Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 7/30/2010

Question
I have been caring for 3 abandoned kittens for about a week and a half now...they were approx. 3 days old when I got them (based on the state of their umbilical cords at the time), and they are now about 2 weeks and 2 days old. They're eyes have been open for about 6 days, they are playing with each other and walking (although still quite wobbly#. They are doing quite well, however, 2 seem to be becoming disinterested in the bottle now and don't want to suck on it anymore...they just bite it and growl like nothings coming out #I am sure that it is as I squeeze it lightly to help it along)....I am wondering at what point can I introduce canned soft cat food?  And what sort of feeding schedule should I follow when I do?  Do I feed it to them or do I put it in a dish and hope they get the idea? Do I still feed them regularly with the bottle when I introduce canned food, and when do I stop bottle feeding altogether and introduce water dishes?  Any help you can give would be great!  Thanks!

Answer
Two weeks is way too young to start solids, even if they are disinterested in the bottle. I am going to guess it's because you had a regular feeding schedule for them and they can now go longer in between feedings.

You can start them on soft food at 5 weeks old. If they are large kittens and really hungry you can go as early as 4 1/2 weeks.
When you do start them, get them some Science Diet kitten growth canned and just mash it up in a flat plate with a little of the milk replacement in it. They will get the idea very quickly if you set them in front of it and let them smell it. If they are not interested they are not ready, so don't make up a bunch at one time.

You will still feed them the bottle off and on until they are eating three small meals a day. Make sure they get some worming medicine for kittens as they probably have roundworms and that will give them a false pot belly.

You can put a water dish in with them when they start sniffing around the solids. Make sure you get them vaccinated right at 6 weeks old as their immune systems won't be quite as good as a mother raised kitten due to not getting enough antibodies from her milk.

Don't feed them ANY Purina cat chow because it has cows milk in it and it will give them severe diarrhea.

You can find dozens of kitten care sites all over the web. Check a few out. But be careful, some of them have some wacky, non-credible information.