Weaning Kittens

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Bets

Weaning Kittens

Post by Bets »

Hello. You all were so helpful before in my earlier posts I wonder if you have any advice on weaning.
One of the two female kittens, 6 weeks old today, is eating out of her bowl and has for several days. The other is not. They are both eating Iams Kitten dry soaked in water and a little Iams kitten canned added with a bit of KMR. The bottle kitty just has a little soupier mix to get it through the nipple. The problem is that the bottle kitty is absolutly not interested in food outside of her bottle. Food offered on a finger or smeared on a paw does not phase her. She wants her bottle!!!
She is gaining weight nicely and otherwise is great but how long is this resistance to the bowl going to be. She drinks water out of a bowl!
signed,
Trying to be patient :D
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Traci
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Re: Weaning Kittens

Post by Traci »

Bets wrote:The bottle kitty just has a little soupier mix to get it through the nipple.
Do you mean the formula or are you putting the canned food/formula mixture in the bottle? If the latter, this is why she isn't interested in using a normal dish.

Also, ome kittens take slightly longer to wean than others, I'd give this another week or so on the bottle (formula only), and continue to tempt her several times throughout each day with solid food.

In my experience, canned food is better than dry at the weaning stage. Even if you water down the dry, it's not preferrable to most kittens, plus it will expand slightly in the stomach and intestinal tract.
..........Traci
Bets

Re: Weaning Kittens

Post by Bets »

:oops:
Thanks Traci!
I knew I must have been doing something wrong !!!
Yes, I've been mixing up a mixture of canned & formula for the bottle.
I'll try doing just the formula and offering canned on the side!
Proud of them though. They weigh a whole pound and a half now!
Is it true that it's ok if they are smaller than mother-fed kitties? They are perfect otherwise!
Thanks again!
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