6 Week Old Seems To Pee In Small Amounts

[Kellie Dobson]

Hi,

Today is day three of caring for my new six week old kitten. He was in desperate need of a home so a few days ago I made a four hour drive to get him here. He was already litter trained and seemed to no longer be nursing, although I know six weeks is young for a kitten to be on their own. He seems to pee and poop regularly, and also has no problem eating, playing, or sleeping. My concern is that when he does pee, it seems to be in incredibly small amounts, as he leaves a wet spot no larger than a tac each time.

Primarily, the kitten was not drinking out of the water bowl on his own, so I would have him lick it from my fingers as he was clearly thirsty. I also noticed he was trying to eat the cat litter each time I sat him in his box, so I would pull it from his mouth the best I could and remove him as suggested. He seems to have for the most part quit this habit, but I catch him trying to pick up a piece or two of litter. The litter is non-toxic and non-clumping. My kitten has also been drinking water from the bowl since last night on his own.

I am mostly concerned because I'm not sure how much he should be urinating, and he seems to cry at me a lot on random occasions, so I set him in the box and he will lightly pee and/or poop. He is being fed both dry and wet food and eats it all up happily.

I have had a male cat in the past who died from urinary issues, as it seems male cats can get I'll very easily in this way. I am worried he could have some issue I am unaware of. He has not had a visit to the vet, so I am pretty clueless. I have been told I should wait a few weeks before going since he is so young, but I worry he needs to be checked up to assure he is 100% well.

Please let me know if you guys have any idea why my little baby boy might be peeing so little. He seems to pee on a normal occasion, not too often or scarce, but just pees in very small amounts.

Thank you.

 

[orange&white]

Feed him wet food with extra water or goat's milk mixed in to keep lots of liquids moving through him.

I just trapped a 5-6 week old kitten on Wednesday evening. He pees 4-6 times a day, almost Ping-Pong ball sized pee's. I'm not giving him any dry food, so all his food is very wet. He doesn't drink out of his water bowl.

If you kitty doesn't pee more than "tack" sized pee's you'll need to get more water in him, either through food or with a syringe. Try a little goat's milk with water. He'll probably like the taste.

 

[Kellie Dobson]

I have heard it isn't advised to add water to cat food because it promotes the perfect environment for bacteria growth. Should I still try to mix water into his food? Obviously I won't be letting it sit for long periods of time. Thank you so much for your help, I am so paranoid he could be sick or have the slightest infection.

 

[orange&white]

This little kitten I trapped is eating 4-5 ounces of food every day. He'll usually eat up around 1 ounce at a time. On work days I'm feeding him at 6am, 9am before work, then at 6pm, 8pm, and 10pm after I'm off. I usually offer him 1.5 ounces of food and pick up what he doesn't eat after 30 minutes. It goes in the fridge (not in the trash).

I made him some Hoskins kitten formula and mixed that 50/50 with canned cat food. I froze the food in ice cube trays, one ounce each, and defrost a few cubes in the morning. I also gave him some of the raw cat food my cats eat. He's a little eating, peeing and pooping machine.

So...let's get your little one going.

 

[LTS3]

I have heard it isn't advised to add water to cat food because it promotes the perfect environment for bacteria growth. Should I still try to mix water into his food.

Water added to dry food is a no-no because that encourages bacteria to grow. It's ok if you leave moistened dry food out for maybe half an hour but it should be thrown out after that. It's fine to add water to canned food and let that sit out for a few hours.

I'd take the kitten to a vet now just for a general check up and make sure the small urine output isn't a sign of a health issue. Vaccinations can be done when the kitten is a little older or per the vet's recommendation.

 

[di and bob]

I think he is peeing such small amounts because he isn't drinking enough. Like said above, I would mix water or formula in his wet food and encourage him to drink kitten formula or goat's milk as often as possible. A fountain always encourages drinking too, they are very inexpensive now on Amazon or at Walmart.