Hey guys. I have a question...actually, I have a friend that has a question...
It started out with this question:
"My two year old cat had a litter of three kittens. We gave two away and kept one, the problem is the kitten we kept is eight or nine weeks old already and he won't stop nursing from his mother!! He seems to like nursing more than solid food! Help, I don't think it can be good for a kitten to still be nursing at this age, can it?"
Then I asked her more specifics, such as:
- How did you attempt weaning your kitten? At what age, and with what, etc.
- What kind of food are you trying to wean your kitten to? (We had great success with Iams Canned Kitten food.)
- How much solid food is he eating daily, approximately?
- Are you trying to feed him wet or dry food?
And got a response of:
"I started weaning him at about four and a half weeks with wet kitten food. He only eats two or three bites of solid food a day and I'm giving him dry kitten food mixed with a little bit of liquid to soften it. I don't know what to do, I have an appointment with the vet to have my older cat spayed in a few weeks and the kitten is supposed to stop nursing at least a week before the appointment! I'm getting very upset. I might have to give this kitten away too just to get him to stop nursing
I have run out of ideas. I even tried keeping them in different rooms so they would stay away from each other but than they both start howling and screeching!"
I must say I'm a bit tongue-tied on this one. It's not one I've had direct experience with, so I thought I would ask you guys to see if you had any advice/information/sites you can give me that would help her with her situation.
Thank you so much!
It started out with this question:
"My two year old cat had a litter of three kittens. We gave two away and kept one, the problem is the kitten we kept is eight or nine weeks old already and he won't stop nursing from his mother!! He seems to like nursing more than solid food! Help, I don't think it can be good for a kitten to still be nursing at this age, can it?"
Then I asked her more specifics, such as:
- How did you attempt weaning your kitten? At what age, and with what, etc.
- What kind of food are you trying to wean your kitten to? (We had great success with Iams Canned Kitten food.)
- How much solid food is he eating daily, approximately?
- Are you trying to feed him wet or dry food?
And got a response of:
"I started weaning him at about four and a half weeks with wet kitten food. He only eats two or three bites of solid food a day and I'm giving him dry kitten food mixed with a little bit of liquid to soften it. I don't know what to do, I have an appointment with the vet to have my older cat spayed in a few weeks and the kitten is supposed to stop nursing at least a week before the appointment! I'm getting very upset. I might have to give this kitten away too just to get him to stop nursing
I must say I'm a bit tongue-tied on this one. It's not one I've had direct experience with, so I thought I would ask you guys to see if you had any advice/information/sites you can give me that would help her with her situation.
Thank you so much!