Advice on new kittens

rosalie9313 · Aug 13, 2016

Hello

About 12 days ago my cat, who I took in as a stray, gave birth to five kittens. I didn't know she was pregnant when I got her, and, chide me as you will, didn't take her into the vet immediately to get spayed since I live in South Korea and the language barrier can be intimidating + I live in an 8th floor apartment so pregnancy wasn't a worry in the short term (hahhahahahahhaa). I digress.

Question 1: I know that I need non-clumping litter for my kittens once they start being ready for litter but I've hit an issue where I can't seem to find specifically non-clumping litter anywhere. None of the major stores, not online. The only non-clumping is crystal form, but a) momma cat doesn't love it b) I imagine it would be even more hazardous for a kitten to eat it. The closest I can seem to find is bamboo, wood, or tofu based pellet litters online, which say they're clumping but I think are more absorbent than anything. Is this kind of litter safe for kittens? Is there a way I could test? Is there a best option of the three? I can't find anything about the specific brands online in English, so I'm hoping for a best guess.

Question 2: I believe when they're ready for solid foods I should start with milk replacer + wet food, yes? I managed to order some milk replacer online, but the only wet foods that exist here that don't cost an absolute fortune are basically tuna or tuna with 5% some other seafood or chicken. Is it safe for kittens to consume a decent amount of tuna? I've read that it should be limited due to heavy metal accumulation risks. Momma cat is on dry food free feed + some canned food, but the kittens are so small I'm worried that it might be a problem.

Thank you so much for any advice and sorry if these are ridiculously simple or prevalent questions, it's just that I definitely wasn't anticipating becoming the owner of five kittens so I'm still a bit lost, even with all of my Googling. And I haven't found an English speaking vet yet who I can talk to in the city for advice on this type of thing. (My Korean at this point is not at a level to do that specific communicative function

)

jennyr · Aug 13, 2016

Hi and welcome to TCS. I feel your pain as I had the same problem when I moved to Bosnia many years ago. Without language access you are stumped, especially in a country where you don't know whether to trust the vets or not. Some cultures that seem quite advanced technologically have no respect for animal welfare as we know it.

The reason clumping litter is bad is because it expands int he stomach into clay balls that then block the intestine. So even if they eat crystal litter, or wood pellets, they should pass right through. I have used crystal litter for kittens with no problem. Or you could try a mix of sand I guess you could buy that somewhere) and crystals, though sand does tend to get tracked through the house!

The tuna might be more of a problem. I am not a nutrition expert, so I hope someone else will come along on this, but I personally would not feed kittens on high tuna content food. But as you say, you may have no choice. |I don't know how much time you have, but perhaps you could consider a mixed diet, including dry food, milk replacer, and some minced chicken, with the tuna catfood just occasionally? That should give them the nutrients they need. I also used to give kittens fresh cream cheese (unsalted) and greek style (smooth) natural yoghurt, which they all loved.

StefanZ · Aug 13, 2016

rosalie9313 said:
Hello About 12 days ago my cat, who I took in as a stray, gave birth to five kittens. I didn't know she was pregnant when I got her, and, chide me as you will, didn't take her into the vet immediately to get spayed since I live in South Korea and the language barrier can be intimidating + I live in an 8th floor apartment so pregnancy wasn't a worry in the short term (hahhahahahahhaa). I digress.

Question 1: I know that I need non-clumping litter for my kittens once they start being ready for litter but I've hit an issue where I can't seem to find specifically non-clumping litter anywhere. None of the major stores, not online. The only non-clumping is crystal form, but a) momma cat doesn't love it b) I imagine it would be even more hazardous for a kitten to eat it. The closest I can seem to find is bamboo, wood, or tofu based pellet litters online, which say they're clumping but I think are more absorbent than anything. Is this kind of litter safe for kittens? Is there a way I could test? Is there a best option of the three? I can't find anything about the specific brands online in English, so I'm hoping for a best guess.

Question 2: I believe when they're ready for solid foods I should start with milk replacer + wet food, yes? I managed to order some milk replacer online, but the only wet foods that exist here that don't cost an absolute fortune are basically tuna or tuna with 5% some other seafood or chicken. Is it safe for kittens to consume a decent amount of tuna? I've read that it should be limited due to heavy metal accumulation risks. Momma cat is on dry food free feed + some canned food, but the kittens are so small I'm worried that it might be a problem.

Thank you so much for any advice and sorry if these are ridiculously simple or prevalent questions, it's just that I definitely wasn't anticipating becoming the owner of five kittens so I'm still a bit lost, even with all of my Googling. And I haven't found an English speaking vet yet who I can talk to in the city for advice on this type of thing. (My Korean at this point is not at a level to do that specific communicative function )

You had got some excellent answers. These litters made of wood pellets or such, should be OK.

Can you get goats milk? If no local, so imported from New Zeeland or Holland. Cartonned or in powder.... Its as good supplement for cats as kmr,possible even better. And probably cheaper

(as digress side note, it was JennyR here, whom told her experiences from Bosnia, where she was forced to try with goats milk for kitten orphans - because kmr wasnt nowhere to find. And Jenny found it was fully OK. I got my eyes opened by this witness, etc, etc...)

You can use mince meat. Its common in Sweden as first food for kittens. But not meat from pork - there is some danger for a virus, Auyesky disease - harmless for humans, but dangerous for cats. We dont have it in Sweden, but may happen in some other countries.

I suppose there is no danger from trichine worms in SK - the slaughterhouses are vet assisted, no?

Otherwise you can give them minced meat from cooked or wooked meat...

Advice on new kittens

rosalie9313

TCS Member

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jennyr

TCS Member

StefanZ

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