Expert: Ali - 9/3/2008

Question
My husband found a box of 5 wk. old kittens at a gas station.  We had them for a week and then found homes for 2 of them, so we have two left and they are both girls. one is 1.3 lbs. and the other is 1.8 lbs.  The younger one does not play as rough as the bigger one and the younger one cries out when playing.  We are keeping them in a very large box in our dining room, with the food, water and bed inside the box.
I am asking if I should separate them, either permanently or just put them in different boxes for the time being. They each have their own food bowl, but share a water bowl.
Is is possible that two sisters do not get along and should not be together?
Thank you very much
Carol

Answer
Carol,

It's best to allow the kittens to play together as they were doing. It's how they work out their place within the family. The grumbly kitten sounds like she's just more dramatic than the other, there's nothing wrong with that. If you have any reason to believe that the kitten is sick or injured I would recommend that the girls both be assessed as it's possible that they weren't properly cared for since they were found abandoned. Cats are predators, and young predators often tussle and play fight with one another. Some kittens are quieter about play while others make a lot of noise, either response is completely normal. It's important for the girls to play together and figure out who's who in regards to each other. This play is essentially practice for baby predators, it allows them to practice hunting, stalking, pouncing and defending themselves. It's a good idea to invest in a few interactive toys such as kitten mittens and kitty teases. The interactive play will allow the girls to begin bonding with you and your husband and strengthen that bond once it's been formed. If you feel that either kitten is anxious, which is reasonable considering that some human being threw them away as if they were trash, you can certainly try a few things to help both girls feel a bit more secure. It's a good idea to line their box with something that smells like you to allow the girls to be comforted by your scent even if you happen not to be home. An old towel, a dirty t-shirt or even a hand towel rubbed briskly over your hands will work. You can certainly offer the kittens a stuffed animal to cuddle up to since they were taken from their mom too young. Don't be alarmed if they begin to suck on it, this behavior isn't uncommon in kittens taken from mom too early, if this happens simply remove the stuffed animal and replace it with a rolled up towel to prevent the little ones from ingesting pieces of stuffed animal or loosely applied parts like eyes, noses, etc. A towel wrapped around a hot water bottle or a heating pad that is set to the lowest setting can also provide comfort for these babies during the night. Alternatively they can be brought into your room at night so that you can reassure them if they become anxious or fearful. Sometimes a night light can help to ease night time anxiety. You can also add a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy to the kittens' water to help reassure and calm them. Rescue Remedy is a blend of flower essences which works well to calm cats and kittens who have experienced unknown traumatic events that are causing anxiety or fear. This remedy is very safe and is in fact used by pet owners and some vets worldwide. You can generally find Rescue Remedy at health food stores or specialty stores that carry homeopathic remedies. In this case I would recommend that you add about 4-5 drops of this remedy to the kittens' water, and of course they should have fresh water and a clean bowl daily.

Sadly these kittens didn't come with a history. Unfortunately that means that you don't know what other traumas they may have endured beyond being abandoned. You should probably have these little ones assessed by a vet as soon as possible. These babies will need to be checked over by a vet and given a few doses of deworming medicine and begin receiving their vaccines. Young kittens that have been taken away from mom should begin their vaccination program as soon as possible because they are very vulnerable to infection. Normally 5-6 week old kittens would still be receiving a supply of antibodies from their mother's milk, however this isn't possible for these little ones. It's important that anyone who handles the kittens washes their hands beforehand to reduce the likelihood that the kittens will come into contact with viruses or bacteria that could potentially cause the kittens to become very sick.

The kittens should probably be getting a small amount of a kitten weaning formula in addition to their crunchy kitten food. If the kittens would rather not try kibble then you can give them pureed meats, commercially produced, meat based baby foods are fine for this purpose, but they are an expensive choice. I normally recommend that kittens having trouble with the introduction to solid foods as a result of situations like these be given a mixture of pureed meat, weaning formula and organic, unsweetened, plain yogurt. In my experience this works quite well and kittens seem to get the idea much faster than they would with hard food or canned kitten food. Commercially available weaning formulas provide extra nutrition for kittens that have been orphaned or abandoned but would normally be nursing. Pureed chicken is normally well accepted and reasonably cost effective. The yogurt is simply to allow the kittens' naturally occurring beneficial bacteria normally found within the digestive tract to become balanced again and this will help to settle a case of diarrhea down. My recommendation would be to use one chicken breast that has been allowed to cook in a small amount of boiling water. Remove any skin and bones after the chicken is cool enough to handle. Keep the water that you cooked it in to mix with the powdered weaning formula. Follow package directions provided with the weaning formula except that you will be substituting the broth from the chicken you've cooked for water. Cube the chicken and place it into the food processor or blender and add weaning formula. Puree and continue to add weaning formula until the puree is about the consistency of a thick gravy or slightly thin cooked cream of wheat. This recipe can be frozen in an ice cube tray, then you can store the cubes in a ziploc bag for future use. This will allow you to make a slightly larger batch of this weaning mix and it's convenient in the sense that you can simply defrost the amount that your kittens need on a daily basis. You can feed this mixture with an oral syringe if the kittens won't eat solids on their own, if they are eating solids this mixture can help them get the extra nutrition that they would normally be getting from mom at this point. Most kittens aren't entirely weaned until they are 8 weeks of age or so, this is important to consider when you are dealing with abandoned kittens younger than 8 weeks. If the kittens will voluntarily lap up the recipe that I provided in addition to eating the crunchy kitten food they'll be getting enough nutrition to support their growth and development. According to your e-mail it sounds as though the little ones are slightly light for their age so adding this mixture to their diet will help them to add the weight that they need to grow normally.

All in all it sounds like you have two reasonably healthy sisters with the potential to grow up to be wonderful companions. Congratulations on the arrival of your newest family members. Don't forget to spay these girls at around 5-7 months of age to prevent unwanted litters. Spayed/neutered cats enjoy health benefits and fewer behavioral issues than cats/kittens that haven't been sterilized. If you would like more information on this topic you can either consult my previous answers on this subject or contact me for further information.