New kitten

[friedgreentomato]

On friday I became 'mum' to a new kitten!!

She was found on a building site - no sign of mother at all the kitten is not very old given the size of her.

She can eat meat but prefers milk has since friday night drank 3 pints of goats milk.

Whilst i have had cats all my life i have never had one this young - how old would a kitten be to stop being so dependant on milk - she seems to prefer milk to meat.

thanks for all your help

[jakep]

What colour are her eyes? This is a good indicator of her age.

[friedgreentomato]

Dark blue

[friedgreentomato]

Sorry how rude of me

thanks Annie

[EvianBaby]

Have she been checked out by a vet?

[friedgreentomato]

No not yet - I have checked her out as i know the signs of dehydration - worms and cat flu etc - will run her up next week as i did not want to traumatise her more that she already is - as I said we have had cats all my life and even had litters of kittens but i have never had to look after one so 'young' without mother being about.

[jakep]

No prob. If her eyes are blue, she is less than six weeks old as that is when they change colour.
I would offer her small amounts of slightly warmed wet kitten food. The warming makes it smell a bit more.
Whilst working at a vet years ago I fostered a 4 week old kit who had been thrown down stairs by a toddler! He had some head trauma and at 5 weeks old had to have his right front leg amputated as a direct result of the brat's action.
Anyway, the little and often thing worked with warm food but I also gave Hill's A/D which you should be able to buy over the counter at your vet. You can make it into a paste or a liquid with as much or little water as you think. Just to get her started. Good luck.

[jakep]

Forgot to say Gordon is now 5yrs old and a wonderful 'character'!!!

[friedgreentomato]

Cheers Annie,

Piper does eat meat but just seems to prefer milk - she also ate some Iams kitten food last night!!

She is a gutsy little blighter!!

[EvianBaby]

Fair do's. A pic would be good if you can do one.

[friedgreentomato]

will do Evian will try from my mobile if not it will do it tonight

[EvianBaby]

Cool. Although I probably shouldn't look as I'll just end up wanting another one. Glad she found a caring home. Hate to think how she got there or what would happen to her withouth being found.

[Deesie_88]

Have you tried soaking the food in milk? that way she gets the goodness from both - then you can slowly reduce the milk until she feeds only on the meat? I had to raise three orphaned day old kittens and found this extremely effective as a transition method for all three. Hope this helps and good luck :)

[friedgreentomato]

Deesie - she is now eating meat and kitten biscuits with no problem but is still vert dependant on the milk - will always fill up on the milk first and then eat the meat.

She is doing very very well and is the most loving little critter going.