4 week old kitten eating dry food?

anafeicht

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The cat I'm taking care of had four kittens, and one of them has taken to eating the dry food I leave out for her!
Ive been trying to leave out wet food and a mix of it and goat milk out but mommy keeps eating it to the point of almost throwing up.
What we do is we feed them canned food twice a day and leave out the dry food the rest of the time.
None of the kittens are very interested in the canned food(all of them are drinking water though) but one of them has been eating the dry food, only one. Ive never heard of one so young eating it like that so I'm wondering if I should put it up higher where he can't get to it or if it's okay for him to eat it.
Also is there any way to keep momma from eating theirs after finishing her own? She'll keep eating it until she almost throws up if I leave them out anything.
 

talkingpeanut

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Mom needs as much food as she'll eat while she's nursing. She may be scarfing because she's hungry. She can drink goat milk and kmr and should have access to dry and wet kitten chow nearly always.

4 weeks is a bit young to be weaning, but not unheard of. You can start making a kitten mush with wet kitten food and goat milk that they can lap up. Put it on paper plates so they can really get in there.
 

catwoman707

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They learn by watching mom, and if he is eating dry food then it's fine.

My nursing moms and kittens I feed Babycat dry so they are teeny tiny bits and they all love it, and it's good for them :)

They also of course get canned but quite often by 4 weeks many are munching on the babycat.
 
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anafeicht

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They learn by watching mom, and if he is eating dry food then it's fine.
My nursing moms and kittens I feed Babycat dry so they are teeny tiny bits and they all love it, and it's good for them :)
They also of course get canned but quite often by 4 weeks many are munching on the babycat.
Okay, I just wanted to make sure it was okay for him to have it. None of them are interested in canned food yet but he really likes eating the dry kind. Plus I havent been able to leave any out for them anyways because mom will eat it until she gets sick, and if she doesnt then one of our other two will.
 

talkingpeanut

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Mom really needs to have as much food as she wants while she's nursing. Can you feed smaller amounts more often and away from your other cats?

Has she always eaten like this or just since she's nursing?
 

Willowy

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I had a litter start eating their mom's kibble at 3 weeks. The funny thing was that she had very fat milk, so they were chubby kittens to begin with, and then they started eating solids so young, and while still nursing. . .they were very big boys!

I figure as long as they're doing it themselves, they must know what's what.
 
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anafeicht

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Mom really needs to have as much food as she wants while she's nursing. Can you feed smaller amounts more often and away from your other cats?

Has she always eaten like this or just since she's nursing?
They all eat their own, we feed them all at the same time so they wont try to steal from each other. Its only if I leave the kittens any the mom will eat theirs as well. She definitely gets plenty, she gets canned twice a day and the kibble whenever she wants it. Our vet has even commented on how much milk she has.
 
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anafeicht

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I had a litter start eating their mom's kibble at 3 weeks. The funny thing was that she had very fat milk, so they were chubby kittens to begin with, and then they started eating solids so young, and while still nursing. . .they were very big boys!

I figure as long as they're doing it themselves, they must know what's what.
I'm glad to hear that! All of ours are still nursing as well just the one has started to eat the kibble and I didnt know if that was okay or not. He seems to really like it though!
 

talkingpeanut

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They all eat their own, we feed them all at the same time so they wont try to steal from each other. Its only if I leave the kittens any the mom will eat theirs as well. She definitely gets plenty, she gets canned twice a day and the kibble whenever she wants it. Our vet has even commented on how much milk she has.
Glad to hear it. She just seems a bit hungry. Do you plan to have her spayed when this gang is weaned? We'd also love to see photos.
 
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anafeicht

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Glad to hear it. She just seems a bit hungry. Do you plan to have her spayed when this gang is weaned? We'd also love to see photos.
Yes we do, we actually took her in for a friend and didn't realize she wasn't fixed already and then found out she was pregnant. And I'll see if I can post some!
 

Mamanyt1953

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You might also consider isolating the kittens during their feeding time.  I know it's a bit of a hassle, but at least you will know that they are getting their fair share.
 
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