Kitten Won't Eat Anything But Chicken And Won't Drink Water

[RachelE]

Hey guys, my husband rescued a 3 day old kitten from a fire and we have been caring for him ever since. He's now 5 1/2 weeks old. Just yesterday we got him to actually start licking and eating things but he doesn't want anything to do with his kitten food or any kind of cat food for that matter. He won't eat anything but chicken or drink from his bottle of formula. We've been mixing his formula and kitten food into a slush and he's been drinking that for about a week now but he still won't touch it if it's not in the bottle but has no problem eating chicken. I also can't get him to lap water. Any suggestions would be helpful! Thanks!

 

[livvyliv42]

He might just need more time. Slowly start adding more food to the mixture and less formula, but add a little extra water for more hydration and to keep the mixture smooth. My bottle baby refused to lap water or canned food softened with formula out of a dish until he was about 7 1/2 weeks old. And even then, he never wanted the mixture in a bowl. Our older cat had just eaten, but left a small mouthful in the dish. The kitten was curious, sniffed it, and just decided he was ready to eat it! Now he’s eating actual canned kitten food with just a tiny bit of water to make it easier, and he drink from the other cats’ fountain bowl.
I would suggest trying Royal Canin Mother & Babycat, and Wellness Kitten Formula (the small cans, the food in the big cans have fish and gave my kitten diarrhea), those two seem to be good at getting stubborn kittens to eat.
Another thing that worked for me was mixing the Royal Canin or Wellness foods with Tiki Cat Velvet Mousse in the chicken flavor. It makes the food a little thinner, and the chicken scent/flavor is really attractive to the kitten. Just make sure to offer plenty of food, my now 8 week old kitten is eating about 6oz of Royal Canin and Wellness everyday, along with some supplementation from the Tiki Cat mousse or Solid Gold goat milk and chicken mousse.

 

[kittypa]

Goats milk in a small dish is good. I found it at Trade Joe's.

 

[StefanZ]

If he gets all his food as watery slush from bottle, he wont need not much water. So its with all whom eat wet cat food.

I do agree with the suggestion on supplementing with goats milk. Never wrong often right.

 

[kittychick]

First - - - how WONDERFUL that you rescued the little guy! I don't know where you are - -or if you're even in the US, but if so and if you're part of any of those fires raging through so many western states, how wonderful that you took the time to rescue one of many many many kittens (among every other kind of animal life) needing help desperately. Regardless - - - taking on a 3 day old kitten and going through the whole bottle-feeding stage is a HUGE time (and emotional) commitment, as many of us knows, so YEAH YOU!!!!! It's huge. And to get him - healthily - to 5 ½ weeks is ANOTHER big YEAH!!!! So big BIG congrats from me!

Weaning can be a task - - some kittens are thrilled to move on from the bottle...some just aren't (I think for many it's more the association of closeness than it is the actual nutrition - - some just really really love the holding, the burping, etc.).

I noticed livvyliv42 recommended one thing we always have on hand - - the Royal Canin dry BabyCat. We usually have GREAT luck making the transition using a food made specifically for very young kittens and those that are weaning by Royal Canin (no I'm not a paid spokesperson !). It's called "Babycat" ( livvyliv42 is right - - it's actually called "Mother & Babycat " - -and comes in hard and canned) - - but we keep the dry food around specifically for orphans and bottle weaning. It's not cheap, but the great thing is it's a dry food that's made specifically for this stage, to help kittens transition to solids. The pieces of Baby Cat kibble are extra extra tiny, and they're very easy for kittens to chew (if you put a piece between two fingers, you can easily just crush it). They also soften very well in either formula or warm water (we often start with a little warmed formula mixed with it - - but you don't want to leave formula out for long at all - so we let them muck around in that - and after a bit we take that up any uneaten). We then put down a bit of warm water/Babycat AND just dry Babycat hard. We've had tough/slow weaners - - but this has worked every time with those (you can keep feeding it to them until they're 4 months - - but we can't afford that, so we do eventually transition them to other food).

And lapping is a skill that seems to come at different times for different kittens. (We have one "failed foster kitten" who is now almost 16, "Jo," and drinks only by putting his foot into his water and then drinking off of his wet foot. It takes all kinds!) It's nothing to worry about yet. I'm not saying don't keep his hydration monitored - - it is VERY important - -but he's likely getting plenty of water through what he's intaking the other ways.

And a quick fyi in case you don't know (and dehydration isn't something to mess with) checking for dehydration is easy! I've gotta run or I'd grab a video -- but do a google video search if you don't know how to check - - - it might help alleviate some fears about dehydration.

Again - yeah for you - -and your little furry charge!

 

[RachelE]

Kitten started eating the Royal Canin! Thanks guys for all your helpful responses

 

[kittychick]

Woohoo!!!!!!!!! Their soft or dry? That and Fancy Feast seem to be two of the 'magic makers' around here when it comes to picky eaters!