Okay, so tonight my hubby found a little orange kitten out in our chicken coop, trying to get the chicken feed. It looks about 10 weeks old, and is so skinny....ridiculously skinny. We brought him in, bathed him, poor thing is covered in fleas, and has a healing gash across his belly. His hair was matted down to it, and he has medium hair, so we tried to clean the wound as best we could. It looks pretty healed but we are watching it to be sure.
My main question is, should I give him 24/7 access to food?
When we brought him in, we gave him half a can of wet food. He ate that so fast, and was looking around for more. We gave him a half a plate of dry food. He ate a bit, and slept for awhile. We bathed him and he has been sleeping and playing. About 1 1/2 hrs after his original feeding, he wandered over and ate more. Now it is about an hour after that time, and he is snacking on the dry food again. His belly feels so full...when I picked him up to take him to litter, his belly was just swollen with food.... He is so tiny, his belly sticks out bad when full. I am just worried that if I leave the food out all night, he will gorge himself and get sick...but I don't want him to feel like he is having food withheld. I just worry he will over eat, bc he isn't sure if the food will be taken away at some point...ack!!
ps. yes I am keeping the kitten away from other cats in my house for now...i would like to take new kkitten to the vet but don't know when I will be able to afford it so we will see...
My main question is, should I give him 24/7 access to food?
When we brought him in, we gave him half a can of wet food. He ate that so fast, and was looking around for more. We gave him a half a plate of dry food. He ate a bit, and slept for awhile. We bathed him and he has been sleeping and playing. About 1 1/2 hrs after his original feeding, he wandered over and ate more. Now it is about an hour after that time, and he is snacking on the dry food again. His belly feels so full...when I picked him up to take him to litter, his belly was just swollen with food.... He is so tiny, his belly sticks out bad when full. I am just worried that if I leave the food out all night, he will gorge himself and get sick...but I don't want him to feel like he is having food withheld. I just worry he will over eat, bc he isn't sure if the food will be taken away at some point...ack!!
ps. yes I am keeping the kitten away from other cats in my house for now...i would like to take new kkitten to the vet but don't know when I will be able to afford it so we will see...