kitten wont drink!

[WelshCat]

I just bought a kitten yesterday from Gumtree, the owners were not very forthcoming with information and when I got it home I realised it seemed quite small.

Its old enough to eat/play etc and he seems happy enough.

I'm having a few problems though. I got it dry and wet kitten food in case it preferred one. The food is in the kitchen. He does not go to the food and water. So last night I brought some of the dry food on my hand and he ate it all (so no problems actually eating it). I figured in the night he would have a drink/eat some more.

But he did not! I left it until about three today, figuring if he was hungry he would go eat some food. But he hasn't, so I got some more and brought it into the living room for him and he ate it like he was starving!

My problem is, I have not seen him drink anything, or go near his food and water bowls. He does use the litter tray, although he hasn't pooped yet (tmi, but it might matter!). I'm worried coz I'm a worrier, and coz I know if he is only eating the dry food he needs to drink.

I offered him cows milk (I know they aren't meant to have it) but he just looked at it and walked off.

Am I being silly? Or should I be worried?

By his size I would say he's no more than 6 weeks old. The seller isn't replying to my calls or texts, she was a little on the Jeremy Kyle side of life though..

Kitten Milk Replacement from Pet Shops is what you feed handreared kittens, nothing else. Until you wean at 5 weeks or so.

When they're older they can have Cat Milk but that's as a treat, not as a main food.

Pinot: lool im so stupid, he hasnt had very much though!

how can i make him eat the food from a bowl? he will only eat off me or a spoon? i dont really know how to encourage him to eat/drink, when he just walks off!

oh, so no to the cat milk too?

I wouldnt give cat milk i would stick to water and one type of cat food, you dont want to be upsetting his tummy, if kittens get the runs they will will dehydrate and die very quickly. I think you should just leave him to settle in and find his feet and he should eat eventually, keep his food and litter tray in the room your in the most but not close to each other and keep an eye on his tray if hes weeing and pooing you have nothing to worry about!

No cat milk until he is eating normal kitten food properly. It;s too rich for kitten tummies.

I think he doesnt know how to eat from a bowl - mine didn't either (I handreared them so they didn't have a mum cat to watch to learn how to do it).

Try hand feeding little pieces, with the bowl of them close by. He'll learn that pieces of kitten food taste yummy and if you gradually lower your hand closer to the bowl, he'll eventually eat from the bowl not your fingers.

If it's dry food, a bit of milk mixed through to soften them up is a good idea. If it's wet food, then he should like licking the gravy.

I would get a vet check - sounds tho your kitten may not even be 6 weeks.... I say that as I picked mine up this week having been told they were already past 6 weeks but the person I got them from later admitted they were born on 24th March so only 6 weeks yesterday - they are eating n drinking very well tho, and groom each other and play too

I collected mine as if I hadn't taken them, they would have been rehomed somewhere - the others from the litter were already gone - 1 at only 5 weeks , the others the day before I visited

Also, I would keep him in a small space close to food, water and litter tray - he may be confused or lost if his food is in a different room - and make sure you keep him warm - especially if he gets wet when you encourage him to eat and drink

He'll need feeding often too - several times during the day, and probably teaching how to use the litter tray and to clean himself

It's going to be a busy few weeks as Mum but hopefully all will be well and you'll have a really cuddly kitten by the time he is more independent...

Good luck!

excellent news! pinot i just did what you said and he munched a whole small bowl of wet food (i mixed in some extra water to be sure). yay!

i think youre right in that he doesnt actually know its food in the bowls.

i would keep the litter tray and food in the living room but i cant keep the baby out of them in there, thats why they are by the back door. but obviously the kitten doesnt wanna go by the back door so thats a problem.

he uses the litter tray, i put him in it a few times a day and he goes if he needs to. he hasnt pooped yet but then i dont know if he would need to if he hasnt eaten that much.

so how many times a day shall i feed him? and how much? i thought he would just go and eat if he was hungry but thats obviously not the case. im so glad he just ate the wet food though!

About two teaspoons five or six times a day. Remember his tummy is really tiny just like a baby's. Our cats have a big ceramic water bowl - they won't drink from the plastic or metal bowls - and because water straight from the tap can smell quite chemically to a cat I fill a jug and leave it overnight first and pour that into the bowl. A very catty lady told me that once.

Don't forget that your cat has just been taken from his mummy and to a new home and is liekly to be quite stressed and confused. Give him time.

Please take him to see a vet to get him checked over and front lined (wormed and deflead) - I don't know if the Blue Cross are still around. The Cats Protection League won't provide vet care but their volunteers are very very knowedgeable and should be able to help you.

Please don't ever buy a kitten from Gumtree again unless the sellers are prepared for you to view the kitten, reserve the kitten for you, who you the mum and confirm the date of birth and what vet care the mum has had. You need to see the litter with its mummy and make sure they all look happy and healthy.

I hope the little lad is OK and finds lots of love.

My first cat, who was very timid, spent the first two days under the fridge and I never ever (in 12 years) saw her drink from her bowl - but I caught her drinking from the toilet regularly.

My kitten wouldn't drink for a while, and her pee was really strong smelling. Took her to the vet...and very much got the advice of the good cat people on here (and the Right Hon Pinot )...take away dry food with waterfood for a while and mix wet food with water. It did the trick re urine concentration (litter box was less amonia like),and she soon started drinking water...but she is still not a big drinker. Will drink mostly before bedtime.

Your kitten does sound young. My kitten i got from the Preloved site and was from a farm. I was shown mum,was shown she had been fleaed and wormed,and was given a little card with her DOB on,and a box of kitten food.

She is being neutered and microchipped on Thursday

thanks.

i have given him breakfast of wet food and water on my lap. he just pooped in the litter tray, yay!

i also moved his food bowl much further away from the litter tray, like in a different room, so its closer to the living room now.

the kitten food box (whiskas) says he needs 3 and a half pouches a day?? that cant be right surely that seems like a huge amount. i was gonna feed him say 2/3 tablespoons about 4/5 times a day... hmm.

May be three and a half pouches at 5 months, not at 5 weeks.

I would think as he's so tiny you need to see is he's hungry every 3 hours or so. So little and often is the way - when mine were that age they ate/slept/played/ate/slept/played on a continual cycle :)

He's a v clever boy for using the litter box.

Cats don't like their food being near their toileting area, so make separate areas for him so he understands where to poop and where to go for food and drink.

we raised our orphan kittens last year at 4 weeks on lactose free milk, which you can get in tesco, we mashed it into their food (kitten food) to form a paste, it took a few days for them to accept it but they did as they were hungry, dont persistently try to feed him as you may well be stressing him out, our kittens are now beautiful 1 year old cats that eat anything, it is best to get a vet check, vetsavers do a free first check up, and they do a flea, worm, jabs and micro chip for around 90.00...pdsa will not help (in our area) with any of this, they will only treat sick or injured animals not routine things.....

thanks everyone for your help :) he ate about two pouches yesterday mixed with water.

Ill get on with working/fleaing him and look in to vaccinations and neutering.