[baggy]

Hi everyone-

I was just wondering......our kitten, Mango, is only 7 weeks old but she has started to eat canned kitten food and dry kitten food. Do I still need to give her kitten formula or is she getting the nutrients she needs in her canned and dry food?

 

[Annissa]

Most people say that kittens should be removed from their mother no earlier than 12 weeks old. Using that theory, I wonder if it would be good to keep your kitten on the bottle until she's that age to keep her from developing the problems that kittens removed from their mother so young face (ie: wool sucking). I know we have one breeder and one former breeder on the board. Perhaps one of them could shed some light onto my hypothesis.

 

[baggy]

Thank you....yes, I wonder if the bottle would be a good idea. We took her off of it when she started to drink from the bowl.

She doesn't seem to miss the bottle, but yet she tries to nurse off Bagheera on occasion and being a male he's not too thrilled with the idea! :lol:

Any other input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fbodgrl]

Out of my three cats, two were under the 12 week age before I got them. I think my youngest on may have been 6 weeks or so. I had him on the mothers milk for a week or so when I got him, along with wet food. But basically they both went straight to food when I got them. They both seemed to develop healthy and never had any health problems.

I may have done things the wrong way though....so hopefully someone will have a definite answer for you.

 

[jacky89]

I recently got two 5week old kittens that were found in the wild. I gave them dry kitten food(Royal Canin Baby 34) and they just gobble them down. They are now 2months old and they are huge, fat, and healthy. They seem to prefer my resident cat's purina adult cat food over everything else. They would empty out my resident cat's bowl before they would go for the kitten food. I'm planning on just giving them the purina.

 

[sentimentalgirl]

I'm not a breeder and my only experience is with Maugli. We got her when she was 3-4 weeks old. There was a point when she started eating wet food and didn't want the bottle anymore. We didn't force her to drink the milk. It was her decision to stop drinking the milk so why to push her into it? I was actually glad that she is able to eat the wet food... I guess it all depends because her sister/brother was still drinking from bottle at the time when Maugli was already on wet food only.

 

[Ta3339]

I got Tierney at 6 weeks, and he went straight to dry food. now he is on wet and dry, happy and fat!

We get Teagan tomorrow (7 weeks), and she will is eating wet and dry in the shelter even though mom is there with her, and she will go straight to Chicken Soup for Kittens when she comes home, dry and wet.

I know Tierney wouldn't have taken a bottle, and i don't think Teagan will either.

 

[drjean]

The main reason to keep kittens with mom, when possible, until 12 weeks is for social development, not feeding. Most kittens will start to self-wean around 4 weeks of age, and mom will usually encourage this by staying away longer and allowing them to nurse less. I've never heard of trying to put an older kitten back on the bottle; don't think it would be worth the effort.

Kittens can eat either kitten food or a food for "all life stages." It will say on the label which it is.

An all-dry diet is very bad for kittens and can set them up for serious weight control and metabolism issues later in life. I recommend *at least* 50% wet food for life, and IMHO the less dry the better. For all the many reasons why, see
www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=l ... cannedfood

Cheers,
Dr. Jean

 

[baggy]

Thanks, Dr. Jean!

She's been off the bottle for some time now and hasn't had formula for over a week now. She gets about 2 tablespoons of wet cat food several times a day and has dry kitten food always available but she prefers the wet food. Typical, I suppose.

At what age can she be primarily on dry food? Our other two cats (5 years old) are on dry food with a treat of 1/2 a can of canned food only once a week.

 

[baggy]

Cimicat

Is this a formula? Where can I purchase it? Is there a homemade version?

Thanks.