Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Original poster

Kitten advice please

157 replies

Cocopogo · 21/08/2023 21:08

I asked a few weeks ago whether I should get one or two kittens, as the single kitten I was to get from rescue had been bonded with another kitten.
Now I have two kittens and they are completely different and def not bonded. One is a typical boisterous kitten and the other barely moves. He sleeps all day and struggles to clean himself.
Both don’t seem to be eating much. How much should a kitten eat?
They are having 1/4 to 1/2 a pouch each, each day.

OP posts:

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 21/08/2023 21:11

How old are the kittens? They should be having a lot more food than that. Have they been seen by your vet for a check over?

FormerlyPathologicallyHappy · 21/08/2023 21:22

The one kitten sounds ill. Mine was on 300g of wet food a day at that age.

Wolfiefan · 21/08/2023 21:23

Book a vet check. Kittens shouldn’t sleep all day and barely move.

UndercoverCop · 21/08/2023 21:25

How old are they? That really doesn't sound like much food at all, do they have biscuits or just the wet food? Was it a big rescue or a small one? Some are less than reputable and might have spun you a line about bonding to offload a sick one that was going to cost them money.

PIL had an adopted dog who would randomly attack without warning. They eventually found out they were the fifth adopters from the same 'charity' all paying a £250 donation....

SuibhneGeilt · 21/08/2023 21:25

Good for you - cats are great companions! Don't worry about the different personalities. I have four cats, three of them rescues (and two of these left in my shed by their mother). All, including the twins, have their own personalities and preferences. Active and relaxed cats can get along fine - just give them time and get them toys to start then on the path of getting used to humans being fun.

Kittens, and indeed cats, can be really fussy eaters. Best to try them on several brands and flavours of kitten food and they should eat more. And as OhhhhhhhhBiscuits says, its best to get new kittens to a vet just for a checkup and any advice which might be useful.

Original poster

Cocopogo · 21/08/2023 22:08

Thanks for the advice, I’ll get them booked in to the vet and try a different brand of food. The active one just seems so active he never seems still enough to eat! The other does seem ill but I’m hoping it’s just settling in. They are from a small rescue but they have a good reputation.

OP posts:

Plump82 · 21/08/2023 22:10

A quarter of a pouch? Once a day, or each meal time? Kittens need little and often but much more than 1/4 a pouch each day. Please take them to the vets.

Original poster

Cocopogo · 21/08/2023 22:11

Can anyone recommend decent kitten food brand? They came with some whiskers but I’d prefer them on better food. My adult cat is on applaws and hills biome dry food. Can kittens eat adult wet food or is it better to get specific kitten brands?

OP posts:

Original poster

Cocopogo · 21/08/2023 22:14

Yes 1/4 pouch all day. I put some in the bowl and they take small bits and have about a third of it. It’s their first full day and they’ve had about 3/4 pouch between them. The ill looking kitten is eating more than the active one.
There is dry food out too but they’ve hardly touched it.

OP posts:

Wolfiefan · 21/08/2023 22:21

Sorry but this doesn’t sound like a good thing. It sounds like this kitten needs to see a vet. Preferably tomorrow. They can go downhill very fast. Have they been fully vaccinated? Wormed?

Original poster

Cocopogo · 21/08/2023 22:50

wormed yes not vaccinated as too young.

OP posts:

Wolfiefan · 21/08/2023 22:58

They may not be fully vaccinated but I would expect them to have had a first dose.

WhatAPalaverer · 21/08/2023 23:03

How old are they? We’ve got 4.5 months old kittens and they ate v little for the first few days but rapidly went up to 5-7 pouches a day plus dry between them. They’re now fed at least 4 times a day/when they ask for it. Ours came neutered, chipped, vaxed, fleaed and wormed at 14 weeks and have been for vet checks since we had them.

Dragonwindow · 21/08/2023 23:06

First vaccinations should be done at 9 weeks. I'm surprised at a reputable rescue sending you home with kittens much younger than this? I got mine at 9 weeks, and had them booked in to have their jabs the day after I picked them up.

Original poster

Cocopogo · 21/08/2023 23:07

The smaller quiet one still has bright blue eyes so I’m guessing he’s 4-5 weeks. The other possible 6-7 weeks.

OP posts:

Potentialmadcatlady · 21/08/2023 23:09

Have they been wormed? Are they peeing and pooing? Drinking water? They need an urgent vet check/ most vets have free first kitten checks when you register with them.
They should be being fed little sand often when they are tiny. Try applaws tins to encourage the not eating one and have dry down all the time- purina kitten is a decent one at a decent price. If you reg with pets at home you will get lots of vouchers for money off that you could use to try them with different foods to see which they prefer ( but take your time trying the different ones so they don’t get yippy tummies)

GerbilMum26 · 21/08/2023 23:09

How old are they?
i recently got a kitten, he was 10wks when i got him, and he was also being fed initially on whiskas. I’m still trying to slowly shift to a better food, currently he’s now on felix pouches. I would say he eats 1 full pouch a day (split between 2 meals) and about 30g of scrumbles kitten kibble.
he took over a week to start to use his water fountain so i add extra hydration by adding a couple of tbsp of water to his wet food.

Potentialmadcatlady · 21/08/2023 23:10

4-5 weeks??? Wow that is far far too young to be rehomed

Original poster

Cocopogo · 21/08/2023 23:25

Yeah they are young and I am inexperienced but hopefully I’ll get there with them. I’m wondering about getting some kitten milk tomorrow to so there’s more options and try get them in the vet in the meantime.

OP posts:

TenPenceMix · 21/08/2023 23:27

They are too young to be away from mum. Get them to a vet, they'll need sub q fluids they are probably massively dehydrated.

Amethys · 21/08/2023 23:34

Vet asap.

Kittens should be full of energy and eating much more than that in many small meals each of fresh food. They should NOT be on adult food. Applaws and James Wellbeloved do excellent kitten food.

I don’t understand why a rescue rehomed such young kittens. Kittens only start eating some solid food around 4 weeks. Every rescue I’ve looked at rehomes from 8 weeks at the earliest. Younger than that they may still need their mother’s milk. Usually if a rescue has a 4 week old kitten without a mother available to feed it, the kitten will be hand reared by an experienced foster carer and I mean the carer will offer wet food by smearing it on her finger and holding it to the kittens lips, etc.

Poor little guys.

verdantverdure · 21/08/2023 23:35

Cocopogo · 21/08/2023 23:25

They are several weeks too young.

They need to go to the vet first thing tomorrow or they might die.

Please take this seriously.

fetchacloth · 21/08/2023 23:36

Both kittens should be seen by a vet ASAP as they are too young to away from mum. Normally they are not weaned until about 12-13 weeks old.
They will need a special diet prescribed by the vet for a few weeks until they're old enough to stomach kitten food
Please take them to the vet as soon as you can, it's the right thing to do for them. 🙂💐

Amethys · 21/08/2023 23:38

It’s a bit like you’ve got a newborn baby that needs breast or formula milk but mistakenly assuming it’s the same as a one year old baby and offering it meat and potatoes.

Please do some research urgently, and I don’t mean ‘how to look after your new kitten’ articles I mean ‘how to hand rear a young kitten’

“Hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar, can result from inadequate or infrequent feeding. It can cause severe depression, muscle twitching and occasionally lead to convulsions. If a kitten refuses to feed, speak to your vet urgently. Kittens have no energy reserves and will deteriorate very rapidly” - https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/pregnancy-and-kitten-care/hand-rearing

Hand rearing | Advice on birth and kittening | Cats Protection

Need to learn more about bottle feeding kittens? Find out about hand rearing in our guide, where you can find more about how to look after kittens.

https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/pregnancy-and-kitten-care/hand-rearing

Original poster

Cocopogo · 21/08/2023 23:55

Thanks I’ve just ordered some applaws and James beloved kitten food from zooplus as well as royal canine milk. I’ll get to the vets in the meantime and pick up some bits whilst I’m waiting for delivery

OP posts:

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7