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Old June 4th, 2012, 09:17 AM
Ellivort Ellivort is offline
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What to feed 9 week old kitten (approx)

Long story short, some neighbours moved and left their cat and her fairly new litter of 2 behind last week. We have been trying to get them so we could take them to the shelter, but have been unable. This morning we noticed the mother had been hit by a car on the street and we have managed to get one of the kittens and are still looking for the other.

We have taken her into the house, we would like to keep her. I estimate she is about 8-9 weeks old.

What should we feed her? We bought some Whiskas kitten dry food, but she doesn't seem interested. I know she may just be upset and unsure of her surroundings, but I'm wondering if maybe soft food would be betteR? Or should she still be on a cat's milk still? I've heard pet stores care kitten type formula.

Thanks for the help
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Old June 4th, 2012, 10:13 AM
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Marty11 Marty11 is offline
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Definately soft food. There are cat experts here on the forum that will give you some answers.
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Old June 4th, 2012, 11:59 AM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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First of all, may your ex-neighbours rot in hell, and I hope their lives until they get there are filled with the worst bad luck imaginable (including an agonizing disease or 2).

As for you: you are an Thanks for looking after this kitten and my fingers are crossed that you can find her sibling.

Best food would a good quality canned kitten food like Wellness. You can find it at Petsmart or one of the smaller pet food retailers. If she isn't interested in that, pick up some plain chicken baby food from the grocery store (Heinz chicken in broth is a good one) and see if that'll convince her to eat. It isn't nutritionally complete so only use it short-term to jump-start her appetite. If she won't even eat that, you might have to bottle feed her some kitten replacement like KMR. She should be eating some solid food on her own by now but perhaps the losers that "owned" her mom didn't provide any. Don't let her go without food for more than 24 hrs. Kittens can dehydrate and go downhill very quickly without sustenance. You may need to assist feed her if she doesn't eat, and possibly have a vet check her out.

Good luck! Keep us updated on this poor little sweetie.
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Old June 4th, 2012, 12:29 PM
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Love4himies Love4himies is offline
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Oh thank you for rescuing and I hope you find the other kitten

If the momma was feeding the babies prey, the kittens may not recogonize kibble as food (and for good reason ), My favourite kitten food is Wellness, canned. It comes in a small pink can. You may also add a bit of raw chicken mixed in with the cat food (not too much to throw off the nutritional balance of the food) to get them interested.

Good luck!
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Old June 4th, 2012, 02:20 PM
Ellivort Ellivort is offline
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Great news!

My mom suggested just moistening her kitty kibble and trying to feed her.
So i moistended it with some warm water, fed her a small spoonful and now she's in the kitchen, nom nom noming on it! I'm so happy she's eating, boy was she ever hungry!

Thank you for all the advice. Sadly we did find our sibling, in the old neighbours backyard, but had been attacked and is no longer with us

Looks like this little sweetie, who appears to be a pretty little girl with blonde fur and gray eyes, will find a home with us. Our 2 year old male long hair has been nuzzling her, which is highly unlike him since he doesn't typically like anyone lol.
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Old June 4th, 2012, 04:02 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ellivort View Post
Great news!

My mom suggested just moistening her kitty kibble and trying to feed her.
So i moistended it with some warm water, fed her a small spoonful and now she's in the kitchen, nom nom noming on it! I'm so happy she's eating, boy was she ever hungry!
Phew! What a huge relief. I hope you can still get some canned food for her though (and L4H's suggestion of some raw meat is a great one!). Kibble is actually not a great choice for cats, and especially kittens, as the ingredients tend to be poor quality plant sources rather than much more digestible muscle meat. Some really good info for you on feline nutrition at this link: www.catinfo.org

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ellivort View Post
Sadly we did find our sibling, in the old neighbours backyard,
ARGHHHH! More curses to those nasty &*^%'s. My heart breaks for what that little kitten and the mom went through.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ellivort View Post
Our 2 year old male long hair has been nuzzling her, which is highly unlike him since he doesn't typically like anyone lol.
Sometimes cats just know when they need to give a scared soul some lovin.
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Old June 4th, 2012, 06:46 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarcatmom View Post
First of all, may your ex-neighbours rot in hell, and I hope their lives until they get there are filled with the worst bad luck imaginable (including an agonizing disease or 2).

As for you: you are an Thanks for looking after this kitten and my fingers are crossed that you can find her sibling.

Best food would a good quality canned kitten food like Wellness. You can find it at Petsmart or one of the smaller pet food retailers. If she isn't interested in that, pick up some plain chicken baby food from the grocery store (Heinz chicken in broth is a good one) and see if that'll convince her to eat. It isn't nutritionally complete so only use it short-term to jump-start her appetite. If she won't even eat that, you might have to bottle feed her some kitten replacement like KMR. She should be eating some solid food on her own by now but perhaps the losers that "owned" her mom didn't provide any. Don't let her go without food for more than 24 hrs. Kittens can dehydrate and go downhill very quickly without sustenance. You may need to assist feed her if she doesn't eat, and possibly have a vet check her out.

Good luck! Keep us updated on this poor little sweetie.
I feel the same way about the cat owners. And I wish there was some way to report them for animals abused! I would call a vet and see if they what they suggest. I am so glad the OP took the poor kitten .
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