5 week old kitten - Please offer your help :)

Hello. My name is Vicki. I am new to this forum, i decided to join it to get some help with raising my approx. 5 week old kitten. I got this kitten from my neighbor, the litter was born about 5 weeks ago but she cannot keep the kittens any longer so i volunteered to take one. The kitten had fleas so i talked to the vet and searched online to get information on how to care for it, i washed it with baby shampoo and dawn dish soap and the fleas died, I am still not sure if every flea is off of it yet but I know that the majority of them have died.
The kitten is eating hard food mixed with water and it is drinking water as well. I brought the kitten home yesterday afternoon and i still have yet to see it go to the bathroom, I'm not sure if it knows how to go on it's own and im not sure how to teach it or if it will just do it by itself eventually? I read something while searching the internet that said to take a paper towel or cotton ball and put warm water on it and rub it on the kitten's behind to stimulate the mother cat and i tried that last night and their seemed to be yellow urine on the paper towel but the kitten seems a little bloated. There is litter in the large box i have the kitten in and it goes into the litter box but does not use it.
Also, i am not sure how many times a day i should be giving the kitten the food/water.

That's all for now please feel free to post any suggestions or comments you may have that will help. Thank you very much for your time.

Hi there! The cotton ball idea is great and does generally work, also rubbing their belly. Can u tell when it looks like it wants to go to the toilet - like is it sniffing around and scratching anywhere? I find when my kittens do this they are likely to need to go and if you put them in their litter box they learn to go there.
You should have water available at all times for your kitty and cats will eat as much food as they want to, they wont over eat just cos there is food there (like dogs!) Cos your cat is young i would be feeding it 3-4 times a day and you will soon learn how much it eats each time.
I hope this helps! Good luck

Thanks very much for replying! I haven't seen the kitten start to sniff or scratch, will it eventually go to the bathroom on its own? should i keep using the paper towel? I'll try rubbing it's belly.. Thanks again!

It is possible this kitten is going elsewhere and not in the litter pan and you haven't found it yet. I would start adding a bit of canned pumpkin to the food to help move things along, plus if the cat is bloated it could be something besides just food- it could be parasites, or god forbid something else. It is a good idea to call the vet and ask about that. If the kitten had/has fleas, it also has tapeworms- so mention that to the vet as well-

www.kitten-rescue.com was set up to help people such as yourself with questions

I foster many a baby...at 5-weeks has your kitten been dewormed? The bloating could be caused by worms and/or parasites.

My 5-week old babies get premium wet kitten food mixed with a bit of dry premium kitten food and if they are on the scrawny-side, I add some KMR with their food...a big platter of mush. I have always done "free" feeding where I fill the bowl in the morning & leave it. They get fresh food in the afternoon & again in the evening. Sometimes, they finish it...sometimes they don't.

As far as the fleas are concerned, Dawn or something is similar is great for killing the existing fleas...use a flea comb to rid dead ones (and live)...but something like Advantage will kill the eggs. BE CAREFUL! 5-weeks if very young to apply something that strong...ask a vet.

For litter, I use "Yesterday's News" or any kitten litter that is clump-free & dust-free. You may want to use a soft washcloth & some water to stimulate your kitten over or near the litter pan.

Originally Posted by hissy

It is possible this kitten is going elsewhere and not in the litter pan and you haven't found it yet.

Click to expand...

these are very wise words indeed