u/Famous_Beach7411

i posted on another sub reddit asking how long it’s okay to leave wet food out, and i got a lot of comments that i’m not feeding my kitten enough. i’ve been going off of the fancy feast feeding chart, but i wanted to get some other opinions as well.

my kitten is 6-8 weeks old, she was taken in from the streets so i’m not exactly sure how old she is. but, based on her teeth and weight, my vet says she’s probably around 6 weeks old. she weighs 1.23 lbs, which my vet says is slightly lower than average, but not so low that it’s concerning. she’s gaining weight steadily and is super active and using the litter box regularly.

i’ve been offering 1 tablespoon of wet food every 5-6 hours, plus 15-20 ml of KMR. i do heaps of tablespoons. the fancy feast feeding chart says 1/2 a can to 1 1/2 cans of wet food daily is what’s recommended. i have the 3 oz cans, and one tablespoon every 5-6 hours ends up being about one can and a little bit of a second can daily.

i also leave dry food out when i’m not home and overnight, and water out 24/7. she doesn’t seem to have figured out the dry food yet, but she’s never acted frantic when feeding her in the morning. she will drink the KMR all in one sitting, but with the wet food, she will eat some and then go back to it over the course of 2-ish hours. google says that kittens start self regulating hunger at about 6 weeks, but a lot of people on my other post said that kittens shouldn’t be self regulating.

this is really worrying me. she’s completely normal otherwise, but so many people saying that i’m starving her is really worrying. last week, her appetite went down a little so i took her to the vet, and they said that she seems completely healthy and hadn’t lost any weight. she had just been given dewormer, and they said that it could have upset her stomach. is it possible that her stomach is still a little upset? they gave me some probiotics to put in her food for her stomach, and i’ve been putting it in the KMR since she drinks that all in one sitting.

any advice would be really appreciated. i’m absolutely willing to up her intake (since my other post last night, i’ve offered her 2 tablespoons, but that takes her longer to get through and i end up having to throw it away when it starts to get gross looking), but all of this conflicting info is confusing me

i have a 5 week old orphaned kitten who is beginning to use the litter box on her own, but hasn’t fully mastered pooping. she’s done it a few times on her own, but i still need to help her a little.

i took her to the vet yesterday, and the vet noticed that her butt was a little raw and irritated. she’s starting to eat some wet food with formula and she was given dewormer a few days ago, so she’s been having some slight diarrhea and an upset stomach. she said i can put aquaphor on her to help, which i’ve been doing since yesterday.

she hasn’t had a full bowel movement since yesterday morning. i’ve been doing what i normally do, which is watch her go to the litter box and if i see her straining to poop but nothing coming out, i pick her up and stimulate her. this has been working for a few days, but i think where her butt is a little raw it’s causing some issues.

she absolutely hates being stimulated now. before, she would do a few protest meows before going quiet and pooping. now, she meows at the top of her lungs and wiggles around so much that i can’t keep a good hold on her. i’ve been using damp toilet paper, because it’s the softest material that i’ve got access to. i’ve tried being even more gentle when rubbing. i know she needs to poop, because i’ve watched her try and give up. she’s gotten a few very small (like pebble size) poops out on her own, but it’s nothing compared to what she was previously getting out of her own.

how do i help her?? she was extremely constipated when i first took her in (hadn’t pooped for minimum of three days) and she had to be given an enema at the vet. i very much don’t want this to happen again. i know i need to stimulate her but when i try to, it seems to be hurting or irritating her butt more, and i don’t want to make that worse. does anyone have advice??

i’m not sure if i used the right flair, my apologies if not!

i just recently brought in a 5 week old kitten (her name is pixie!) and i’m wondering what are some kitten/cat safe practices? i usually use incense the most but that obviously feels too risky, especially because she’s only 5 weeks and is confined to my room.

anyone with cats: do you use incense?? how do you do it safely?? i was thinking once she’s older and more independent, it would be okay to just keep her out of the room with the incense, keep the window open while it burns, and just make sure it’s really aired out before i let her back in?

what herbs aren’t safe cats? what herbs are? are there any other precautions i should take?

this is the first time ive had a cat that is completely my own, so if anyone has ideas/advice for cat safe practices, please let me know!

hi all, i haven’t really gotten any answers on other subreddits, so i thought i’d try here.

i’m taking care of a 4-ish week old kitten, and per the vet’s advice, getting her started on weaning. up until yesterday i’ve been feeding her 15-20 ML of KMR from a bottle every 4 hours. but last night at about midnight, she became incredibly disinterested in the bottle. she drank very little, i’d say about 5 ML. i stimulated her and she was acting normal otherwise, so when she went to sleep i thought maybe she was just not very hungry and i’d try again later.

i got up at 4 AM to feed her again and it was the same thing. drank a little from the bottle (not suckling, she was very much biting the bottle), became disinterested, used the bathroom, and laid down and went to sleep.

its morning now, and it was the same thing with the bottle. i offered her some wet food mixed with water in a bowl, and she didn’t care about that either. the only thing she ate significantly was a full tube of churu for kittens, and she seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. she’s acting normal otherwise (warm, active, not lethargic), so i think she’s just ready to wean off the bottle. i just can’t get her interested in a bowl of wet food.

a tube of churu definitely isn’t enough to sustain her. i also don’t know how many is okay to give her a day, since it’s a treat and not a meal. does anyone have any advice on getting her interested in wet food? or in getting enough formula in her while she transitions? i know weaning takes a few days to a week, im just really concerned that she’s not interested in the bottle and wont get enough to supplement

UPDATE: i scheduled her a vet appointment since i was worried, and then immediately after i scheduled it she ate the slurry from my hands! i took her anyways since i’d already made the appointment and the vet says she is perfectly healthy and is probably closer to 5 weeks based off her activity and teeth. she’s been eating slurry from my hands more and is doing good! thank u guys for the advice :)