a question about very young kitties

[Ash75]

yesterday i became father to 2 very small kittens after the mother was involved in an accident. Im guessing they are somewhere between 6 and 8 weeks old but i could be wrong.. Luckily they have taken to me straight away and are very active and playful. My only real concern is that they will eat normal cat food that ive mashed up with a fork but so far they havent drunk any water. I read that its very bad to give kittens cow milk .. but is it bad just to add a tiny amount to a bowl of water to give it a bit of a milky smell to attract the kitties to it a bit more?

thanx in advance Ash , Tai & Chi

[thundersquirrel]

hi ash!

first off, i wanted to welcome you to this board. i love getting new members. :D next, i want to tell you that i am not a cat person, i've never raised a kitten, but i do trust miss d's advice fully, and i know a lot about raising squirrels.

cows milk does not sound like a good idea. cows milk is usually not a good idea for animals other than cows....and humans.....
i assume that you would need to get kitten formula. kitten formula is meant to simulate a CAT mom's milk, making it far better for little kitties. i don't know what brand you should get though, or if you should get some at all, so wait for miss d to comment before you take action.

i hope it works out. they gotta drink sometime. :)

[MissDolittle]

Welcome Kitten Daddy :D !

Yes, thundersquirrel is right, no cow's milk for any animal, ever!
It will give the animal diarrhea and dehydrate them and they can die.

Get some KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) from the store. Walmart has it for sure.

Depending on how old the kittens are...6 weeks and 8 weeks already make
a big difference...they are probably in the middle of the weaning period.
Are their eyes still blue?

Get a little bottle they have for kitties at the store too and try that for the
drinking part. Keep soaking DRY Purina Kitten Chow, not canned food, that
doesn't have the proper nutrition. Also have a bowl with unsoaked dry food
available at all times and fresh water too, besides the soaked dry food and
the bottle. Try the bottle every 4-6 hours during the day.

Keep us updated!

[Ash75]

thanx for the replies .. I just need to say, I'm actually from the UK so no Walmart and the brands you mention I have never heard of. The kitties still wont drink from a bowl of water. They maybe have a couple of sips but then leave it. I have been using a cat milk with reduced lactose and have been mashing normal cat food in with the milk to make a kinda mushy paste which they eat no problems. (you mentioned diarrea and dehydration, absolutly no problem with that, their stools are solid and pretty regular and they do urinate fairly often and are already using the litter tray 9/10 times) You ask if their eyes are still blue, they are just starting to change colour these past couple of days i think.. Am i going to have to hand feed them you think? A quick reply would be appreciated as i dont want to leave it till its too late .. thanx ppl :kissie

*edit* I just tried soaking some solid buscuit food in water for a little while and they love it .. so i can relax a little bit now .. :)

[MissDolittle]

Ok, lets do the dehydration test. If the kitty is not dehydrated, the moisture
in the food is just fine.

Use your thumb and index finger and take a small piece of skin, preferrably
at the end of the back, and pull it up as far as you can without hurting the
kitty, then let go. If the skin snaps back right away, it's all fine. If it takes
longer than 3 seconds, the kitty needs more fluids.

Pinch your own skin on the top of your hand and see it snap back, that's
normal.

If the kitty is dehdrated, simply feed electrolytes (the stuff you feed human
babies, called Pedialyte here) and feed it to them in a bottle.

If the eyes are just turning color, they are not even 4 weeks old and
usually too young to just live on solid foods, so you are doing good with
mixing the milk replacer with it. I would feed them the bottle for at least
another 4 weeks though.

If the stool and urination is ok, I have no concerns :). You are doing a great
job!!!!

[Ash75]

thanx miss dolittle .. a very quick reply indeed .. Only reason i was a bit concerned is i was given a very young kitten quite a while back but unfortunatly it died because it wouldnt drink even after trying for days with a kitty-bottle. These 2 seem a lot more able though .. thanx again and thanx for the nice welcome to the site .. Ash

[MissDolittle]

I was wrong about changing eye color! That happens at a much older age,
so actually you shouldn't need the bottle anymore, My guess is they are
over 2 months old. Is there any way to post or email me a photo?

How did the dehydration test go?

Yes, young kittens die often here too. Either they are sick or they are the
runt of the litter and their organs can't develop right..no matter how good
you take care of them, sometimes there is just nothing you can do.

Please don't let that experience discourage you! Your kittens sound healthy
to me, especially when the poop is normal. If they had leukemia it would
have shown by now. :)

[MissDolittle]

If you don't have a dial up connection, take a look at this movie:

http://www.kittenbaby.com/orphaned-kittens-video.php

All of the kittens on there are no older than six weeks. Maybe that helps
you to determine if your kitties are older.

[Ash75]

Yes they look quite a bit older than the kitties on the film .. so im looking at about 8 weeks i guess..
Now i realise the cats are a bit older than what i thought they were, i can chill a bit .. They still dont drink from a bowl but the last cat I had would only really drink from a bowl on top of the radiator so im not going t worry about it. Thanx for the advice .. miss dolittle ill try get a picture of them up on photobucket or something..
Oh I found out today that we in the UK DO have a walmart but it is in the disguise of an ASDA :oops:

[MissDolittle]

Hehehe, Walmart is about everywhere these days lol. They opened a chain
in Germany few years back. I'm originally from Germany and moved to the
States in 1991.

You know what? If your kittens are still alright, then don't worry about them
drinking out of a bowl. Either they do it when you are not looking or the
have enough moisture in the food.

I have a cat that only drinks water by putting her paw in the water and
licking it off the paw lol. I suppose it has the purpose of filtering the water.
There is a movie of her on the site too doing just that.

http://www.kittenbaby.com/kittycomitty7-video.php

2 of my other cats only drink from a dripping faucet, they have their ways
lol. But keep water available at all times.

I'm looking forward to the photo :).

[thundersquirrel]

hehehe, my cat gets most of her water from the sink. she likes having a waterfall to drink from, but i don't do it often cause most of it just goes down the drain.

i'm happy the kittens are healthy! pics would be lovely. ;)
where in the UK do you live? you don't have to be very specific if you dont' want to. :D

[Ash75]

heres a couple of pictures

A pic of Tai
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i299/Ash75/Image011.jpg
A pic of Chi
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i299/Ash75/Image003.jpg
and a pic of the both of them (quite rare cos they are never in the same place for very long)
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i299/Ash75/Image013.jpg

By the way thundersquirrel... im from Nottingham, here in the UK :D

[MissDolittle]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw :) :) :) :) :).

Looks like they are about 10 weeks old already and they look healthy!

Good job!!!!!!!!!!!! :dances:

[thundersquirrel]

omg......

see, this is why i can never foster kittens. i wouldn't be able to let them go. nossir :D

keep us updated on how they do!
i like their names, by the way. :D