Expert: Ali - 8/2/2010

Question
QUESTION: I adopted a 3 wk old siamese mix kitten on Fri, July 16 of 2010. I was in the vets office looking over a list of kittens for adoption when a couple brought in the 3 wk old kitten, whom I named Snow, and said they found her under a bush in their front yard. They could not keep her, so I ended up bringing her home. I have never cared for a kitten this young before. I have been stimulating her before and after her feedings to potty, and I have been feeding her every three hours with Hartz milk substitution (powdered milk kind). I use 4 tsp milk and 8 tsp water when mixing.

On Tues, she still had not had a bowl movement, so I brought her to the vet. I'm embarrassed to say, but I waited that long because I thought kittens were only suppose to urinate when they were that young, but I brought her to the vet cause her stomach was swollen. The vet explained that I needed to stimulate the anus as well for a bowl movement and gave her a enema to make her go (she was constipated at that point). I took her home and made sure to stimulate the anus for 3-5 min after every feeding. I still could not get her to go, so Thurs (yesterday) I brought her back and the vet gave her another enema and instructed me to give her a couple drops of mineral oil mixed in each bottle. Snow has not had a full bowl movement yet, but every 4-6 hrs I get streaks of poop when I stimulate her now. She is also demanding food a lot sooner than every 3-4 hrs now, so I feed her even though it is less than 3 hrs. Snow always eats at least 5 mL of milk, but usually 10 mL per feeding.

My concern is, the vet mentioned Snow should be going on her own by now. Since the vet originally told me she was 3 wks last Fri (the 16th), then Snow should be 4 wks old now. Snow still is not voluntarily eliminating or defecating. I've tried introducing her to the litter box, and she can easily crawl into it on her own, but Snow just sits in it and stares around the room. She does not even paw at the litter! I've also tried giving her canned kitten food since the vet said she should start eating soft food now, but Snow does not even play in it. She just walks away.

I'm really worried about Snow since she isn't pottying on her own. I'm afraid I may have damaged her by failing to stimulate the anus when I first got her. When is the latest a kitten starts pottying voluntarily? Is there something I'm suppose to do to help her or will she just start pottying on her own? I've checked her bedding and places for urine and feces, but there is none. She isn't less than 3 wks, cause when I got her last Fri 16th, her eyes were fully open, ears erect, she was walking comletely on her own, and her incisors and canines were in and she reacted to sound. I appreciate any help.

ANSWER: Danielle,

Over the years I've hand reared many mixed breed kittens and it has been my experience that some of these "bottle babies" are quite immature for their age, in some cases this means that they don't quite meet developmental milestones at the same age they would have if they'd been allowed to stay with their mother. Although I'm not a veterinarian and I can't make diagnoses or prescribe medical treatments based on my experience with hand reared kittens there are some red flags in the history that you've provided me with - basically I have concerns about Snow's overall health and development. There is a chance that what you've been seeing is medical in origin, but I think that given her size and age it might be wise to see if it's related to Snow simply being a bit behind as a result of a lack of information provided to you about caring for an orphan that young when you adopted her.

I will say this, sometimes bottle babies just don't grow up at the same rate as kittens raised by their mother and in some cases it's necessary to be firm with them in order to help them achieve their developmental milestones and ensure their overall health and welfare. I also know based on my own experiences hand raising kittens that it can be very difficult to lay down the law and be firm with a kitten who is having a tough time understanding that she needs to be weaned onto solid foods early (After all instinct tells her that mommy would still be nursing her - so why does she have to grow up so fast without her mommy?). I'm willing to bet that you're pretty tired given the frequency of Snow's requests for meals which can also make it more emotionally tough to teach Snow what she needs to learn in order to be a big girl, especially since orphaned kittens can be champions at piling on wounded expressions and acting as though they're in great distress when they don't get what they need.

I do have a number of questions that will help me gauge Snow's development, weight gain and developmental progress since you've become her surrogate mom. Hopefully with these questions answered I'll be able to help you work Snow's issues out and get her on track with where she should be developmentally. I do think it's fair to warn you that there is a chance that Snow has some sort of congenital defect that's causing her digestive system to act up (it's not what I think is going on, but it is a possibility that may have to be ruled out if we can't get her on track with the usual tried and true methods that I've used over the course of 25 years give or take). The questions that I have for you are as follows:

~ Was Snow assessed by the vet on duty at the clinic you adopted her?

If Snow was checked over thoroughly by the veterinarian prior to her going home with you did the vet mention any potential concerns about her health and overall condition before releasing her for adoption? (In this answer I'd be looking for information about things like her weight, how alert she was/her activity level, whether or not she was properly hydrated, how she took to bottle feeds, etc. even little details that you don't place much importance on might be helpful so I'd rather have too much information than not enough)

~ How often are you weighing Snow at home?

~ How much weight has Snow gained from the time that you adopted her until now?

~ Do you plan on having Snow grow up as an indoor only baby? (If so you may want to check out

~ Has Snow received any vaccines up to this point?

~ Are you feeding her by bottle or syringe?

~ Has there been any change in Snow's eye color since you brought her home?

~ Have you tried anything besides placing a saucer of canned food out for Snow at mealtime to get her interested in solid foods?

~ What are you using to stimulate this baby's anal and genital regions to get her to urinate & defecate?

~ How have you presented the litter pan to Snow when you've tried to get her to use it?

~ How active is Snow? How long do her periods of activity usually last?

~ Have you considered trying an alternative to canned cat food as a means of getting Snow to eat solid foods? (I have a little recipe that I use for kittens that tends to work very well when combined with plenty of time & patience)

When it comes to assessing the health and development of a bottle baby I've found that there are a number of things it's useful to maintain a careful log of (at least until this baby is consistently eating solid food without complaint in adequate quantities to give her the energy and nutrients she needs to continue growing and developing AND she‘s consistently using her litter trays to urinate and defecate without any help from her new mom) - this includes things like:

    - what time she starts & finishes each feeding at
    - how much she ate at each feeding
    - specifically what she ate
    - whether she urinated or defecated when stimulated after her feeding
    - how long she was awake after the feeding
    - how much she weighs each day (at the same time each day if possible)

I have found that it's useful to keep a careful record of each day's events in terms of the amount of food the kitten consumes, when she eliminates waste, whether she urinates or defecates, how she behaves overall and any behavioural changes at least until she's been weaned and is regularly and willingly eating a diet that's mostly made up of solid food whether that's canned cat food or **a raw cat food** (see note below). You can use a digital kitchen scale that measures in grams, ounces and/or pounds so long as you're able to "zero" the scale out once you've placed a bowl onto it to keep the kitten as contained as possible while you weigh her. Generally in Canada these scales retail for about $ 10 - $ 15 for a reasonably good quality scale. You can also clean the scale with a mild soap solution in case of any accidents.

I also know that it can be difficult to hang tough with a kitten who stubbornly refuses to grow up, especially when it's your first time hand rearing a kitten. Based on the history that you've provided I'm left with a number of questions ranging from what condition Snow was in when she was brought into the vet clinic to what you're using to stimulate her to urinate and defecate. I will say this - based on what you're telling me Snow is eating I would say that she's probably lacking a bit of nutrition since kittens this age generally need a good meal every 4 hours or so when they've been hand reared. Obviously if Snow was still with her mom she'd still be nursing which might very well be why she's not to keen on the idea of eating solid foods, but in some kittens the way that you introduce something new can make all the difference in the world. At this stage of the game Snow must learn how to eat with her head down rather than tipped backward as she's nursing on her bottle which is a bit of a challenge. You can try dipping your finger into a mixture of 2 tablespoons of chicken/turkey and broth baby food (no salt, onions or other spices if at all possible because these ingredients aren't necessary for the kitten and onion are toxic to cats), a teaspoon of plain, unsweetened yogurt (to help reduce the chances of Snow developing diarrea and replenish her tiny system's pre-biotics that may have been wiped out with the two enemas) and between 1-3 tablespoons of a kitten weaning formula such as KMR which will add extra nutrients that Snow needs to grow up strong and healthy.

I generally use KMR's products because their formulas tend to be relatively easy to use. Before mealtime it's very important that you heat this soupy little mixture up by via a hot water bath (you can pour the mixture into a couple of bottles as this will make more than one meal) so that Snow doesn't burn her little mouth. *It is a good idea to test the temperature on the inside of your wrist before you ask your baby to eat it because if she burns her mouth it will be difficult to get her back on track with the weaning process.* You can hold your dipped finger near her nose so that she gets the scent of her new food and see if she'll lick it off of your fingers. If she won't you might want to try feeding her with an oral syringe that you can find in the baby section of any pharmacy just so that she gets to taste the meat and get comfortable with the texture of her new (temporary) diet. Once you've got Snow eating this mixture on her own then you should start gradually mixing in either a properly formulated homemade raw diet like the one presented at catinfo.org, a high quality commercially produced raw cat food such as Feline's Pride OR a high quality canned cat food such as those recommended by Dr. Pierson for pet parents who either aren't comfortable with making their kitty's food at home or those who simply don't have enough time to add feline meal preparation to their schedule (I've been making our guys their food for awhile and the recipe takes me roughly 20 minutes to put together and mix, then maybe another 15 minutes or so to weigh the portions and bag them in freezer bags in our freezer).

Mom most likely would not have started weaning her since moms who are healthy and receive adequate nutrition to support a nursing litter that are allowed to care for and wean their kittens without human interference will generally wean their babies between 7-9 weeks of age although they will encourage their kittens to begin eating solid foods around 6 weeks of age or so depending on mom's temperament, whether she's gotten pregnant again and of course whether she's got a good quality diet in sufficient quantities to produce milk for her little ones as they continue to grow and get stronger.

I look forward to hearing back from you soon so that we can help to get Snow back on track so that she's comfortable with litter training, going potty on her own and eating solid food.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have great news about Snow! Over the weekend, I was able to get her to start eating canned kitty food (A/D formula). I did this by taking a little bit on my finger and shoving it in her mouth. She ate it, and then went right up to the plate and started eating it on her own. I've had no problem getting her to eat canned kitty food since then, although I've noticed she'll only eat the solid food with me in the room for some reason. Since Snow started eating solid food, she does not cry for food as often. I can usually leave her be for 4 hours, sometimes even 5 hours, before feeding and pottying her again. She now only cries for food after only 3 hours a couple of times a day... I know that probably sounds weird, but I can tell what Snow wants by her cries. She has a very distinct cry for each need ranging from "I'm hungry" to "I have to potty" to "Affection! Please!"
During the day time, I bring her nest box into the main bathroom and turn it onto its side so if she gets cold she can go up inside it and nap. Her litter box is in the main bathroom with a plate of canned kitty food. This let her play to her hearts content so she can get exercise and I go to check on her periodically. Sometimes during the day, I carry her into the living room onto the couch to play with me or cuddle. At night, I bring her nest box and put it upright next to my bed so if she cries at night for food or pottying (I'm a light sleeper) I will wake up and tend to her. Since she started eating solid food, she only cries twice during the night: at one am and at around five am.
I conduct my feedings by offering her solid food first and then the bottle after she finishes the solid food, but during the night (from 9 p to 6 am) I only give her kitty milk... basically cause I am worried of her lacking in nutrition or getting dehydrated because she won't drink water still. I have no idea how much milk I'm suppose to still be giving her, so if she does not drink any milk after the solid food at one meal, I only give her milk at the next meal. I figure this way she won't get dehydrated. I potty her before and after meals still. She always urinates when I stimulate her.
Snow has also started having regular bowl movements too. She had zero Saturday, but then she had two Sunday and six today (Monday). I think it was my fault she was not having a regular bowl movement. I had to run some errands Sunday, so I left Snow with my husband, and when I came home he told me she went poop. My husband then showed me how to do it, and I noticed he was a lot rougher in stimulating her anus than I was (the vet tech at the clinic told me to gently wipe her... she also could not get Snow to poop). Ever since using my husband's technique, I have not had a problem getting her to poop. I stopped putting a drop of mineral oil in Snow's milk Sunday morning, and I'm hoping once the mineral oil is out of her system that Snow continues to have regular bowl movements. Unfortunately, Snow still is not voluntarily pottying and I hope she reaches this milestone soon.

~ Was Snow assessed by the vet on duty at the clinic you adopted her?

Yes, though I am not sure to what extent. I was not the one who brought her to the clinic and the vet there did not talk to me. The person who talked to me at the clinic was the lady who found her abandoned under the bush and brought her to the clinic to be examined and to request an ad be ran for her adoption. I was at the clinic to look at the ads cause I was looking for a kitten (albeit much older) to adopt, but when I saw her there, I was worried about her well being cause the lady could not take care of her due to her schedule and the clinic did not board animals so... I ended up adopting her to keep her out of the animal shelter (who knows what she would've caught there). Sorry for the long paragraph, I talk too much. lol.
Anyways, I was told by the lady that the vet said Snow was in great health except for an upper respiratory infection. Snow was sneezing a little bit and had some nasal congestion. She still has that, but not as bad as when I adopted her. She was given Clavamax for it to be taken for 10 days, and those 10 d have passed. I intend to take her back to the vet to be retreated for it, but I'm broke right now cause my other cat had to have an emergency surgery (a massive hairball was caught in his stomach pushing up on the diaphragm and plugging up the works) Friday night that costed me a thousand bucks. So this will have to wait until Thurs or Fri, which is pay day.
She was perfectly alert when I got her from the clinic. She even went poop at the clinic and urinated, and she drank from the bottle up there. At the time, she could walk with only a slight stumble, and she is walking like a pro now. At the clinic when I first got her, she responded to sound, purred when petted, the whole nine yards. She acted happy and playful. It was very obvious that she was watching us and listening to what we were saying.

~ How often are you weighing Snow at home?
I was not aware that I was suppose to be. I guess buying a scale will have to wait until pay day too. But Snow weighed 8 oz 07/16 when I adopted her and 12.5 oz 07/20 when I first brought her to my vet. She has not been weighed since then.

~ How much weight has Snow gained from the time that you adopted her until now?
Well, at least 4.5 oz, but probably more cause she looks a bit bigger and has now gained the ability to escape from her box.

~ Do you plan on having Snow grow up as an indoor only baby? (If so you may want to check out
Nope. But I plan on keeping her inside until she is a year old for her safety.

~ Has Snow received any vaccines up to this point? No. I cannot afford it right now, but I will try to get her core vaccinations. They are just ridiculously expensive, so I usually cannot afford it for my pets. I want to at least get her distemper if I cannot afford anything else.

~ Are you feeding her by bottle or syringe? Bottle cause I didn't want her to develop any emotional issues from not suckling a nipple. The kitten takes her dear sweet time nursing from the bottle and she always purrs and kneads when she does. :) She has started licked her paws after eating, but not any other body part.

~ Has there been any change in Snow's eye color since you brought her home?
When I first brought her home, her eyes were more of a blackish blue, but now they are a very bright blue. Snow is a Siamese mix, so I am somewhat expecting them to stay blue.

~ Have you tried anything besides placing a saucer of canned food out for Snow at mealtime to get her interested in solid foods?
If Snow does not eat the food now, I just open her mouth and shove it in like I did the first time. That usually gets her to eat the food. I can't believe I didn't think of that sooner.

~ What are you using to stimulate this baby's anal and genital regions to get her to urinate & defecate?
I use moist cotton balls and sometimes, on rare occasion, moist toilet paper. I now stimulate her to pee first and then to poop. I originally tried to do this in her litter box, but it was too hard to get her to stand still, so now I do it on the floor.

~ How have you presented the litter pan to Snow when you've tried to get her to use it?
This is a bit of a conundrum for me cause I have never had a kitten this young. I have tried putting her in the litter box, manually pawing her paws at the litter, and then repeating whenever she steps out of the litter. The good news is that the kitten now thinks it's her own personal sand box to play in, so at least she has some form of interest now... the bad news is that she still is not using it, but since she still cannot voluntarily potty I guess that does not matter.

~ How active is Snow? How long do her periods of activity usually last?
She is moderately active. She usually plays for a while after she eats... a good half of an hour... possibly longer cause I leave the room after half an hour. When I return, she is usually asleep in the baby blanket I leave out for her. Snow walks very well now and has gained the ability to climb. I leave her favorite toys out so she can play with them.

Thanks for the suggestion of keeping a log. I'll start doing that now. I hope I gave you the information you need. Thanks for your help.

ANSWER: Danielle,

After receiving the answers to some of the questions that I had I do have some ongoing concerns about Snow's overall progress. Ultimately I really believe that she should be at an age and developmental stage that allows her to eat a diet without needing any bottle feeds (you can add small amounts of formula to her canned rations if you have concerns about her remaining hydrated, but the easiest way to know what she needs is to perform a very simple test - gently pinch the skin between Snow's shoulder blades and lift it up slightly then let it go, it should snap right back into place when you let it go, if it doesn't she needs more fluid in her diet). Snow really should be able to go 4 hours between feeds at this point and she really should be able to potty on her own. It's definitely concerning that she hasn't progressed in the potty department and it does make me wonder what's going on and if there might be some sort of congenital problem happening internally. I would definitely advise that Snow sees a vet again soon to discuss what her progress has been both in terms of feedings and potty issues because I'm worried that there might be some sort of underlying issue that may need treatment here - there's nothing in your answer that suggests that your inexperience is holding Snow back developmentally.

I do things a bit differently in terms of getting kittens started on solids (your method risks having kittens choke, so I generally just dab a small amount of food in the area where their lips meet below their nose and they will instinctively lick the food off, this allows them to smell the food and understand what they're supposed to do with it.)...I also don't generally use cotton balls, kleenex or toilet paper to stimulate an orphan to urinate or defecate - I've been using small portions of dollar store towels cut up in sizes I'm comfortable with that have been moistened with warm tap water for my orphans because it more closely mimics the roughness of mom's tongue. When a portion of towel has been used I simply discard it. If I happen to be in a situation where it's not possible (ie: out and about) to use portions of old or dollar store towels then I'll use all natural unscented baby wipes (I'll also use these for orphans who are showing signs of irritation around their genitals or anus as a result of stimulation that hasn't produced results) since they're gentler.

As far as litter box training goes it's all about patience and persistance. If you keep putting her back into the box repeatedly a number of times until she urinates or defecates she should get the hint that that's what you want her to do and where you want her to do it. At this point pending a thorough veterinary work up I'd recommend stimulating her to potty in a litter box and then gently using her paws to move the litter to cover the results - that way when Snow does finally become able to potty on her own she'll be more likely to do so in the right place.

Snow's ongoing nasal congestion may not be related to a upper respiratory infection, sometimes young kittens can develop nasal congestion and discharge from their eyes as a result of a herpes infection (don't worry, not the same kind that causes genital herpes in people, but all the same do practice proper hygiene and wash your hands thoroughly in hot, soapy water after removing any discharge from Snow's eyes or nose with a moist cotton ball). If Snow's symptoms are happening as a result of a herpes infection there's no point in the antibiotics being repeated, she'll simply have the symptoms come and go every so often throughout her life.

When it comes to orphaned kittens of any age the reality is that it doesn't matter whether they eat from a syringe or a bottle, they often develop behavioural issues such as nursing on fingers, blankets, clothing, other pets, their own fur or even stuffed animals because being separated from mom so early does cause a certain amount of psychological damage so don't be surprised if Snow does begin looking for anything she can to "nurse" on. My eldest kitty was a rescued bottle baby who came into my life when she was less than a week old and she ate from a bottle. Although I did my best to keep her on the bottle as long as possible since I'm well aware that a mother cat wouldn't normally wean her babies quite so early in life as bottle babies often need to be weaned it was a difficult process to get her to accept that the bottle wasn't going to be a permanent part of her life. Prior to any attempts at weaning I'd found my girl nursing on towels, stuffed animals - she even tried my fingertips, ear lobes and lips out to see how she felt about them, but I quickly re-directed her nursing to her own body. Soon she began nursing on her own belly fur. As cute as orphaned kittens who nurse on fingers, other pets, ear lobes, stuffed toys, blankets, lips or other less than appropriate places truly are this behaviour isn't quite as cute or well accepted in an adult cat so if Snow does start seeking some way to soothe herself by nursing it's important to find something that won't hurt her, but that won't be inappropriate as she gets older.

Overall it sounds like Snow's doing well in terms of how active she is and how much weight she's gaining because it's not unusual to see bottle babies be a bit behind in terms of their growth and development simply because humans, however well intentioned simply aren't ideal mothers for unweaned kittens. I've taken the liberty of including some extensive information about feline nutrition and how to best meet a cat or kitten's nutritional needs as well as information about healthcare, vaccines, and other routine issues you may have questions or concerns about given Snow's tender age. There are some important issues that might be helpful for you to know more about so that you can make the best possible decisions about Snow's overall care both medically and generally as she continues to grow and develop.

Websites that will have useful information about Snow’s overall health and wellbeing.

- http://cats.about.com/od/newtocats/tp/topmistakes.htm
- http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm
- http://www.christinachambreau.com/index.php
- http://www.bachcentre.com/centre/remedies.htm
- http://www.holisticat.com/vaccines.html
- http://www.shirleys-wellness-café.com/petvacc.htm
- http://www.alternativepethealth.com/constipation.htm
- http://www.premierepets.net/index_files/whyspayneuter.htm
- http://www.fabcats.org/owners/safety/inorout/info.html
- http://www.ora-animalsrescue.org/catcare2.html
- http://cats.suite101.com/article.cfm/kitten_stages_of_development

I have spent a great deal of time and effort educating myself about the nutritional needs of cats since the 2007 Menu Foods pet food recalls. My eldest cat nearly died as a result of being poisoned by eating small amounts of melamine tainted food and it truly is a miracle that she's here today, healthy, strong and full of spunky attitude. Although conventional medicine told us there wasn't any hope for our girl's survival we chose to accept a homeopathic approach (our family vet is a holistic vet who uses homeopathy and conventional medicine to treat pets) and after several days of declining kidney function with conventional treatment alone our girl was ready to come home around 36 hours after the homeopathic remedies were given. She no longer requires ANY form of special intervention, her kidneys have healed themselves with the help of homeopathic medicine, time, patience and occasional injections of supplemental fluids whenever it was necessary over the course of a year or so following her initial health crisis. After going through all of that and watching my baby girl suffer as a result of eating tainted commercially produced pet food to say that I don't entirely trust the vast majority of pet food manufacturers would be a massive understatement...particularly once my veterinarian referred me to a wonderful website created by a veterinarian who seems to be very down to earth and honestly wants to help pet parents provide the best possible nutrition for their feline companions. The website is www.catinfo.org and the veterinarian’s name is Dr. Lisa Pierson. On my own after thoroughly reading Dr. Pierson’s site a number of times I took it upon myself to learn more about the pet food industry as a whole and exactly how well these companies are regulated.

As far as pet food manufacturers go there are only a select few that I trust when it’s necessary to feed my guys stuff that I didn’t make myself from fresh, organic, unprocessed ingredients with supplements added as appropriate (ie: when our family goes on vacation our fur kids come along and we do stay in motels and our cottage which doesn’t have tons of amenities). The long and the short of it is that I encourage you to check out the resources that I’ve listed below to help you, help your baby girl to get the safest, healthiest, most species appropriate diet she can and ensure her long term health and wellbeing. If you decide that you want to know precisely what ends up in Snow’s food bowl for each meal my recommendation would be to try out using the recipe for a properly formulated homemade diet that Dr. Pierson has on her site - my guys generally eat this food with a few additions that are tailored to their individual needs as far as supplements go. If you do decide to take a more natural approach to raising Snow my recommendation would be that you talk with your vet about it, if s/he doesn’t seem to take your concerns and desires seriously then it might be time to find yourself a holistic vet which is simply a veterinarian who is trained in conventional medicine and who has also taken the time to further their education in any one of a variety of fields ranging from acupuncture, massage, Reiki and homeopathy just to name a few possibilities.

Our vet is trained in homeopathy and she’s been a godsend, in fact she‘s saved our eldest cat‘s life when we had been told she wouldn‘t survive much longer because her kidneys were failing as a direct result of eating melamine tainted food during the Menu Foods pet food recalls of 2007. One good thing did come out of the Menu Foods pet food recalls which is that more pet parents are taking the time to learn what exactly goes into the bag or can of food that they feed their beloved companion from. While many veterinarians who practice only conventional medicine don't agree with feeding any pet a homemade raw diet my family vet believes that it's perfectly appropriate to do so, especially since cats are obligate carnivores and many of the processed pet foods just don't provide adequate nutrition to ensure the long term health and wellbeing of our much loved feline friends.

Here are a few websites to check out if you're interested in learning more about the nutritional needs of your feline companions and the best possible ways to meet those unique needs to ensure that your kitties live the longest, healthiest lives possible. If your vet only practices conventional medicine there is a chance that s/he won't agree with or understand some of this information, however the first website I've listed was written by a veterinarian and recommended to me by our family veterinarian after our eldest cat nearly died as a result of the Menu Foods pet food recalls of 2007 and I no longer felt comfortable feeding commercially produced cat foods to my cats or confident that any of these products were safe. Even so-called high quality prescription brands of pet food were involved in the 2007 pet food recalls (which to me says something about how safe these products actually are and their level of quality since they were being pulled from the shelves just the same way as the "lower quality" foods were). My recommendation would be to do exactly what I did, read the material thoroughly, take time to absorb it, see if the materials answer any questions that come to mind and make your own decision about what's best for your cats. Remember, contrary to popular belief veterinarians don't receive extensive training in the nutritional needs of our pets, the bulk of their "training" comes from major pet food manufacturers who in many cases either pay a stipend to the vet to advertise & recommend specific brands of pet food to clients OR provide free food to the clinic that veterinarians can sell at prices they set themselves. Your vet may be making recommendations based on what makes him/her money and your vet makes money when your pets get sick so this is definitely something to consider before you make the decision to dismiss the information about nutrition that I've sent your way. My philosophy on feline nutrition is quite simple - if you fuel your cat's body with garbage eventually they'll get sick and it's usually more often than a cat who eats a species appropriate, nutrient rich diet. I have absolutely nothing to gain from the information that I'm sending your way, all I can tell you is what works for my cats and what has worked for them for a number of years (I never really stuck with one specific brand of pet food when my guys did eat commercially prepared food & I often supplemented their rations with real meat which is probably why they've been so lucky to be as healthy as they have been) - right now my guys eat a homemade diet like the one described on catinfo.org and they also get some canned Wellness (a holistic food made from human grade ingredients, in a 3 cat household it would cost less than $1 per day per cat to eat a diet made up entirely of canned Wellness).

- www.catnutrition.org
- http://www.halopets.com/pet-education/pet-articles/pet_food_what_you_need_to_kno
- http://www.felinespride.com

Hopefully you've found the information I've been able to provide helpful. I'm quite hopeful that Snow's developmental issues will improve over time and it would mean a lot to me if you'd be so kind as to provide progress reports now and then - I'll keep this tiny angel in my thoughts, it sounds like she's a fighter! I wish you the best of luck in your quest to help Snow grow stronger and more mature. If you have any further cat related questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me again, I'll do absolutely anything I can to help you out.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey! Thank you so much! Your suggestion worked surprisingly quickly. I placed Snow in the litter box and stimulated her to go, and then after only a couple times of doing that, she just after feeding her walked right over to the litter box and went potty. She's been using it on her own ever since then! I am so happy about this cause I was starting to get worried and so was Snow's vet.

Thanks for the information about kitty food. What I've been able to read so far was rather interesting. I'll do some research and try to find some kitty food that is nutritious and that I can afford on my pay check.

Snow is showing more and more interest in her canned kitty food. She still insists on bottle feedings (sometimes still sooner than 4 hours) but I think from how she has progressed so far, you were right the first time when you said she is just a little developmentally behind from being an orphan. She keeps gaining weight so she must be doing well on some level. Her nasal congestion has gotten a lot better since she was started on the new medication and she rarely sneezes now.

I do have one last question that I was hoping you would know the answer to. I got Snow a playmate Saturday, cause all Snow wants to do is play and I just don't have time to play with her all hours of the day. I also thought she would perhaps grow up a slightly more normal kitten with one. The other kitten I got (Siam) is a 8 week old Siamese kitten (my husband said the other kitten had to be Siamese too) that was kept indoors since birth and had her mother for her entire eight weeks. She had brothers and sisters, so Siam knows what play is. Her mother was a pure bred Siamese who was current on her health maintenance (I asked about this cause I didn't want Snow catching any bugs with her immune system, and I figured since Snow was getting better with her meds, then it would be like how humans aren't contagious while on antibiotics). Siam is the result of her mother darting outside one day while in heat (got to watch those doors XD).

My question is, do kittens normally hiss and growl when they play? For the first two days, Siam would only hiss and growl at Snow. Snow (now a few days older than 5 wks) was smitten for Siam, and kept trying to play with her despite this. I thought it might just be that she didn't like Snow, but Siam also hisses at inanimate objects and even some toys. It's now the third day, and Siam has started... well, I cannot decide if it is play or if she is attacking Snow. Snow and Siam chase each other around the house pawing, stalking, and what looks to be playing. I know Snow is playing with Siam, but Siam hisses and growls while she is doing this. If I could hit the mute button though, it would look like play. Siam's ears are perked up and set forward while she is doing this, not laid back, and her tail is swooshing back and forth the whole time. Is this just how kittens play? Or did I just perhaps jump the gun here on getting Snow a playmate?

Answer
Danielle,

I'm so relieved to hear that Snow has finally started to use her litterbox on her own, I was beginning to worry that she had some sort of serious congenital defect that was preventing her from being able to relieve herself without help. As far as the food issue goes there are some foods that I can recommend if you prefer to continue on with commercially prepared foods. If I understand you correctly you now have three cats (one adult, Snow & Snow's new playmate), I have three resident cats as well and I've found that it costs on average $1/day/cat to feed them either a homemade raw diet with the appropriate supplements and formulation or a high quality canned cat food such as Wellness (or similarly formulated high quality canned cat foods).

Pet food manufacturers like to claim that it's necessary for cats at different life stages to eat differently formulated foods - my thought on this is quite simply that if the cats were catching their own dinner they wouldn't be looking for birds, rodents or other prey animals in kitten, adult or senior formulas...What tends to vary is the quantity of food that a cat needs in order to maintain healthy growth as kittens and healthy body weight as adults and senior cats. My family veterinarian actually cautions against following the instructions on the bag of food because the pet food manufacturers often recommend feeding 10-20% more than a cat or kitten actually needs. Be careful to avoid feeding one brand of pet food exclusively if you do want to continue on with commercially available pet foods because in all honesty commercially produced pet foods each have their own short comings since they really don't represent the nutrition a cat would be getting naturally if you were feeding him/her small rodents, birds and other prey animals.

I'd strongly encourage you to avoid feeding dry food at all if you can because kibble just doesn't provide the species appropriate base that cats need. The fact that dry foods tend to have minimal moisture content is well documented and since cats aren't designed quite the way that other mammals are designed in terms of having the same drive to quench their thirst by drinking copious amounts of water it's important for them to get as much of their fluid requirements as possible from their diet just the way that they naturally would if they caught their own dinner. Cats who are chronically dehydrated as a result of eating a diet made up entirely of dry cat food may be at higher risk of developing a variety of problems with their bladder, urinary tract and kidneys which are issues that you really don't want to have to watch your much loved kitties go through.

Dry foods are also much more highly processed than canned foods because they need to have the bulk of their moisture removed and many chemical preservatives and additives are added to increase the shelf life of these products. Overally as far as I'm concerned dry food simply contains too many chemicals, some of which have been declared unsafe for use in human food and when it comes to companies asking me to give my cats something that has been proven unsafe for me to ingest I'm just not okay giving it to my cats. Since cats are true carnivores there are also often chemicals added to the dry foods to increase palatability because cats naturally wouldn't eat a diet made up mostly of grains and low quality meat/poultry by-products. In essence shopping for the right cat food is somewhat like grocery shopping for people - the more highly processed a food is the less nutritious it is. There are a variety of benefits when it comes to feeding your cats a healthy diet filled with nutrition that they can actually use:

~ A kitty who eats less junk produces less waste since they use more of the food meaning that you'll save on cat litter. As an added bonus along the same lines, the waste that cats who eat higher quality foods produce often doesn't smell nearly as bad as the waste produced by cats who aren't eating a high quality species appropriate diet...

~ Providing proper nutrition that's as high quality as you can also means that your cats will in all likelihood be healthier and require fewer visits to the veterinarian which is good for you since you won't have to fork out quite as much money as you would have in a kitty who gets sick or has a whole host of medical problems related to not getting appropriate nutrients from his/her diet.

~ Cats who eat a properly formulated diet in the right quantities don't tend to be quite as likely to become overweight. In cats, just as in people obesity can lead to serious long term health problems such as diabetes, elevated blood pressure, heart/lung issues and cats who are overweight are also at increased risk of developing crystals in their bladder/urinary tract which cause loads of pain, possible house soiling and countless dollars at the vet clinic for treatment.

***NOTE:*** How you choose to vaccinate also determines how healthy your cats will be throughout their lifetimes. New research over the past 5 years or so has proven that our pets often tend to be receiving too many vaccines, too frequently. This can cause a whole host of serious medical issues ranging from specific types of malignant cancers, an increase in the number and severity of allergies, kidney failure and serious auto-immune disorders just to name a few possibilities. My recommendation to you is to take as much time as you need to in order to do the research so that you know what your options are and you can make an informed decision about which vaccines your cats receive and how frequently they receive them over the course of their lifetime. Based on the talks that I've had with our family veterinarian I've chosen to vaccinate my cats as little as I safely can as infrequently as I safely can. Some evidence suggests that cats living in low risk situations can safely be vaccinated once as kittens and tested periodically to ensure that they're still protected over the course of their lifetime. If you aren't comfortable with giving your cats vaccines simply because your vet says so then you can have your vet test their blood titers, which will tell the vet how much protection the cats' immune systems are already providing against common infections that are routinely vaccinated against and allow you to feel confident in your decision about their overall care and how you prefer to handle the vaccine issue.

We've already covered the two most important aspects of providing proper nutrition for your fur kids which include a healthy immune system capable of fighting off infections & the fact that your cats are able to make better use of their food if it's species appropriate and properly formulated, but there is one other important issue. Today's domestic cats are unique in that they evolved in the Egyptian desert where water wasn't very plentiful. This has resulted in an interesting evolutionary trick - cats don't have the same drive to quench their thirst as other mammals like dogs or even people do, in fact their bodies have evolved to make the most of the moisture in their prey (or in modern times for most cats their cat food) which is why it's so absolutely important that cats get the majority of their water from the food they eat. When I do feed my furry kids canned food I add a bit of water so that the food is about the consistency of pea soup. A lack of hydration can cause serious medical problems which is why it's a bad idea to make their entire diet up of dry, overprocessed food.

When we feed Wellness in the large cans which go for about $3 CAN, the pet supply store we deal with gives us a case discount of 10% which brings the total down to about $80 for 2 cases of large cans which means it's actually less than $1/day/cat since they only eat 1 large can of Wellness, give or take a bit each day between the 3 of them when we do feed the canned food and the price isn't much higher beyond initial costs of equipment and supplements when it comes to feeding a high quality homemade raw diet)...Regardless of which way you choose to go with the nutrition for your kitties my recommendation is to add as much extra water to the food as your cats will tolerate to ensure that they're properly hydrated as this will reduce the likelihood of your furry kids developing crystals in their bladder/urinary tract, bladder infections, kidney infections and kidney failure because they've got adequate water in their systems to flush out most of the bad stuff. Ensuring that your kitties receive as much water as possible within their food doesn't absolutely guarantee that your cats won't ever develop these health problems, but it certainly does a lot to reduce the risk.

Overall I'd strongly encourage you to avoid dry food as the main way of meeting your cats' nutritional needs because it truly is the least nutritious option available, it's way overprocessed and cats can't access the nutrients in diets where grains take the place of high quality meat since they are obligate (aka true) carnivores and the bulk of their nutritional needs should be met by eating a diet that is mostly made up of meat. Dr. Lisa Pierson (the vet on catinfo.org) also makes a wide variety of recommendations as far as pet foods go for pet parents who truly aren't comfortable making their cat's food at home, so don't be shy, go into pet stores and pick up a few cans of one brand of food one pay and see what your cats think of it. Most pet supply stores will accept returns on food that hasn't been opened so hang onto your receipt, if you find something that your cats absolutely refuse to eat then return it and move onto something else.

As far as Snow's new playmate goes I wouldn't have suggested simply putting the kittens together and hoping for the best. Cats, regardless of their age are territorial by nature, this means that they can sometimes react badly to being tossed into a new situation with a new cat. Since I began volunteering as an expert on this site I've answered hundreds (if not thousands) of questions on how to properly introduce a new cat or kitten into a household with one or more cats or kittens already in residence. Since both of these kittens have yet to be vaccinated my strong suggestion is that you don't allow them direct contact with each other yet. I have given detailed instructions in my previous answers on this subject about properly introducing a new cat or kitten to a resident cat or kitten. My recommendation at this point would be for you to check out my previous answers on new cat introductions - if after reading my previous answers you still have questions or concerns about the way things are going with the introductions I'd certainly be glad to help you and your kitties out any way that I can.