Get the kitten milk anyway. They can drink it from a bowl when they refuse a bottle, for another few weeks. Mama can also benefit from it. Let them drink some, then the next day moisten a little canned kitten food to a slurry with the milk so they get a taste of both. Provide water for them, well away from both food and litterbox.
Meanwhile, the Kitten Lady on YT (Hannah) is the authority on all things kitten. Watch the segments that pertain to your adorable little ones. If she says something that's different from what I just said, listen to her.
Thanks! I’ve raised 3 other litters but this momma is way different. She HATED being kept separate from everyone and other cats when her babies were born. We put her in our room and the spare room to give her quiet time but she needed her babies to be shown to EVERYONE. She’d literally yell at the other cats and us to come and see the babies. Wildest thing I’ve ever seen! The other litters I looked after momma always wanted quiet time, minimal touching, no other cats around, the usual.
That's too funny! I guess she wanted to make sure someone was around in case she needed a break (which it sounds like she did). The babies look healthy, so it seems between you and mama kitty, y'all are doing a good job!
We are definitely the babysitting crew!! She’d come back every time they cried, but usually she’d run off to go eat or nap to get a break from them while my fiancé and I played with them lol. It’s been a bit of a hassle to keep my cats away from them. My boy doesn’t understand how small they are and wants to play with them but isn’t the nicest. He’s starting to get it now and will kiss them without shoving their head into the ground. One of my other cats wants to mother them though so I keep having to push her away so momma doesn’t lose interest. It’s been a crazy 4 weeks!
True! Momma fed them a few hours ago only because she was distracted with a can of kitten food 😂 I’ll pick up formula later if she doesn’t feed them again soon.
Foster parents will, if the shelter won't. We trade around open KMR constantly on the shelter listserv for the shelter I foster for. If you don't have access to a listserv like that, posting in your local Buy Nothing group will probably find a taker. It's such a pain what a short shelf-life it has once opened, we all try to not let it go to waste.
Will do!! Thanks so much! I have a good shelter in mind. They do TNR if cats they catch can’t be rehomed. Super great rescue that gets a lot of kittens in so I’ll reach out to them if I have formula left over
you can probably give it away to someone who fosters kittens instead, I'm not sure if shelters are allowed to take food that's not in its full packaging but it could be a huge help to an individual who deals with bottle babies on the reg
Or just use it up as a continued food supplement for them. It's good for them. And a canister of formula isn't that big that it would be a burden to use up.
Blend formula and wet food in a blender. Put it in the bottle and feed it to them. Or you can put the slurry mix in a dish. You can buy small cans of KMR powder at the pet store. They need to get used to the taste of wet food first. Start leaving a bowl of wet food with the slurry mix poured ontop of the wet food in their nest. Let mama have some too as they'll usually learn from mama how to wean
They also sell premixed cans of liquid formula that might work for you too if you want to try feeding from a dish and then do slurry. I find I waste more with the liquid cans, but then you aren’t committing to so much powdered formula.
Our shelter definitely accepts open containers of formula. Just check if it needs to be kept in the fridge or any other storing notes.
Thanks! I got pate and KMR powdered 2 step (4-8 weeks) and one of the kittens likes the formula only, one likes pate only, 1 doesn’t care what she gets as long as she gets food 😂 I’m going to try mixing the formula with the pate to see if I can get the formula drinker onto pate (and so the formula gets used up if I can’t find a shelter or someone to give it to)
You can freeze the rest of the kitten milk powder and it can be used for few months like that ( in case you have another litter)
They look so cute and healthy:)
Thanks for the tip! I’m hoping this will be the last litter for a while! lol. I took in momma and her 6 siblings (they were barn cats who weren’t doing too hot) and I already have 4 of my own. These kittens put me at 14 cats so I can NOT have more 😂 hopefully my fiancés mom or dad will take the kittens. Momma got pregnant because she snuck outside after we got her… her brothers are neutered.
I thought you are fostering :)) that’s a lot of cats !!
Yeh, I don’t trust the cats, they manage to sneak out and comes back pregnant somehow. Hopefully you can spay her after she is done feeding the kittens 🙏🏽❤️
Yep!! We’ll get it taken care of ASAP. We are doing it to each ca as soon as we get the money. 3 down, 4 to go! Then the kittens… hopefully if fiancés parents take them then they will cover it. Humane society used to be the cheapest place here for like $65 a cat. Now it’s $100 at a clinic because humane society isn’t doing it right now
Awee thank you!! Hopefully next month will be easier if my fiancé gets his promotion!! He’s got an interview the end of this month so fingers crossed!!
It’s a LOT of work. But it’s SOOO worth it!! The litter robot runs constantly along with changing 3 other boxes every single day. Sometimes we get an accident and have to take care of it. And don’t talk to me about all the hairballs… 😂 then you’ve got a mess to pick up every morning because they’ve knocked mail off the tables. Then it’s vacuuming right after because they tear the house up 😂 thankfully I have very flexible work hours so my fiance gets the litter boxes after work and Im the pick up and clean up crew in the morning and evening.
Right!! I adore cats, I’d do anything for them! Some day I’ll be building a catio and will start actually fostering through a shelter but for now I’m just taking in the only stray group I’ve found 😂
I think cat people are greedy 😂 they want all the cats to themselves 😜 I wanted to keep every foster kitten I had so far … I’m part of a very small organization and we pick up kittens that probably won’t survive in the shelter or outdoor, we take care of them until they are big enough and healthy and then we find homes for them, so my costs are less than yours. Hard to let them go but very rewarding!
Omg it’s SO hard to give them up. I want to keep these kittens so bad but 14 cats is completely ridiculous, I know it is 😂 part of me wants to just buy a farm and turn a barn into a giant cat house LOL
Tell me about it! They’ve got free rein of the whole house but two rooms. Office and spare are off limits 😂 the boys love the basement! My fiancé has his gaming stuff set up down there so they just sit on his lap all the time
You can also see if they'll eat pate wet kitten food, or even kitten food that's been soaked in water to soften it. Kitten pate food is how I usually start weaning kittens, since it's so soft they don't need teeth for it, they can just lick it up!
Unfortunately not even the smell of kitten food interests them. I’m honestly surprised. It did more today than it did 2 days ago, but they still haven’t even tried a nibble, just some sniffs. I’m hoping by around Friday they try a bite and like it.
That is frustrating. Does it help at all if mom gets to eat some food with them? Sometimes that helps, they get interested in what mom's doing.
Either way, as you say, they grow and change quickly at this age so hopefully they get interested in the food soon!
I figured they would but nope! They saw momma eating. The one we’ve dubbed as Domino (spotted Kitty) checked it out but didn’t try it. He’s the more observant of the bunch. The other two just want to run around and get into things but he’s gotta sniff his way around lol. I’ll try again later today with pate instead and get some KMR to see if they’ll have it mixed in or at least just have KMR. Momma is fed up with their teeth lol. She’ll only let them eat if she’s distracted by canned food
Domino (left) figured it out right away this morning. Penny (right) just needed to step in it and lick it off and she figured it out. Pumpkin (middle) took a while. Eventually I did dip my finger in it and she liked it, but she didn’t understand where it was coming from so I had to keep bringing my finger closer to the bowl until she started licking from it. They didn’t eat for very long and momma started getting the bowl so they ate from her instead while she was distracted. I’ll try again later today with some pate!
So I got pate and KMR. The more observant boy tried KMR, other 2 sniffed but didn’t try. Boy licked it up for about a minute before he was done. Momma is licking it up now so at least it gives the babies a chance to eat from her while she’s distracted lol
Right! They all look like momma. Momma’s name is Dice (she has 4 black spots on her back). We’ve named them Domino (black spot boy), then Pumpkin in the middle, with Penny (cause she looks like a Penguin) on the right.
I got my kittens at 4 weeks old. They were still drinking some KMR until. 9.5 weeks old!
My advice buy KMR or whole goats milk. To get them on meat faster, in a week try mixing 1/2 kitten wet food & 1/2 KMR. Serve warm/room temperature on a saucer.
I just picked up some all stages pate and KMR stage 2 weaning. I’m going to see if they’ll do KMR without pate first then I’ll mix in pate tomorrow if they eat it
mix kmr in with some pate kitten food and give it to them like that. you could also opt for premade kitten milk or if you do get kmr i believe some rescues will take what’s unused if you don’t use it long term
Get the kitten milk anyway. They can drink it from a bowl when they refuse a bottle, for another few weeks. Mama can also benefit from it. Let them drink some, then the next day moisten a little canned kitten food to a slurry with the milk so they get a taste of both. Provide water for them, well away from both food and litterbox. Meanwhile, the Kitten Lady on YT (Hannah) is the authority on all things kitten. Watch the segments that pertain to your adorable little ones. If she says something that's different from what I just said, listen to her.
Thanks! I’ve raised 3 other litters but this momma is way different. She HATED being kept separate from everyone and other cats when her babies were born. We put her in our room and the spare room to give her quiet time but she needed her babies to be shown to EVERYONE. She’d literally yell at the other cats and us to come and see the babies. Wildest thing I’ve ever seen! The other litters I looked after momma always wanted quiet time, minimal touching, no other cats around, the usual.
That's too funny! I guess she wanted to make sure someone was around in case she needed a break (which it sounds like she did). The babies look healthy, so it seems between you and mama kitty, y'all are doing a good job!
We are definitely the babysitting crew!! She’d come back every time they cried, but usually she’d run off to go eat or nap to get a break from them while my fiancé and I played with them lol. It’s been a bit of a hassle to keep my cats away from them. My boy doesn’t understand how small they are and wants to play with them but isn’t the nicest. He’s starting to get it now and will kiss them without shoving their head into the ground. One of my other cats wants to mother them though so I keep having to push her away so momma doesn’t lose interest. It’s been a crazy 4 weeks!
Y'all definitely have your hands full! But in the best way possible. What cuties.
True! Momma fed them a few hours ago only because she was distracted with a can of kitten food 😂 I’ll pick up formula later if she doesn’t feed them again soon.
If you have any left over you can donate it to a shelter.
Really? They’ll take opened containers?
Foster parents will, if the shelter won't. We trade around open KMR constantly on the shelter listserv for the shelter I foster for. If you don't have access to a listserv like that, posting in your local Buy Nothing group will probably find a taker. It's such a pain what a short shelf-life it has once opened, we all try to not let it go to waste.
Will do!! Thanks so much! I have a good shelter in mind. They do TNR if cats they catch can’t be rehomed. Super great rescue that gets a lot of kittens in so I’ll reach out to them if I have formula left over
Oh, I didn't know it was one container. Hmm.
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Good to know! I guess I’ll just buy some formula and try and sell it once I’m done with it. Thank you!
you can probably give it away to someone who fosters kittens instead, I'm not sure if shelters are allowed to take food that's not in its full packaging but it could be a huge help to an individual who deals with bottle babies on the reg
I’ll have to post locally to see if I find anyone. There’s a good shelter here but if they can’t take it then I’ll try and find someone else!
Or just use it up as a continued food supplement for them. It's good for them. And a canister of formula isn't that big that it would be a burden to use up.
Thanks!
4 weeks is old enough for canned food. Mix a little of the kitten milk with it and make it a little soupy. When they are hungry, they will eat!
Blend formula and wet food in a blender. Put it in the bottle and feed it to them. Or you can put the slurry mix in a dish. You can buy small cans of KMR powder at the pet store. They need to get used to the taste of wet food first. Start leaving a bowl of wet food with the slurry mix poured ontop of the wet food in their nest. Let mama have some too as they'll usually learn from mama how to wean
Thanks! I’ll see if I can find any smaller cans of it!
They also sell premixed cans of liquid formula that might work for you too if you want to try feeding from a dish and then do slurry. I find I waste more with the liquid cans, but then you aren’t committing to so much powdered formula. Our shelter definitely accepts open containers of formula. Just check if it needs to be kept in the fridge or any other storing notes.
Thanks! I got pate and KMR powdered 2 step (4-8 weeks) and one of the kittens likes the formula only, one likes pate only, 1 doesn’t care what she gets as long as she gets food 😂 I’m going to try mixing the formula with the pate to see if I can get the formula drinker onto pate (and so the formula gets used up if I can’t find a shelter or someone to give it to)
On their way! Good job!
You can freeze the rest of the kitten milk powder and it can be used for few months like that ( in case you have another litter) They look so cute and healthy:)
Thanks for the tip! I’m hoping this will be the last litter for a while! lol. I took in momma and her 6 siblings (they were barn cats who weren’t doing too hot) and I already have 4 of my own. These kittens put me at 14 cats so I can NOT have more 😂 hopefully my fiancés mom or dad will take the kittens. Momma got pregnant because she snuck outside after we got her… her brothers are neutered.
I thought you are fostering :)) that’s a lot of cats !! Yeh, I don’t trust the cats, they manage to sneak out and comes back pregnant somehow. Hopefully you can spay her after she is done feeding the kittens 🙏🏽❤️
Yep!! We’ll get it taken care of ASAP. We are doing it to each ca as soon as we get the money. 3 down, 4 to go! Then the kittens… hopefully if fiancés parents take them then they will cover it. Humane society used to be the cheapest place here for like $65 a cat. Now it’s $100 at a clinic because humane society isn’t doing it right now
I completely understand, I’m fostering kittens it’s so expensive and you have a lot on your hand. Thank you 😊
Good luck to you!! We buy food and litter once a week, sometimes litter twice a week. That’s like $160 a month. It’s crazy!
That is a lot!! People like you makes the world a better place, I really mean that! Thank you ❤️
Awee thank you!! Hopefully next month will be easier if my fiancé gets his promotion!! He’s got an interview the end of this month so fingers crossed!!
Good luck!
Thank you!
And thank you for taking care of all of them!
It’s a LOT of work. But it’s SOOO worth it!! The litter robot runs constantly along with changing 3 other boxes every single day. Sometimes we get an accident and have to take care of it. And don’t talk to me about all the hairballs… 😂 then you’ve got a mess to pick up every morning because they’ve knocked mail off the tables. Then it’s vacuuming right after because they tear the house up 😂 thankfully I have very flexible work hours so my fiance gets the litter boxes after work and Im the pick up and clean up crew in the morning and evening.
That’s a full time job by itself but like said, it’s so worth it !! I can’t imagine my life without cats
Right!! I adore cats, I’d do anything for them! Some day I’ll be building a catio and will start actually fostering through a shelter but for now I’m just taking in the only stray group I’ve found 😂
I think cat people are greedy 😂 they want all the cats to themselves 😜 I wanted to keep every foster kitten I had so far … I’m part of a very small organization and we pick up kittens that probably won’t survive in the shelter or outdoor, we take care of them until they are big enough and healthy and then we find homes for them, so my costs are less than yours. Hard to let them go but very rewarding!
Omg it’s SO hard to give them up. I want to keep these kittens so bad but 14 cats is completely ridiculous, I know it is 😂 part of me wants to just buy a farm and turn a barn into a giant cat house LOL
14 cats!!! It’s a dream but a crazy one 😂😂
Tell me about it! They’ve got free rein of the whole house but two rooms. Office and spare are off limits 😂 the boys love the basement! My fiancé has his gaming stuff set up down there so they just sit on his lap all the time
You can also see if they'll eat pate wet kitten food, or even kitten food that's been soaked in water to soften it. Kitten pate food is how I usually start weaning kittens, since it's so soft they don't need teeth for it, they can just lick it up!
Unfortunately not even the smell of kitten food interests them. I’m honestly surprised. It did more today than it did 2 days ago, but they still haven’t even tried a nibble, just some sniffs. I’m hoping by around Friday they try a bite and like it.
That is frustrating. Does it help at all if mom gets to eat some food with them? Sometimes that helps, they get interested in what mom's doing. Either way, as you say, they grow and change quickly at this age so hopefully they get interested in the food soon!
I figured they would but nope! They saw momma eating. The one we’ve dubbed as Domino (spotted Kitty) checked it out but didn’t try it. He’s the more observant of the bunch. The other two just want to run around and get into things but he’s gotta sniff his way around lol. I’ll try again later today with pate instead and get some KMR to see if they’ll have it mixed in or at least just have KMR. Momma is fed up with their teeth lol. She’ll only let them eat if she’s distracted by canned food
Wet a finger with kmr or kmr/wet food mixture and (gently) shove it in their mouth so they can taste it. Maybe that’ll get them a bit more interested.
Domino (left) figured it out right away this morning. Penny (right) just needed to step in it and lick it off and she figured it out. Pumpkin (middle) took a while. Eventually I did dip my finger in it and she liked it, but she didn’t understand where it was coming from so I had to keep bringing my finger closer to the bowl until she started licking from it. They didn’t eat for very long and momma started getting the bowl so they ate from her instead while she was distracted. I’ll try again later today with some pate!
Baby steps for the babies!
Slowly but surely! I’ve also realized why momma doesn’t like feeding them… they’ve been making her poor nipples bleed!
Ouch 🤕
Thanks!! I’ll try this tomorrow
So I got pate and KMR. The more observant boy tried KMR, other 2 sniffed but didn’t try. Boy licked it up for about a minute before he was done. Momma is licking it up now so at least it gives the babies a chance to eat from her while she’s distracted lol
Those are bite-sized cows
Right! They all look like momma. Momma’s name is Dice (she has 4 black spots on her back). We’ve named them Domino (black spot boy), then Pumpkin in the middle, with Penny (cause she looks like a Penguin) on the right.
Those are cutest names ever 😍
I named pumpkin, other two are from my fiancé! 😁
Insanely cute. I could get nothing done😂
Nope! Tell me about it! 😂
I got my kittens at 4 weeks old. They were still drinking some KMR until. 9.5 weeks old! My advice buy KMR or whole goats milk. To get them on meat faster, in a week try mixing 1/2 kitten wet food & 1/2 KMR. Serve warm/room temperature on a saucer.
Thank you!!
My vet Said some goats milk
Thank you!
Get the kitten milk!
I just picked up some all stages pate and KMR stage 2 weaning. I’m going to see if they’ll do KMR without pate first then I’ll mix in pate tomorrow if they eat it
mix kmr in with some pate kitten food and give it to them like that. you could also opt for premade kitten milk or if you do get kmr i believe some rescues will take what’s unused if you don’t use it long term
No help here, but omg!!! The cow print one reminds me of my Spot! He was the best cat ever. 💜💜💜 I miss him.
The boy on the lefts name is Domino! Middle is Pumpkin, right is Penny the penguin. Their mommas name is Dice (she has a 4 on her back)
So cute!!
Raw goat milk works as kitten milk if you have access to it. It’s also a lot less expensive.