Need some help with weaning!!

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  • 2 May, 2017 at 5:52 pm #858599
    Jennifer
    Participant

    I became a momma to an orphaned kitten a few weeks ago. He was about two and a half weeks when I got him and has been bottle fed since. He is now roughly five and a half weeks old. He is doing great! He has been gaining weight at a good rate, uses his litter box regularly, sleeps through the night and wakes me up promptly around 7:30 am for his morning feedings, and even plays!! So since he is doing so well, we have been attempting the weaning process.. and it’s not going to well. I have been trying to get him to lick some of his formula off of my fingers, but he won’t. He has licked me at different times though, when formula wasn’t present. He of course steps in it, and gets it all over his paws but does not lick it off them either. I rub the formula around his mouth… he still doesn’t lick it. He just cries for his bottle. I have canned kitten food as well, that he wants absolutely nothing to do with either.

    Does anyone have any tips, or is it just too soon for him?

    2 May, 2017 at 6:33 pm #858606
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    This baby just loves his bottle! You can try adding a little mushed up wet food to his formula in the bottle. Open the nipple up a bit for it to flow through and he will get used to the taste. Some are quite ready for wet food, but some are not. Don’t worry about him reaching milestones at certain times, he is flourishing, which is wonderful. He will let you know by acting hungry and you can try him on wet food every so often to get him used to it. Put some on your finger, let him sniff it, then put a tiny amount on your finger to let him taste it.

    Remember that kittens really aren’t fully weaned until 8 to 10 weeks. I know most sites say 5 weeks, but IMHO, that’s just wishful thinking!

    3 May, 2017 at 2:16 pm #858639
    Christa
    Participant

    Hi there!! I’ve recently weaned my now 8 week old kitty and went through the same thing!! We had tried wet food mixed with formula since she was around 4 weeks, but she had zero interest. We kept offering the mixture to her a couple times a day and rubbing some on her mouth and eventually around 5 or 6 weeks she just started eating it. Once she did, she had zero interest in the bottle and only wanted food! So just keep trying!!

    3 May, 2017 at 5:45 pm #858646
    Jennifer
    Participant

    Thank you for your replies!! This silly little boy. I tried the mixture of a bit of wet food and his milk in the bottle last night and he drank a tiny bit then didn’t want to have anymore. This morning he did lick some milk off of my finger, so I’m just going to keep on trying. Tonight I’ll try again with the milk in a shallow saucer and see what happens!! I’ll also keep trying with the kitten food.

    7 May, 2017 at 10:52 pm #858773
    Jennifer
    Participant

    Update:
    Little Oliver still does not want his kitten food.. or milk in a bowl. Today I got some baby food in a jar (no onions, or garlic- only chicken and a bit of broth), and he was very enthusiastic about licking that off of my fingers. I put some in a small saucer for him, and he actually ate some. Then I finished his feeding with more milk from the bottle. I’m going to go to the pet store and look for chicken flavored kitten food, possibly tomorrow, and see how he reacts to that!!

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