orphaned kittens

orphaned kittens - part 2

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Wendy - 12 Sep 2003 13:01 GMT

1 week down - 4 more to go (at least)

All are chowing down on the KMR. All are peeing in the litter box. Someone
pooped out of the box overnight so we still need to work on that. They are
walking, starting to climb, have started cleaning themselves and participate
in free for all wrestling matches.

The vet said to start them on Step 2 and start the weaning process. So far
I've just wasted Step 2. They show no interest what so ever (other than
walking in it). They are more interested in eating kitty litter than the
food from a dish. I've tried putting it on my finger, in a spoon, putting a
little on their mouth - nada. They just act very offended and cry for the
bottle. Any suggestions?

They also have fleas. Not many, but I've combed off maybe 6 fleas this week.
Is there anything safe to use on kittens this young or should I just keep
combing them off until they are older?

Wendy

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Jan A Cordes - 19 Sep 2003 01:19 GMT

> The vet said to start them on Step 2 and start the weaning process. So far
> I've just wasted Step 2. They show no interest what so ever (other than
> walking in it). They are more interested in eating kitty litter than the
> food from a dish. I've tried putting it on my finger, in a spoon, putting a
> little on their mouth - nada. They just act very offended and cry for the
> bottle. Any suggestions?

My guys hated the Step 2 stuff. So, I started giving them Friskies kitten
formula and squirting a little KMR on it (you can only leave this out for
about an hour after putting the KMR on it so if they don't eat it, pick it
up in an hour).

I'd dab a little on their mouths and they'd lick it off then they'd lick
it off my finger. Each time I did this I'd bring my finger up less and
less so that they had to bend close to the dish a little each time to
lick the stuff off my finger. Eventually, they'd be eating out of the
dish. I still supplemented them with KMR in the bottle but I did this
less and less over time as they began to eat more from the dishes.

We chose Friskies because it's so mushy. Some of the other kitten foods
seem dryer. Also, I took Royal Canin's kitten crunchies and added a little
water to it to make them softer. At this point I have 4 kittens who prefer
canned food and one kitten who likes the dry food best.

> They also have fleas. Not many, but I've combed off maybe 6 fleas this week.
> Is there anything safe to use on kittens this young or should I just keep
> combing them off until they are older?

We use Dawn (not Ultra Dawn, regular/original formula) to wash them.
Just a little Dawn diluted in water and used to bathe the kittens.
Make sure the water isn't too hot or too cold. Rinse, rinse, rinse
and rinse some more. Then wrap them in a towel and dry, dry, dry them.
We make kitten burritos out of the kitten and the towel and once the
first towel has absorbed a lot of water then we change towels and dry
some more. Be sure to keep them warm afterwards. Usually, two towels
will get them mostly dry but your mileage may vary.

Jan

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