Expert: Tina - 11/8/2007

Question
Hi Tina,
I have a 5 week old kitten, that I have been bottle feeding since He was a week old, now I can't get him off the bottle. I have tried feeding him the formula in a dish. but he wont lick it up. I have also tryed feeding him caned food, that didn't work either. I have also tryed dried dryed food mixed with the formula, also didn't work. How can I get him off the bottle?

Answer
Hi Gwen,

Thank you for taking such good care of this orphaned baby. At five weeks, he may not yet be ready for weaning just yet - give him another week or so on the bottle. But you can start getting him used to the taste of canned food - mix about a teaspoon of canned food into a cup of formula and puree in the blender so it doesn't have any chunks. Use a high meat content canned food with no grains, I recommend Wellness, Nature's Variety, or Innova Evo. Then feed the formula in the bottle. You may have to enlarge the hole if it becomes clogged.

Then, start mixing the formula and the canned food and dip your finger into it and place that in the kittens' mouth, over and over encourage him to lick it off your finger. He will probably figure out lapping formula from a saucer when he's 6 or 7 weeks, and you can gradually start increasing the amount of canned food.

I don't recommend dry food for any kittens or cats, it is too high in carbohydrates and doesn't provide enough moisture. Most urinary tract problems and obese cats could be avoided by feeding canned food only. Here is some more information on the subject:

http://www.catinfo.org

http://littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library