Kitten help!!!!!

We're fostering a 4 week old kitten who we picked up this morning. I got told she wasn't a huge fan of the wet food, but seemed to like the dry food she had. So this morning, I put some wet food in her bowl, heaps of dry food (Royal Canin Baby Cat food for 1-4 month old kittens) and water, and left for work. She was mewing non-stop, but I figured given the changes, it's not surprising.

When DH got home he went and saw her and said it seemed like he'd just woken her up as she was stretching and yawning non stop.

She has mewed pretty much constantly for 3 hours, and so we just took her downstairs, and I gave her some more wet while I was there and she couldn't eat the food fast enough. So I gave her more and she ate and ate and ate. Seems as though the poor baby DID like wet food and was starving

She ate half a small can of wet food in one sitting. Now I'm worried that she's eaten too much.... Can she have problems from eating too much?? Is she going to have problems since I starved the poor baby all day???

I feel SO bad for starving the poor baby all day. And now she's back in her crate and mewing non stop again.

At least I know she's full now. She's using the litter box fine, and has a heat pack in the crate, but is there anything else I can do to help her settle down. If she's out of her crate and we're with her she's fine, but if we're not there, she mews at us and it's so heartbreaking

Should I leave lots of wet food for her to consume at her leisure? Should I leave just a small amount and check on her in the middle of the night and give her more if she needs it??

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Well I'm up.
But I dont have like "expert" advice for you.
I would say..
Keep her with you. At all times as much as possible tonight. Sounds like she'd like that. Maybe missing her mommy too much? Just needs some extra care & lovin'.
And I'd say just leave a little hard food in a bowl(somewhere near you)..And use the "soupy" stuff FROM the wet food can to put a little bit on the hard food. Don't use the wet food itself though.
And not alot.

Now really..That is just what I would do. It seemed urgent.
And I was up..Thought I'd put my advice in.

Editted to add: Maybe rub her tummy some tonight sometime. Sounds like she might be digesting the wet food badly. Sounds like you got a full night of "fun kitten time".
Just like having a baby! Aaawwww....

Originally Posted by lilleah

Well I'm up.

But I dont have like "expert" advice for you.
I would say..
Keep her with you. At all times as much as possible tonight.

Sounds like she'd like that. Maybe missing her mommy too much? Just needs some extra care & lovin'.
And I'd say just leave a little hard food in a bowl(somewhere near you)..And use the "soupy" stuff FROM the wet food can to put a little bit on the hard food. Don't use the wet food itself though.
And not alot.

Now really..That is just what I would do. It seemed urgent.

And I was up..Thought I'd put my advice in.

Editted to add: Maybe rub her tummy some tonight sometime. Sounds like she might be digesting the wet food badly. Sounds like you got a full night of "fun kitten time".

Just like having a baby! Aaawwww....

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Thank you for answering! I am feeling a little stressed! She just stopped mewing a few minutes ago. So I was relieved. Then I worried why she stopped mewing, so ran in. And she was fine and started mewing again... She just stopped again though, so I think hunger was the main problem. Hubby's just running out to Safeway to get some kitten milk as well. Right before we go to bed, I think I'll give her a little more wet food, and get up in the middle of the night to see ohw she's going.

Whenever we've had her out of the crate she's just run everywhere (in her little stumbly kitten way) and hasn't stopped! I'll try rubbing her little belly though and try and make sure she goes to the litter box sometime soon.

I'm up too. No expert but here's my two cents.

If you just picked her up this morning everything is still new to her, and it sounds like she wants to tell you all about what she thinks about her new place. Typical kitten. That said, she's probably lonely and wants to be with you and have lots of attention too. If she was with lots of cats and kittens before, this is a big change for her. (I'm assuming here that you have Stumpy and Lily in another area.)

I also agree with lilleah that she might have a tummy ache from eating so much wet food so fast. Just cuddle her and rub her belly like you would any baby.

Good luck, and I hope she lets you get at least a LITTLE sleep tonight.

As she is just four weeks old I would give her formula from a bottle. That would also be very comforting for her. Can she go to the litter box by her self. She should be able at four weeks but sometimes they are late and without a mama taking care of it......
Here is a good link about kitten care: http://www.kitten-rescue.com
I agree in keeping her with you. Skin-contact and feeling your heart beat will make her feel less lonely. I had the tip to give them a teddy bear or something hary to crawl close to when I had small fosters but I kept them with me instead.
Good luck with the kitty. Why isn't she with her mama by the way?

I agree with letting her sleep with you - you can give her a soft towel or baby blanket next to your shoulders and as she gets older, you move it further down the bed. My experience has been that kittens who get lots of cuddles when tiny don't seem to have the need to suck on blankets,etc. Also, a bottle feeding might be of great comfort to her as well.
What wonderful people you are to be so compassionate with this kitten, even running out to the store at night to get more kitten milk
I wish the world had more folks like you two!

She didn't have a mother (not sure of the details). She's been hand raised since she was born pretty much - I think the person looking after just wanted to give her a chance, and she's now toileting on her own and eating and drinking on her own, so the person decided to bring here to the shelter. Normally they would put a kitten this size down, but since this other person put so much work into the kitten, they decided to keep on giving it a chance.

So the kitten has potentially had a lot of human contact so far, and so not used to NOT being with people! I went in before and just lay with her, and she was running around, and trying to crawl over my arms and ended up lying down snuggled against my chest. I hummed to her and she fell asleep It's times like that when I love fostering

She woke up when DH came in, but this is how she was sleeping:



And this was her chowing into her wet food:

She is wonderful. Good luck with this little surviver.

Originally Posted by emily_325

I'm assuming here that you have Stumpy and Lily in another area.

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Yup, Smudge has the spare bedroom, the other girls have the rest of the house

Are you giving her wet food for kittens? If not, she will probably have to eat alot since it doesn't have the nutrience she need.

Here's what I did(just a recommendation):

What I did for my kitties is I bought kitten food(walmart brand is REALLY good, top quality food and is only $3.50 a bag) and kitten formula. Mix the food with formula and let is soak. Once it is squishy, give it to her. This will ensure that she is getting the vitamins she needs to grow. Plus, she won't refuse it! I have never seen a cat turn down formula! I even give it to my grown cats as a treat every once in while.
P.S.- I would recommend getting the powder formula because it will last a lot longer.

Originally Posted by TortieBaby

Are you giving her wet food for kittens? If not, she will probably have to eat alot since it doesn't have the nutrience she need.

Here's what I did(just a recommendation):

What I did for my kitties is I bought kitten food(walmart brand is REALLY good, top quality food and is only $3.50 a bag) and kitten formula. Mix the food with formula and let is soak. Once it is squishy, give it to her. This will ensure that she is getting the vitamins she needs to grow. Plus, she won't refuse it! I have never seen a cat turn down formula! I even give it to my grown cats as a treat every once in while.
P.S.- I would recommend getting the powder formula because it will last a lot longer.

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Thanks for the suggestions! I'm fostering her through a shelter so they supply me with everything, and use top quality kitten food. I can't remember what the wet is, but the dry is Royal Canin Babycat food. Maybe I'll soak that in kitten milk and leave that out for her. I don't like leaving out excess wet food - it goes yucky pretty fast!

Yeah, I know what you mean. With my kittens I would put just a little at a time to see how much they ate and then serve them accordingly.