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Cats/Weaning kitten

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Expert: - 1/14/2012


Question
I adopted an orphaned kitten which is now 6 weeks old. It is gaining weight and growing well on KMR via a bottle. I am trying to get her to learn to drink  milk out of a dish as a transition to weaning, but have been unsuccessful. She will lick milk off my finger tip but when I guide her to the dish she will refuse to drink. After she gets frustrated and hungry I end up bottle feeding and she gulps it down hungrily so I know she is hungry.  This has been going on for 2 weeks and I am concerned she will not be weaned to solids if she does not know how to lap from a dish. Should I leave her hungry and will that by necessity make her drink from the dish? Is it not natural for cats to lap things up?

Answer
Yvonne,

At 6 weeks of age, this kitten is ready to be weaned.  We like to use a good strained meat baby food product (only ingredients are meat and broth or gravy with no onion or salt or garlic added. We start by putting some in the kittens mouth and, in time, they usually start to eat it from a finger or spoon on their own.  Once the kitten is eating off the spoon or the finger, we gradually lower it down to a paper plate (we like 6 inch paper plates for feeding -- feed once and toss it). Once the kitten will eat the baby food, we usually begin to mix canned cat food in with it and gradually use less baby food.  You do have to out stubborn the kitten, so patience and perseverance on your part is the watch word!  Sometimes they wean quickly whereas sometimes it takes a couple of weeks or more. Once they develop a taste for solid food, there is no turning back.

Please let me know how she does.

Cats will lap up water, but once they are weaned, they do not need any milk (especially cows milk).

Best regards... Norm.  

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Norman Auspitz

Expertise

I can answer most non-veterinary questions about cats. My particular expertise is pedigree cats, breeding and showing. However, I am versed in feline behavior, cat breeds and their characteristics, general feline husbandry, and the like.

Experience

I judged for the Canadian Cat Association from 1975 until 1982. I am currently an approved allbreed judge for the Cat Fanciers'' Association (the world''s largets cat registry), and have been judging for them since 1991. I have been breeding pedigreed cats since 1971 and have been exhibiting pedigreed cats in shows since 1970. I obtained my first pedigreed cat in 1970 and have never looked back. In 1971, I obtained my first Abyssinian which has become my primary breed. In addition, I have bred Manx and Persians. Currently, besides the Abyssinians, I am also breeding Maine Coons.


Organizations
Cat Fanciers'' Association, inc. (CFA) and the Manx, Maine Coon, and Abyssinian breed councils. I am currently Abyssinian breed council secretary.

Publications
Cat Fancy Magazine, The Abyssinian Chapter in The Cat Fanciers'' Association Complete Cat Book, and Articles for various editions of The Cat Fanciers'' Association Yearbook

Education/Credentials
I received a B.S. from Drexel University in 1968, a M.Math from University of Waterloo, in 1970, a Ph.D. from University of Waterloo in 1975, and a MBA from McMaster University in 1980. I received my approved allbreed judging status in the Cat Fanciers'' Association in 1999.

Awards and Honors
We have produced a number of Cat Fanciers'' Association (CFA) National winning Abyssinian and Maine Coons. We have produced a number of Abyssinian and Maine Coon Distinguished Merit females (an award for a top producing cat), including the first Distinguished Merit Abyssinian in the red (sorrel) color. I am the CFA Abyssinian breed council secretary and belong and/or hold office in a number of cat clubs. I am also a member of the CFA Judges Association.

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