set in, and thats a bad thing.  With Buttercup, she got it twice, and we didn't have to take her to the vet either time, but just keep an eye on her in case it happens again you can help with the warm compresses.

Glad she is feeling better!