I have three 3 week old kittens whose mother has been raising them well. I was wondering if there is anything that i need to do to help the weaning process, or if i should just let them do their thing.
2007-10-09 07:45:52 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pets ➔ Cats
The mother will wean then on her own. The kittens will one day soon start to try to eat the dry cat food. I've had then choke on it, but not die. To prevent the choking, soak the dry cat food in water to soften. You can also give them canned cat food if you wish, or mix canned in with the dry to soften it.
Once they start eating cat food, they will start pooping solid stools. So, you'll want to provide a litter box right away! They should be eating on their own around 6 weeks and ready to give away from 7-8 weeks. Do NOT give them milk. Water is fine!
2007-10-09 07:52:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The kittens will start to naturally wean themselves over the course of the next week to 10 days but you can help them along a little. Get a small clean teaspoon and put a very small amount of wet kitten food on the end of it, literally just a tinsy bit of the jelly or meat, pick up your kitten and gently open the kittens mouth using a finger, when the kittens mouth is open pop the food in. Some immediately want to eat all the food on the plate (O yes use a flat plate rather than a bowl so they can reach it) others spit the food out as they aren't quite ready yet. If they spit the food out stand them in the food so they get the taste of it when they wash their paws, this can help to. Make sure you have a shallow litter tray with clean litter in, as soon as the kittens stop eating put them straight into the litter tray. Cats are clean animals by nature so they should naturally start digging in the litter. Don't worry to much if the kittens start eating the litter they will soon get the hang of whats food and whats not! keep a shallow bowl of water in easy reach for them whenever there is food or litter around. If you haven't been handling the kittens do so now as they will need to be people friendly to find new homes, they should ready to leave mum by 8 weeks of age but make sure they are eating well and using their tray before they go to their new home.
2016-05-19 23:55:13 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mom will probably take care of everything just fine. If you want to help make the process go smoother, you can float kitty chow in kitten formula. The milk will soften the chow and make it easier to eat and attract the kittens to the solid food at the same time.
Some kittens wean as early as 3 weeks, but some don't wean until 5 weeks, so don't worry if they are not taking to solid foods right now.
Maybe this link will help:
http://www.petpublishing.com/catkit/faq.shtml
2007-10-09 07:56:31 · answer #3 · answered by Tiere13 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't worry about it, they will slowly change from all milk to all food. Around 5-6 weeks they will probably try moms food, if you see them doing that put out kitten food. The mom will wean them herself, and dont worry if it takes a long time. I foster kittens and often I will see a 7 or 8 week old kitten just nursing for comfort, if mom allows it, then its fine.
2007-10-09 08:30:11 · answer #4 · answered by Katie T 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don't wean them, the mom does. Don't worry about it. She knows what to do. You'll see.
2007-10-09 16:12:24 · answer #5 · answered by Simmi 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can start introducing wet food/kitten crunchies when it seems mom's getting fed up with little teeth biting her...
2007-10-09 07:54:25 · answer #6 · answered by tharnpfeffa 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Let them do their thing.
2007-10-09 07:48:45 · answer #7 · answered by Riflegirl 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋