newborn kitten?

Question

my cat had a kitten about 2-4 weeks ago. But only had 1. is that normal?
and its starting to open its eyes. But one of them is ALWAYS shut. What can I do to help open it?
How can you tell if its a male or female
when should it start eating canned food?
when should it be weaned from its mother

this cat is indoor. Never goes outside. She had this kitten outside of our bedroom door. I think she did that so we could hear bc she was clueless when we woke up to help her. We looked around the house and didnt find anymore.
My boyfriend takes a papertowel with warm water and gently rubs the eye til it opens. but it always goes shut again.

Answer 1

Firstly congrats, second to get the best answers i would bring it to the vet for a check up. And yes it can be normal for a cat to have only one kitten but i would still bring th mother to the vet. But I have also found some sites that may help you.
http://www.peteducation.com/category_summary.cfm?cls=1&cat=1388
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1388&articleid=923

There are a bunch of other links that look usefull on this site-and i would wait and watch the kitten it may just take a little while for the other eye to open.

Answer 2

Leave the eye alone, it will open on it's own when it's ready. If it begins to develop a crust around the eye lid, only then should you worry - that's an eye infection. But if there is no crust or pussy-looking fluid, just wait. Start weaning it at 4-5 weeks by giving it canned food. You can mix dry kibble in with the canned too if you wish. Total weaning should be no sooner than 8 weeks, but it's also a maturity thing. Sometimes the kittens need a little extra time with mommy. For unexperianced kitten owners, it can be difficult to tell the sex - they are rather simmilar. But compare the genitals of mommy and baby, if they look the same - kitten is a girl. If the kitten is a boy, there will be a slight difference - the genitals should appear slightly larger (this is where, eventually, a male kittens testicles will drop). Good luck!

Answer 3

It's common for young, small, or outdoor cats to have only 1. Or maybe she has more and they died and she took them away from the living one.

I would not try to force the eye open, the mama should lick any crusties off and it'll open when it's ready. Or take a warm wet wash cloth and gently rub it across the eye to get off any goop and try to see what's keeping it clsoed.

The kitten can start eating kitten chow (not canned, it'll get the runs) at about 5 or 6 weeks old. Just put the food down and it'll eat when it's ready. It can be weaned at 6-8 weeks. You can tell then gender by looking under the butt. If there are two furry little balls there it's a boy, if there's a triangular little thing low on the backside (like the mama) it's a girl.

Please go get the mama fixed soon, especially if you have a male kitten because they WILL mate in a few months and have inbred kitties.

Answer 4

If the mother cat was quite young it is normal to have just one.

My cat had one and then the next night gave birth to a dead one so watch her and make sure she is healthy.

Let the kitten open his/her eyes on his own. It sometimes takes more time for one than the other.

For kittens it is really difficult to tell if it is male or female. It has to do with how far apart the two holes are (I never could tell, thought she was female until I went to the vet at 8 weeks).

At about 7-8 weeks it can start eating canned food and at the same time you can start weaning him from it's mother.

What works great to feed the kitten canned food is to dilute it with milk and then put some on your fingers and let the kitten lick it off. It will not be long before he eats out of the bowl.

Enjoy your kitten they are so adorable as newborns!

And don't worry to much because the momm cat can take care of him/her until he gets older.

Answer 5

The eyes will open when ready, if they are a little dirty(eye boogers) then use a warm wash cloth to clean them. You won't be able to tell the sex of the kittn until about 4 to 6 months that's when if it's a male it will have 2 little puff balls down there. The weaning can happen around 4 to 6 weeks if it has teeth to bite you with go for it get kitten food canned and dry mix it then let the kitten try it, keep the mother away or she will eat it and the baby won't. If the kitten is a male and you are going to keep it fix it or it will spray everywhere.

Answer 6

by all means, DO NOT try to open the kitten's other eye. it will open on it's own. if it looks like it is matted shut, you can hold a damp, warm washcloth to help clean it. just don't try to force the eye open. this can do a great deal of damage.

it's completely normal for a mom to have only one kitten. granted, it is more common that they have more than one, having only one doesn't mean that anything is wrong.

at about 5 or 6 weeks, you can start leaving out some canned food or kitten chow that has been softened with a little water or some kitten formula. mom will start weaning around then and you don't want baby getting too hungry.

Answer 7

First off, 1 kitten can be normal but you really should have taken the cat to the vet to make sure there were none trapped in the birth canal.
As for the eyes, i would say if the the one that stays closed looks ok don't worry too much and DON'T try to pry it open, you'll just hurt the kitty. If you really want to help it to open get a soft washcloth with some warm water and lighty wipe off the kitten's eyes, that should do it.
The male/female part should be easy, i don't know how to explain what to look for, ask someone who knows about cats to look for you.
You shouldn't even try introducing solid foods untill around 8-12 weeks or so, but if you're kitty starts getting so hungry that mom can't keep up you could try a little canned food and water it down a bit. I wouldn't do that before 8 weeks though.

Good luck, that i helped!
Kim

Answer 8

You can wean the kitten from the mother after 8 weeks after the kitten was born. It's pretty much normal for your cat to have only one, it's not abnormal for sure. The kitten should naturally open both eyes, don't force it, if you think there's a problem take it to the vet after it's weaned from its mother. You can feed it canned food after it's weaned from it's mother. And to tell if it's male or female.... flip it over and look, it's the same way you can tell that the mother is female.

Answer 9

One kitten is as normal as six and cats/kittens have an uncanny way of adapting to the world in their own time and thier own way. Do not force a thing. Do not poke at the eye and do not worry about when the kitten is weaned. The mother cat will wean the kitten in her own time. I hope you leave a little soft food down for the mom anyway...the kitten will help itself upon learning from mom. Relax, let nature take its course.

Answer 10

At this age you should also handle the kitten as much as the mother will allow.

A kitten that is frequently handled by humans prior to its eyes opening will be a much more social cat when it grows up, trusting people a lot more and enjoying interaction with humans. I've had many, many litters over the years and we've always handled the kittens from the time they're born - yes, often when they were still wet - and they've always been in demand as pets because of their "social skills" and friendliness.