New Kitten not eating!

If she is really young, she might not know how to eat much. Try heating the wet food in the microwave for 10-20 seconds (you don’t want it hot, just warm) and it will make it have more of a smell; cats use smell a lot to eat, so the heat brings that out. There will be some others who come on that can help you even more with good advice on raising young kittens. Try this website for a lot more info:

http://www.petplace.com/cats/kitten-care-recommendations/page1.aspx

Katie, Azdebra’s suggestion re the microwave is a really good one..my sis found a very young kitten right around this time last year and we had no idea what to do for feeding..we got some Wellness kitten food and mixed it with a little bit of KMR and made a really gross porridge looking thing, but it seemed to do the trick; he could only eat it off our fingers for the first week or so..we would then microwave for like 8 seconds just the kitten food itself and he’d eat some of that as well..hopefully you’ll get some more suggestions and Chloe will be eating like a champ in no time!! (my sister ending up adopting the kitten and trust me, feeding has never been a problem since 🙂

I forgot one thing. It’s o.k. to feed her the KMR but don’t try to force her. If she doesn’t want it, don’t do it. It will cause stress and the liquid could end up going into her lungs instead of her stomach. If she is playing, purring and seems happy to you she is getting her nutrients but you just haven’t seen her do it yet. If she becomes sluggish, really docile and generally without much life, then you can start worrying. It sounds to me like she is fine but I can’t see her. Your description does not sound like a kitten that is in any kind of distress.

You’ll be fine. Trust me.

Katie, when you’re feeding food, I’d try a tablespoon of canned cat food, mashed down on a very flat surface (like the lid to a cottage cheese container). Drizzle a teaspoon or so of kitten milk replacer and/or some Pedialyte on top of the canned food.

If she doesn’t really show interest, when she’s watching, try swirling one of your fingers around in the food. Then, gently offer her your fingertip to lick. If she doesn’t lick it, try very gently touching her nose or upper lip; chances are she’ll lick it off.

If she still doesn’t want to eat, take the food and mix it thoroughly. Feed it to the kitten from an eyedropper, no more than 1/3 of the eyedropper per swallow. If she won’t open her mouth, put the eyedropper up to the side of her mouth and squeeze a little in.

This whole process may be a little messy! If you need to clean her up afterward, take a washcloth and soak it with very warm water. Wring as much water out of it as you possibly can, then clean her up. Then gently massage her with a dry washcloth; you don’t want her getting chilled.

Do you have her confined to a fairly small space? Are you stimulating pooping & peeing for her? Is she staying at a comfortable temperature?

Keep track of how she’s doing, and be sure to tell your vet if she’s still not eating by Tuesday morning. The vet may have suggestions as to what to do, in order to get her eating.

I read a suggestion on line when looking for advice for a young kitten that plays and seems fine but was just bearly eating a little bit and losing weight. The suggestion was SARDINES in TOMATO SAUCE. I had tried everything else so gave this a try. OMGOSH!!! He won’t even stop eating it. I had to take the bowl away fearing he might throw up he had eaten so much of it. So passing it on. If your kitten seems healthy in every way but won’t eat much sometimes they just need the right thing and this one is a great one to try!!!