Help weaning a hand reared kitten

RE: Help weaning a hand reared kitten

Julia Wallis — Sun, 25 Aug 2019 21:04:58 GMT

Currently got two hand rears at the moment- Aprox 5 weeks- they were on Royal Canin weaning moose, but a bacterial infection this week saw me move them onto Specific Digestive Support with fluids and antibiotics (its more sloppy than the Royal Canine so works really well!) Both are independently eating and gaining weight well, using the litter tray, playing well. I guess I've been lucky by the other comments!

RE: Help weaning a hand reared kitten

Alice Weaver — Sat, 18 May 2019 12:37:01 GMT

Thanks for all the tips! I’d Never weaned a kitten before but my friend whose kitten it is has several times and we were a bit concerned she was a late developer. But I managed to tempt her with some Royal Canin weaning paté yesterday and she’s gone from strength to strength ever since! So maybe 5 weeks was too soon for her and 6 weeks was her time!

RE: Help weaning a hand reared kitten

molladog — Mon, 13 May 2019 13:22:17 GMT

The main problem is getting her to put her head down to a bowl as it is not natural for her to do that as she is used to suckling from a higher angle. Raise the bowl up and use your finger to entice her to feed (dip your finger in the food and smear a little on her mouth). I used to make up the milk formula and mix a small amount of royal canin baby cat mousse into it and put it on a shallow saucer. She may tread all over it too ! The other tip is to put a bit on your finger and open her mouth and place the food on her tongue, she may spit some out but she will get the hang of it. We start offering kitten food from 4 weeks and usually find that they are eating well by 5-6 weeks.

RE: Help weaning a hand reared kitten

Sian Anderson — Mon, 13 May 2019 11:07:00 GMT

Hi!

Having handreaered too many to remember, I would say it’s too early. I normally start weaning around 6 weeks of age and stop bottles completely around 7&1/2weeks of age.

good luck And have fun!

RE: Help weaning a hand reared kitten

Leanne Price — Mon, 13 May 2019 10:33:56 GMT

I also used a kitten mousse to wean mine. He was reluctant to stop taking a bottle so I missed a feed and put a bowl in with him, once he'd played around in it and was covered he soon licked it off and then wanted to eat himself!

RE: Help weaning a hand reared kitten

becky1809 — Mon, 13 May 2019 09:25:25 GMT

It's the royal canin baby cat weaning mousse I used. It's the pink tin and it says for mum and baby on it x

RE: Help weaning a hand reared kitten

becky1809 — Mon, 13 May 2019 09:20:38 GMT

Hey,

Keep giving her the cimicat but keep offering the food too. She just doesn't know what to do with it at the moment.

Try offering the wet on a teaspoon that can help. Royal Canin did a baby meat which my boy loved and they do weaning biscuits which r tiny. He actually just ate them as they were and loved them so try giving them as they are. I just put a bowl of biscuits in and he just started eating them on his own accord.

Good luck she will get there xx