What to feed very young kitten.

[CRUE CAB]

The kitten was eating solid food on its own? It may bit older then you think. In any case I would still give milk as a supplement first in bottle then bowl. She might be undersized due to nutrition deficiencies. That's why I would supplement if she's eating solid foods. She should be able to make up some growth with a bit supplement. I presume your other cats are at least tolerating her presence?

He is way undersized, just skin and bone.
As far as the other cats, we will see when I get home. We just brought it in the office a couple of hours ago.

 

[gunner]

We found a very very young kitten at work.
Mother cat is no where to be found. We left it over night to see if she would come back but didnt.
And a heavy truck shop is no where for a cat to be alone.
Question is what has anyone fed one that they have found?

Considering no one has brought this up yet you may like to try this kind of diet

The UK Natural Pet Food Shop - BARF Diet for Cats

I use BARF for my dogs, and would never turn to commercial food again. I don't have a Cat but I swear by the principles of a BARF diet.

Paul

 

[OscarB63]

We found a very very young kitten at work.
Mother cat is no where to be found. We left it over night to see if she would come back but didnt.
And a heavy truck shop is no where for a cat to be alone.
Question is what has anyone fed one that they have found?

have you seen it urinate? I know it sounds gross, but kittens are, for some bizzare reason, born not knowing how to take a piss. (that's why the mother cat licks their junk...to coax them into peeing) Just something to be aware of.

 

[Rainman05]

Sorry, but you're dead wrong. Cow's milk is really really bad for cats. Nothing to do with temperature and everything to do with lactose. They cannot digest sugar and the milk will make them vomit, give them diarrhea and will cause future digestive problems if they are given too much. This is fact.

Cats and Milk: Lactose Intolerance and Other Dietary Concerns

/imitating russian accent
During time of communism there was no milk made special for baby *****cat so little cats who lost their mothers to the great patriotic war lived very well on normal milk rations.

Don't you tell me that normal milk doesn't work. That's just BS buddy. I don't deny that milk made special for kittens is better(or could be better), I'm just saying your vehement statement that normal milk isn't good enough is wrong.

 

[Middleground]

I don't deny that milk made special for kittens is better(or could be better)

Thank you. That is exactly right, comrade.

 

[Rainman05]

Thank you. That is exactly right, comrade.

Yes, but I am saying that normal cow milk is good enough. Just not the unnatural no-fat one. Aim at 3% or higher.

Normal soviet kittens lived on normal milk rations like rest of brave soviet people.

 

[Middleground]

Yes, but I am saying that normal cow milk is good enough. Just not the unnatural no-fat one. Aim at 3% or higher.

Normal soviet kittens lived on normal milk rations like rest of brave soviet people.

I thought Russian people lived on vodka, my mistake. :2razz:
A russian friend brought this stuff to a dinner party last month. I got wasted on about 5 sips, LOL:

 

[Fisher]

So far, its had part of a pulled sandwich part of a hot dog.
I went and got some baby formula from CVS and will stop by Petsmart on the way home.
I guess I am the lucky one who gets to keep it.:mrgreen:

Kittens will usually eat kitten food when they are ready to eat kitten food. It is not unusual for them to overlap between nursing and cat food. Both liters of my feral kitties have done this.

 

[OscarB63]

Normal soviet kittens lived on normal milk rations like rest of brave soviet people.

In Soviet Russia....milk drinks YOU

 

[Dittohead not!]

We found a very very young kitten at work.
Mother cat is no where to be found. We left it over night to see if she would come back but didnt.
And a heavy truck shop is no where for a cat to be alone.
Question is what has anyone fed one that they have found?

You need to buy kitten formula, just like baby formula, but made for cats. Don't feed it anything else until it's 6 weeks or so old, then use kitten food.

Then, as it grows up, get it used to dry cat food. Keeping a feeder full is a lot easier than opening a can every day, especially if you like weekend getaways.

 

[Cephus]

We found a very very young kitten at work.
Mother cat is no where to be found. We left it over night to see if she would come back but didnt.
And a heavy truck shop is no where for a cat to be alone.
Question is what has anyone fed one that they have found?

It depends on how young. We found and adopted a 3-week old kitten less than a month ago, but luckily, feral kittens tend to get weaned faster and he could eat regular food so there were no problems. If the eyes are open, it's 3 weeks or later, try feeding a kitten-specific moist food (it has more protein which the kitten needs to grow) 3-4x per day, as much as the kitten will eat at a sitting. If it's younger than that, you need to bottle feed replacement milk (not regular cow milk). I've bottle fed kittens and puppies as young as 1 day and it's a real commitment (every 2 hours, 24 hours a day).

Good luck.

 

[Cephus]

If less than 6 weeks DO NOT FEED FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You must bottle feed. Real cat food will kill it! Go to Petsmart and get a kitten kit. After that, wet food until they are 3 months and thn you can introduce dry kitten food.

That's not the case. Our kitten was eating moist food at 3 weeks and after eating that, went straight for the regular dry cat food and handled it fine. Feral cats wean much faster, of necessity, than domestic cats.

 

[Cephus]

We are all calling it about 4 weeks max.
Has little little teeth. I washed her in the hand sink to check for fleas or mites. But found none, just grease and dirt.

You can wash the kitten, just don't use any soap or detergent and do not use any flea shampoo until she's much older. The toxins in the shampoo can kill her when she cleans herself.

 

[specklebang]

That's not the case. Our kitten was eating moist food at 3 weeks and after eating that, went straight for the regular dry cat food and handled it fine. Feral cats wean much faster, of necessity, than domestic cats.

Just because you did that and got away with it doesn't mean it's the best thing to do. There's no difference between feral and domestic at 3 weeks.

 

[clownboy]

Very young mice. :mrgreen:

 

[Cephus]

Just because you did that and got away with it doesn't mean it's the best thing to do. There's no difference between feral and domestic at 3 weeks.

Yes, there is a dramatic difference between feral and domestic at all ages. It's not about the best thing, it's about survival. Weaning faster ensures better survival for feral cats who may lose their mother at any time.

 

[CRUE CAB]

You can wash the kitten, just don't use any soap or detergent and do not use any flea shampoo until she's much older. The toxins in the shampoo can kill her when she cleans herself.

It was just softsoap hand soap. It was filthy. Real slow water just to make sure it was all off. It been running around the office and hiding behind the desktops.

 

[specklebang]

Yes, there is a dramatic difference between feral and domestic at all ages. It's not about the best thing, it's about survival. Weaning faster ensures better survival for feral cats who may lose their mother at any time.

So it's your contention that a 3 week old kitten is somehow metabolically different than a kitten born indoors?

I've watched kittens die because someone gave them solid food and it tore their intestines out as it tried to digest it. Let's put it this way, my suggestion is possibly a safer strategy so why not do it the safer way?

 

[nota bene]

have you seen it urinate? I know it sounds gross, but kittens are, for some bizzare reason, born not knowing how to take a piss. (that's why the mother cat licks their junk...to coax them into peeing) Just something to be aware of.

I was going to mention this too. I've a friend who's one of those people animals find (including injured homing pigeons!). She's always had dogs that help the babies potty, but massaging with a warm, wet washcloth also works.

My parents bred Abyssinians, and they and every vet I've ever worked with said you never give a kitten cow's milk because it produces diarrhea (and you never give a cat raw egg white either). In recent years, kitten formula has been on grocery store shelves, so all you need is an eyedropper and that warm washcloth and the willingness to be faithful 24/7 for a couple of weeks.

 

[nota bene]

So it's your contention that a 3 week old kitten is somehow metabolically different than a kitten born indoors?

I've watched kittens die because someone gave them solid food and it tore their intestines out as it tried to digest it. Let's put it this way, my suggestion is possibly a safer strategy so why not do it the safer way?

You're right. But I'm not sure what you mean about metabolically different, and I wonder if a feral kitten has tougher guts than domestic babies. My rescue is half-feral and came to me at 3 weeks, and he was (and remains) very different in some ways. I've had many, many cats but have never seen claws like his. Even when he was tiny, they were longer and three times thicker than any cat claws I've ever seen. Why not tougher guts and an adaptive ability to digest that the progeny of housecats don't have?

 

[Cephus]

It was just softsoap hand soap. It was filthy. Real slow water just to make sure it was all off. It been running around the office and hiding behind the desktops.

Just be careful and make sure it's all natural. What may be perfectly harmless for big critters like us may be dangerous to such a small metabolism.

 

[specklebang]

You're right. But I'm not sure what you mean about metabolically different, and I wonder if a feral kitten has tougher guts than domestic babies. My rescue is half-feral and came to me at 3 weeks, and he was (and remains) very different in some ways. I've had many, many cats but have never seen claws like his. Even when he was tiny, they were longer and three times thicker than any cat claws I've ever seen. Why not tougher guts and an adaptive ability to digest that the progeny of housecats don't have?

All feral means is that they are living in the wild. The parents could just as easily be 2 domestic cats who ran away or were lost. There's no other difference that I'm aware of.

My world-famous black cat, PuBare, was technically a feral. He was born in the parking lot of a motel. His father was a police officers and his mother was a prostitute. Father split and Mom got run over by a car and he and his 2 sisters lived around the hotel dumpsters. He was 4 months old when I adopted him, found a home for the 2 sisters and drove him from Guernville CA back to Las Vegas. I must admit that he's definitely a food person and he'll eat anything he can get his paws on. The lady of the house, Bellis, was a stray who had not been fixed or chipped and Bugaboo was fostered and loved as an indoor cat his entire life. Metabolically speaking, they are all the same - cats.

Because I'm a slightly famous cat rescuer, I've had 2 cases where people called me because they found kittens and gave them food with catastrophic results. I did my best (or my Ve did) to save them but they both died with their intestines poking out of their rear ends.

So IMHO, there's no difference between a feral kitten and a domesticated one when they are that young. Just as they all have different personalities, they all have different physical aspects. But I don't think it has anything to do with where they are born. I don't claim expertise but you might say it's an educated guess after handling hundreds of cats.

 

[Cephus]

You're right. But I'm not sure what you mean about metabolically different, and I wonder if a feral kitten has tougher guts than domestic babies. My rescue is half-feral and came to me at 3 weeks, and he was (and remains) very different in some ways. I've had many, many cats but have never seen claws like his. Even when he was tiny, they were longer and three times thicker than any cat claws I've ever seen. Why not tougher guts and an adaptive ability to digest that the progeny of housecats don't have?

They're not biologically different, but just as some human mothers can wean babies sooner than others, feral cats wean their kittens earlier than others, out of necessity. Whereas a domestic cat may not wean until 6-7 weeks, a feral kitten usually does by the time their eyes open, between 3-4 weeks. That's just the way it works in the real world. We can't talk about the "best possible scenario" because in the best possible scenario, there would be no feral cats in the first place. Feral kittens learn to eat dead prey, they don't learn to eat nicely prepared soft foods and processed food chunks. The only way you're going to harm the kitten is by only providing adult-sized kibbles that the kitten is not able to process. That's why I suggested only soft foods designed for kittens for the first couple of weeks. You can also mix in kitten-sized kibble that is made for their metabolism.

I've raised over 100 kittens in my life, many bottle-fed, I've never had one choke on actual food yet. But hey, what do I know?

 

[lizzie]

My world-famous black cat, PuBare, was technically a feral.

My youngest cat (I have two) was what I believe to be completely feral. She wandered up here when she was probably about 5 or 6 weeks old, and I couldn't go near her for about two months, but I would feed her and stand back where she could see me until I gradually got closer and closer. She acted as if she had never seen a human before, and although I can now pet her, and she'll jump up into my lap occasion, I can't pick her up without her squirming to get loose.

 

[Jerry]

We found a very very young kitten at work.
Mother cat is no where to be found. We left it over night to see if she would come back but didnt.
And a heavy truck shop is no where for a cat to be alone.
Question is what has anyone fed one that they have found?

I had a kitten this young before. Its eyes were bearly open.

I fed it baby formula from a bottle with an extra small nipple intended for preme babies.