# KITTEN HELP!



## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

I have 5 foster kittens, the one we are speaking of is 5 and a half weeks old. all of the others, even the four week olds are weaned from fomula. However, stroodle will not drink water or eat hard food. she drinks if the water is offered in a bottle and eats if the food smells like formula. She has been starving herself and is very skinny. I am mixing special food and offering water in a bottle, but I cannot seem to get her to drink and eat like her siblings. (this is a desparate measure, she was getting sick) I just recieved a nasty bite from her when she saw the bottle. I think she may be attached to it, and has linkd it to human contact; she is a very social kitten. She would rather be with people than cats.

suggestions?


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## js6stone (Aug 7, 2009)

I fostered a kitten this summer. I got him when he was 4 days old. What a job!!! He's 3 months old now...happy, healthy and rotten! 

Here's what I suggest...
#1 take it to the vet. Sometimes kittens will die while weaning because their digestive tracks aren't fully formed. Find out if your efforts are in vain.

#2 Don't offer anything in a bottle. They get used to that comfort with a human and don't want to give it up. 

Was this kitten bottle fed? How long was it with it's mother? 
Was it switched straight from formula/milk to hard cat food? It needs a couple weeks of gruel before eating straight dry food.


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

She was just in and everything seemed fine.

She poops pees and everything fine, she CAN eat the dry food, she just doesn't.

Yes, she and her siblings were offered gruel until they got tired of it and started chewing on the edges of the dish.

I have had her since she was 3 weeks old, she and her sisters were taken (by us) from a neighbor's hay. They did not want the kittens there.

They have been bottle fed since then.

She is very attached to being handled. She eats the dry food (with formula in it) if it is offered by hand or I hold the bowl in front of her. And she drinks water if it is offered in the bottle. I have her in isolation right now so i can moniter food intake.


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## js6stone (Aug 7, 2009)

If she's healthy then it's time to let her grow up. She will hold out for that bottle as long as she can. You've got to simply take it away. She won't starve. She'll eventually give in. You don't want a cat that you have to hand feed. My dad has a dog that won't eat out of her bowl and she's 8!


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

js6stone said:


> If she's healthy then it's time to let her grow up. She will hold out for that bottle as long as she can. You've got to simply take it away. She won't starve. She'll eventually give in. You don't want a cat that you have to hand feed. My dad has a dog that won't eat out of her bowl and she's 8!


The dog is hand fed?


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

the reason i bottlefed the water was because she refused to eat or drink and got very sick. she has weaned now, and eats/drinks just fine, she is in the big crate with the others now.


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## js6stone (Aug 7, 2009)

Stace87 said:


> js6stone said:
> 
> 
> > If she's healthy then it's time to let her grow up. She will hold out for that bottle as long as she can. You've got to simply take it away. She won't starve. She'll eventually give in. You don't want a cat that you have to hand feed. My dad has a dog that won't eat out of her bowl and she's 8!
> ...


Yes. They claim she doesn't want to get her face dirty. She's a Yorkie and only weighs about 7 lbs.

Congrats on getting your kitten weaned! It's a proud moment, isn't it?


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

[/quote]

Yes. They claim she doesn't want to get her face dirty. She's a Yorkie and only weighs about 7 lbs.

[/quote]

I would try practicing tough love and put the food in a bowl without giving her any form of attention. Give her ten minutes to eat and take it away after that. Then try the next meal time again. if you drop a piece of cheese does she need to be fed as well instead of her stealing it?
Dogs don't care about dirty faces. It is because they have been used to eat that way.


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## maddy (Jul 27, 2009)

my mum's dog wont eat out of a dish iether


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## Stace87 (Jun 24, 2008)

js6stone said:


> Stace87 said:
> 
> 
> > js6stone said:
> ...


That's ridiculous. I don't understand why they haven't left food in a bowl for her - she's bound to eat it eventually.


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

maddy said:


> my mum's dog wont eat out of a dish iether


It's because they are spoiled and conditioned to eat like that. Dogs that are raised as dogs eat out of bowls. Do you think that the strays out there would only eat unless being hand fed? Dogs are survivors. A little starvation for a couple of days won't hurt them. It is because people want to feel needed, so actually the owner is more needy than the dog...


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## js6stone (Aug 7, 2009)

Bingo! My dad and step-mom are both disabled. The dogs are their life. They won't even leave them home alone! Someone always stays behind.


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## maddy (Jul 27, 2009)

what disability does your parents have?


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## mariposa0283 (Sep 10, 2009)

aww yay congrats on weening the kitty.


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## js6stone (Aug 7, 2009)

maddy said:


> what disability does your parents have?


They both have back injuries and have had multiple surgeries.


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