I just acquired a 3 week old orange tabby kitten today at 2 in the morning and it hasn't eaten anything since. It has been about 16 hours since it last ate and i'm starting to worry. I tried feeding it different kinds of wet foods and formula milk for kittens but she didn't seem interested. Any advice would be helpful since i'm highly considering taking it to the vet the next morning. On the side note the owner told me to feed it wet food and not milk. She also seems very fond of me and likes to play around with me and take naps around me so i'm not sure what's going on here.
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Kitten not eating
- Thread starter photopros
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Where is this kittens mother? The kitten should still be with mom. Try feeding KMR and kitten wet food heated up a bit, it has to be a slurry and in a dish not in the can.
Hi. Until other members who are used to dealing with raising kittens come along to offer expert opinions, please see if this article might help any (see link below). There are also some web sites that could help you guide yourself through the process of dealing with such a young kitten (link also below).
How to Take Care of a 3 Week Old Kitten
Kitten-Rescue.com
How to Take Care of a 3 Week Old Kitten
Kitten-Rescue.com
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- #4
Hi thank you for your advice. Is KMR different or should i say more effective than PETLAC? I have tried feeding her with a syringe but she just looks away everytime I try. I've warmed up the food and placed it in a bowl and still no luck. I will just take her to the vet tomorrow morning as soon as I can.
It is best for the kitten to be with the mother until weaned at 8 weeks old or so. It is very difficult situation to feed an orphaned kitten. You need to keep the kitten warm, offer a heat source like a warm water bottle or heat pad on low with blanket on top, but also allow room for the kitten to move away if too warm. the kitten may be defecating and urinating on its own but if you haven't seen it do so then please use soft tissue to stimulate it to go to the bathroom. You need to feed the kitten every 3 hours and then can slowly decrease frequency with age.
If the kitten is only 3 weeks old it needs syringe feeding. It is not weaned yet and cannot eat on its own. It does not even have baby teeth yet. What happened to its mother?
Please observe this video and follow it:
Syringe Feeding — Kitten Lady
Also, your set up is lovely and generous, but this baby is too young to eat out of a can. The pate and milk must be mixed together - just a few teaspoons of each - and offered on a flat plate eventually as a gruel - when the baby is ready. perhaps it will lick from your finger, but try feeding with a bottle or syringe first.
Thank you for taking this baby! Please keep us posted!
Please observe this video and follow it:
Syringe Feeding — Kitten Lady
Also, your set up is lovely and generous, but this baby is too young to eat out of a can. The pate and milk must be mixed together - just a few teaspoons of each - and offered on a flat plate eventually as a gruel - when the baby is ready. perhaps it will lick from your finger, but try feeding with a bottle or syringe first.
Thank you for taking this baby! Please keep us posted!
Like the others said, this infant is so young, you must essentially treat is as an rescued orphan, and handraise it.
She had surely a momma till hours she come to you, so she doesnt know how to eat from a syringe or dropper, and much less - a bottle... So look up the instructional videos, and try your best. You must do it, otherwise...
You can begin with a little sugarwater to give it strengh.
Or place a tiny droplet of white caro syrup or honey, on its gum, this too to give it some quick energhy. Because being without food so long, it has probably began to weaken now. Entice some water or kmr or sugar water from your fingers for it to suckle.
Also, be sure its warm enough. You may need some sort of heat source. Such small kittens arent good at keeping up their body temp.
If the vet is used to small kittens, a visit may be wise, so she or a vet assistant, may show you how to do things properly. Some vets are good at this, some aint.
And also, you will establish an connection as a paying patient.
Otherwise the vet visit as such is probably not necessary medically for now, its good caretaking which is to be done.
Last. Goats milk is a good nourishment, if you would need an extra alternative.
I can only concur with everything previously said. Your tiny is also very lonely and would probably enjoy a stuffed toy & ticking clock for company. Is there a littermate that you could borrow for a few weeks? Otherwise, she should have a heated pet pad under part of her bed (she needs an unheated area so she can get away from the heat source as needed). You can also use a heated rice-or-cornmeal stuffed sock (just funnel the grain into a sock and tie off the top. I make funnels from plastic juice bottles and empty pedialyte bottles). At night, you can drape a towel or light blanket over her nest to keep out drafts. I use a cat carrier with a nest inside for my tinies and cover it with a large towel for naptimes and at night. I also try to keep them on a schedule for naps, just as I would toddlers. A few minutes after feeding, I potty them. I recommend keeping puppy pads in the nest until she no longer wets the bed (that is a very short stage in kittens, especially compared to puppies, because once kittens' sphincters begin working on their own, kittens quickly learn control and begin using the box. Even so, I like to periodically put them on the box because, just like toddlers, they become so engrossed in play that they fail to realize that they need to go until situation "critical" (*just think of the playground chant "50 yards to the outhouse - can he make it?")
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- #9
I just want to update everyone and thank everyone for taking their time to give me some advice. I took her to the emergency vet because I didn't want to take any chances of waiting a few days and the great news is that she's all healthy. I finally got her to suck on the bottle and now she is used to it and eating a safe amount. She is about ready to be weaned so i've been mixing kitten wet food and formula in a bottle and feeding her that way. Once again thank you everyone, I will look to post on this site if any problems arise as everyone is super helpful.
Brilliant so glad you took her to the vets
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