Tips for feeding a 4mth old kitten who won’t eat, please.

Oh goodness, Aveline! Did she do better once she was back with the breeder? And poor froggie, iam. 🐸

They’re both Russian Blues, not siblings but one each from two litters that grew up together, along with dogs and grandchildren. I don’t think she’s being bullied, she certainly dusts his ears for him at times.

I’ll get a vet appt and see what they say. The boy is being neutered on Weds and I wonder if that’ll make a difference.

The breeder rehomed her to a single lady. Maybe our household was too busy for her. She only ever wanted to be on me all the time. She was a very stressed and stressful wee creature.

I’m glad there was a good outcome, Aveline, and I’m sure she made a perfect companion for that lucky person.

First: are you and the vet absolutely certain she is four months old? If yes, do you know whether she was weaned too early because her mother's milk dried up?

Have you tried giving her porridge or milk pudding?

The kittens I have had that didn't eat were often not ready for adult cat food, but needed milk for kittens.

Then stop changing her food all the time. Give her four small meals a day of whatever cat food you were told she was eating before you got her, and see how that goes for a week.

If you offer a cat too great a variety, they usually scoff at it all, hoping you will provide something even better, so you finish up dancing attendance on a cat that is winding you up!

Does she go out? If so, check with the neighbours whether their cat food is disappearing very fast! My Tigger was eating too little, I thought, until I discussed matters with my neighbour and learned he was clearing her cat's plate!

If she goes out, a four month female kitten should be hunting - are you sure she isn't happily munching field mice?
My Trubel was doing so at four months - she called me to see her first mouse before she ate it, and when I went back later to remove the corpse there wasn't one, and that mouse was certainly dead when I first saw it.

And have her neutered soon, otherwise there will be kittens in a month or so!

Our neighbour’s cat is full grown but tiny and will only eating chicken. The vet says she’s fine but I worry about her not getting all the nutrients she needs …

No advice as all my kittens were good eaters, but hope your little one is on the mend.

We’ve seen the vet today. Kitty has sore gums because she’s teething(!) but otherwise she has a clean bill of health. She’s put on 150g since last week which the vet is happy with, and she’s a normal weight for her age. Apart from the gums, the vet reckons she’s having us on. She also said that female cats tend to be slighter and not as heavy as males, and because our last cats were whacking big 5 & 6kilos boys we’re maybe not used to a more delicately built girl.

The vet suggested we keep offering her the food she was weaned on, along some powder which enhances the smell of wet food but if she just wants to eat kibble alone, she should do ok on that. Now that she’s been seen, I feel reassured that we’re not missing anything and feel able to be a bit stricter with her.

Grandtante she’s actually five months now. She’s from a pedigree breeder so the dates are certain. I doubt she was weaned too early, as the border doesn’t let them go until they’re 12wks and our other kitten has a good appetite. She doesn’t go out so no hunting, although she located and tried to eat a matchstick today (must have been left over from lighting Xmas candles) The boy is being neutered tomorrow so 🤞there’ll be no kittens! She’ll be done as well, once she reaches the right weight.

Thanks for all your thoughts everyone, it’s been very kind of you.

I enjoyed your update Sue Donim. I’m more experienced with pups and dogs than cats but as I mentioned earlier, my cats were good at managing me
My daughter’s clever doodle dictates her diet at home. In her regular stays here, she no longer even tries to get me to add eg tuna/chicken to her meals - they’re taken up out down ten mins later,mid not eaten- she waits till tea time 🐶

What is the powder called? When I used to have cats I remember buying a powder to sprinkle on food but didn’t realise you could still buy it.

They’re called FortiFlora, Maybe.

Glad to hear she’s doing okay Sue.

Glad to hear the update, SueDonim

Phew! Typical cat. Good luck with that wee besom! 😺

Like Nana8
I took on a rescue cat, justfinished milkfeeding, and hand fed here, fed her like her mum, played and had her close and hand fed and had my hand in her dry food and played and was with her, and hand fed her! difficult to describe...

Many years ago when we had 2 kittens my GP whose wife bred pedigree cats told us to feed them baby food. The sort that you could get then was powdered and you mixed it with milk. No idea what it was called and probably cant get it now. Not up with bany foods now!!!

When I was at home growing up, my dad was the go to person when animals were poorly. All the neighbours would come to ask his advice or bring him injured birds that they’d found.
He didn’t have any training but had seemed to know intuitively what they needed.
We always had at least 5 cats and if we had kittens such as yours op, we would feed it kitten milk via a syringe while it gained weight.

Glad to know that your little kitty is doing much better now. I hope she carries on gaining weight.

It's not a good idea to feed a cat too much fish, apparently it causes quite serious conditions which can be fatal. My vet suggests no more than once a week for fish products, That being said most cats do like fish. My own cat was an abandoned kitten that I took on at 6 weeks old and he won't eat any wet food except Purina Mon Petit Gourmet in the red box.

Please get her to a veterinarian ASAP! They may be able to diagnose what may be wrong.

It’s probably the food you are giving her - you’ve given her too many varieties (that she may not be ready for). She should be on ONE kitten kibble then gradually introduce her to a second (for variety). She’ll be on a kitten formula for the first year.

Don’t let her starve! Good luck 🍀

Gundy

Please get her to a veterinarian ASAP! They may be able to diagnose what may be wrong.

It’s probably the food you are giving her - you’ve given her too many varieties (that she may not be ready for). She should be on ONE kitten kibble then gradually introduce her to a second (for variety). She’ll be on a kitten formula for the first year.

Don’t let her starve! Good luck 🍀

Gundy if you read back, the kitten was seen by the vet a couple of days ago.

did she come directly from Mum to you?
ask what the breeder or the person having her before you fed and then mix the feeds or mix in a bit of kitten milk replacer in with the food.
We found some kittens by the side of the road and bottle feeding them first had a problem with one not wanting to switch over to other food.
I found that the Royal Canine kitten food stage 1 was always their preferred food.

RTFT, Gundy.

Try raw minced beef, hand feeding her a bit at a time

RTFT Chino

I have twice raised a kitten. If I wanted them to have something specific (like meds dissolved in kittenmilk) I would rub it on their front paws and then they would lick every drop of it 😊

She's been to the vet and all is fine now.

SueDonim said:
Thanks for all your thoughts everyone, it’s been very kind of you.