Need a few pointers with 3 week old kitten

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  • 11 May, 2015 at 4:09 pm #831656
    Damian
    Participant

    Update, also thanks for all the good advice. She is pooping by herself in the little box (although the poop is a little dark, its well formed.) She is eating blue buffalo kitten gourmet dried, about 1/4 of a can each time she eats, then she starts to meow for the bottle lol. She eats a 1/4 and then about 30’ll from.the bottle. She weighs almost a pound and is about 5 weeks today.

    My next question, she doesn’t drink water (I’d imagine she is hydrated enough to not want it from the wet food and the formula). What would ‘be a correct age for her to stay home (currently I bring her to work everyday). I gave her a little bit of dry food the other day and she loved it. (Blue buffalo kitten dry food). At what age would she be able to be fed at 6am then 530pm (with dry being left out for her to nibble on)? I just don’t to leave her alone too early since she is doing so well. Currently I feed her at 6am, 1230pm, 530 pm and a little snack at 10pm to hold her over. Just wondering what age would she be able to cut out the 1230 feeding.

    She is doing great with her litter box and finally learned how to kick the litter to cover the poop.

    I am trying to let my dog show her how to drink from a saucer (won’t drink formula or anything from a bowl but will eat the wet food from a bowl) but it doesn’t seem to be working.

    Any tips? Also once again thanks for all the help so far, she seems to be doing great.

    11 May, 2015 at 6:16 pm #831667
    Damian
    Participant

    I guess you can say I am just worried about over feeding her. Although just now, she actually refused the nipple after 20cc of food, although her stomach was still a little big from the morning feeding I think. She was wormed at the vet and I just have her the 2nd worming yesterday. Vet didn’t see any worms in her poop and I haven’t seen any either. Just her little belly gets so big while she eats lol.

    13 May, 2015 at 1:42 pm #831766
    Damian
    Participant

    Bump for when people think she can stay home (9-10 hours) between feedings.

    13 May, 2015 at 2:07 pm #831770
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    She can stay at home by herself as long as she is contained in an area or room where she can’t hurt herself with holes, wires, pulling things onto herself, etc., cords and such. Making her wait 10 hours between feedings would be a little extreme IMO just because my grown cats don’t go that long without eating. If you leave dry food out for her and water, she would be able to eat during the day. That being said, she will be on free feed and could get overweight later on in her life. It’s good to have dry food for one meal a day, but I don’t recommend free feeding. Cats are food oriented and if they are a little hungry you can train and teach them to do anything. If they are full, then MEH! 😉

    13 May, 2015 at 3:37 pm #831778
    Damian
    Participant

    She would stay in the spare bathroom when my wife and I aren’t home until she gets older. the work schedule my wife and I have means we can’t feed during the day (so kibble would have to be left out). We free feed my dog and he thankfully isn’t a chow hound, more of a Frazier eater.

    So right now in your personal opinion would it be bad for her to have 6am wet food, dry out during day with a bowl of water and 6pm wet food and a snack at 10pm?

    Only reason I’m reluctant to leave the dry out is I have not seen her drink anything from a saucer, even though she eats from one, and I don’t want her to get dehydrated during the day.

    13 May, 2015 at 8:24 pm #831790
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Hi Damian,

    I think she’s still a bit young to go that long without a feeding. She’ll be more independent at 8 weeks so that’s what I recommend. By keeping her with you, you will be able to tell if she’s drinking water. She does need to drink water and will figure it out but, for now, she seems OK with the bottle and wet food.

    BTW, what is her name?

    PG

    13 May, 2015 at 8:32 pm #831792
    Damian
    Participant

    Her name is Belle.

    13 May, 2015 at 8:35 pm #831793
    Damian
    Participant

    Should I during g the day keep a small thing of water in her cage at work?

    13 May, 2015 at 9:08 pm #831794
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Damien, a cat/kitten should always have access to water at all times. They will drink more water if they eat dry food than if they eat wet. Cats get a lot of the moisture they need from the food they eat (raw or wet) but not dry. At 5 weeks, you are teaching her how to do everything from eat and drink to using the litterbox. Staying by herself for 10 hours a day is excessive for a kitten IMO. Kittens usually aren’t even weaned until around 8 to 10 weeks old and are with their moms and littermates 24/7, and are never alone. An older cat will entertain itself by looking out the window, eating, playing, sleeping, etc. but a kitten is learning at this point and bonding with their human.

    27 May, 2015 at 12:13 pm #832372
    Damian
    Participant

    Just an update, she is doing great. Currently 7 weeks old and about 1lb10oz. totally off the. Bottle. Eating wet and a little dry. She is all over the place lol. My question is though, I know you can’t really overfeed a kittenn until atleasr 3-4 months old. But once I do have to regulate her food how do I know how much to cut back on what?

    27 May, 2015 at 2:34 pm #832387
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    I have four cats that I feed a fourth of a can of wet food twice a day and a MEAL of dry food in the evening. They always act like they are starving–they aren’t. Always better to have a cat that acts hungry because they are much more trainable that way than to have them on free feed (dry food) and then they aren’t motivated by anything. The link that Charlie posted above is one that has loads of info in it as far as feeding. The links we use here really do help, if you take the time to click on them and scan them for what you are looking for. 🙂

    28 May, 2015 at 3:57 pm #832471
    Damian
    Participant

    Thank you

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