Let me first say that I've no experience raising kittens, of any age, and haven't even owned a cat in the past decade.
That is, until one morning three weeks ago when some higher power thought it prudent to leave a still-wet-from-birth kitten on our driveway. I opened the garage to take the kids to school and eeped, thinking it was a little gray dead mouse. And then it started mewing - and that's how Mouse came to live with us.
I truly and honestly did not think she would make it. I didn't have a clue what I was doing (thankfully my daughter's teacher had some experience hand raising kittens and walked me through some of the essentials). But I am also late in the third trimester of my pregnancy so that maternal instinct couldn't just leave this tiny and defenseless thing to die. She slept in a tiny Converse box with some fuzzy blankets and a sock full of rice heated up every few hours for warmth; she was eating well from the bottle. We had a bout with diarrhea for a few days but bounced back after I added a bit of pedialyte to her formula. By day 7 she was sleeping through the night.
I really don't want to jinx anything but Mouse seems to be doing so well. She's three weeks old, ears and eyes open, and eats about 7 tablespoons of KMR a day. She is getting pretty good at this walking thing. Her poops are solid and she doesn't need much stimulation to pass them at this point. Her favorite past time is napping in an oversized Mickey Mouse blanket near the screendoor, where the sun comes in.
So now...what? She has been ruthlessly chewing on the nipple lately and getting so aggressive during feeding that it is sometimes hard to get through. I believe she is teething. Is it time to introduce her to canned food? I've put milk on a dish a few times to see if she'll lap it up but she mostly walks around in it meowing loudly.
What about introducing her to litter? We are planning on keeping her, so I want to try to introduce good habits as early as possible.
I had to include a picture of her 'cause she's so darn cute. This is her milk drunk face from last week. Cheers, and thanks in advance for any advice moving forward!
That is, until one morning three weeks ago when some higher power thought it prudent to leave a still-wet-from-birth kitten on our driveway. I opened the garage to take the kids to school and eeped, thinking it was a little gray dead mouse. And then it started mewing - and that's how Mouse came to live with us.
I truly and honestly did not think she would make it. I didn't have a clue what I was doing (thankfully my daughter's teacher had some experience hand raising kittens and walked me through some of the essentials). But I am also late in the third trimester of my pregnancy so that maternal instinct couldn't just leave this tiny and defenseless thing to die. She slept in a tiny Converse box with some fuzzy blankets and a sock full of rice heated up every few hours for warmth; she was eating well from the bottle. We had a bout with diarrhea for a few days but bounced back after I added a bit of pedialyte to her formula. By day 7 she was sleeping through the night.
I really don't want to jinx anything but Mouse seems to be doing so well. She's three weeks old, ears and eyes open, and eats about 7 tablespoons of KMR a day. She is getting pretty good at this walking thing. Her poops are solid and she doesn't need much stimulation to pass them at this point. Her favorite past time is napping in an oversized Mickey Mouse blanket near the screendoor, where the sun comes in.
So now...what? She has been ruthlessly chewing on the nipple lately and getting so aggressive during feeding that it is sometimes hard to get through. I believe she is teething. Is it time to introduce her to canned food? I've put milk on a dish a few times to see if she'll lap it up but she mostly walks around in it meowing loudly.
What about introducing her to litter? We are planning on keeping her, so I want to try to introduce good habits as early as possible.
I had to include a picture of her 'cause she's so darn cute. This is her milk drunk face from last week. Cheers, and thanks in advance for any advice moving forward!