Expert: Ali - 10/24/2011

Question
Hello,

I found a young kitten a few weeks ago who was constantly being abandoned by her mother. After the third time , she was left in a yard with a dog, and I decided to take her in. She was tiny, her ears were still flapped over and her eyes sealed shut. I bought and was feeding her KMR stage one "kitten milk" which she readily accepted. I took her to the vet a few days later for flea removal and what I though was a tick. The vet gave her a tiny dosage of flea medication (which cleared the fleas up instantly) and informed me that what I though was a tick was in fact the remaining umbilical cord (which then he cut off ). She was also tested for worms and parasites , and she came back clean. The vet gave an estimated age of 8-10 days and weighed her at 4 ounces. I continued feeding her the KMR (every two hours) and within two days, her eyes popped open, and her ears were standing straight up. Within the next few days she rapidly progressed to purring loudly, grooming, walking steadily around the house and showing all the signs of a 4-5 week old kitten, including teeth coming in. Around this time, I took her to the vet once again because she had not pooped for around 3 days (I was still stimulating her). I was told to give her some karo (which worked) and that I could start the weaning process. She was weighed again at 4 ounces.  I bought some KMR stage two , some Iams canned kitten food and dried iams kitten kibble. She refused to take the stage 2 KMR but accepted the canned food. I've been feeding her with the can for about a week now and she makes a complete mess of it. She smears her face around on the plate , attacks it to the point of almost flipping it over and by the end of each feeding is dirty enough for a bath. Is this normal? Is there any way I could reduce the mess? I am still unsure of her exact age, but she appears to be "sucking" the food as she would the bottle, have I weaned her too soon? Or will she grow out of this? Also , she seems to have not gained any noticeable weight , but seems healthily active and eats normally. Should I be concerned? I give her the kibble sometimes with the wet food, but I don't think her teeth are big enough yet, because she shows minimal interest in eating it. Also, she's NOT taking water from a dish. I know she IS eating wet food , but im afraid (since we re-heat it) that shes not getting enough fluids. I am giving her water mixed with karo from a syringe. She takes it without much of a fuss. She is in the process of litter training and she pooped in the litter by herself yesterday without stimulation. She still needs to be stimulated most of the time and will not go into the litter unless placed there. When should she be "self sufficient" ? I am also in the process of finding her the best forever home possible. Are there any suggestions for getting a kitten adopted and at what age should I start looking for a home for her?

Thanks so much!
Kellie

Answer
Kellie,

Given that this baby isn't gaining weight as she should be I would recommend that you don't entirely take away the KMR stage 1 formula - add it to her soft food and create a gruel like consistency - it will give her added nutrition. I would also speak to your vet about her lack of growth/weight gain - it isn't uncommon for bottle babies to be a bit behind in their growth but no weight gain over the course of more than a week is concerning.

As for the feeding - kittens this age make a mess, whether they've been bottle fed or not. You may want to consider investing in some all natural unscented baby wipes to help keep your baby clean while she's going through this stage in her development. Kittens this age aren't meant to eat kibble (in fact check out catinfo.org for more information about proper feline nutrition because kibble really isn't a good nutritional choice for cats of any age).

This baby will need some time, you can't rush this... She will develop and mature in her own time. On average I don't recommend finding homes for kittens before they're 12 weeks of age since they need extra time and socialization with mom and littermates. In this case you just have to play it by ear - she'll show you when she's self sufficient and ready to be re-homed. Ideally you will want to have her spayed and vaccinated before adoption because then she won't be able to contribute to the pet overpopulation problem. Most veterinarians that perform early spay/neuter surgeries recommend that kittens weigh at least 2 lbs and are a minimum of 8 weeks old.

Truthfully it can be difficult to find a good, responsible forever home for pets, that's why so many are euthanized in shelters worldwide every day. I would suggest that you insist upon references from prospective adopters including a veterinary reference AND it's never a good idea to post "free to a good home" ads because the wrong types of people tend to respond to these ads and the worst case scenario is that your baby could end up being abused, neglected, abandoned, sold to research facilities, etc...

I really wish that I could give you specifics on when this baby will be ready to go to a permanent home, however she's very young and as a bottle baby she will mature much more slowly than if her mom had been willing to keep her with her littermates. All I can recommend at this time is to be patient and allow her to grow and mature in her own time.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me again at any time - I'm more than happy to help in any way that I can.

Kind regards,

Ali