Hi everyone.
I am excited to be getting a new little kitten in a couple of weeks. It is a little grey tabby and is the runt of the litter so very small. We have called her Misty.
It has been a long time since I had a kitten and times have changed.
What do you feed tiny kittens these days? I don't think you give them milk anymore - or is that just puppies? They are in the unit
next door and she is feeding them some type of cat feed in a tube??? I thought fresh food, maybe chicken mince or such might be better.
Also, what is the best kitty litter? I have just bought a tray until she is larger then I will get one with a flap as I didn't think she was big enough to push it open.
Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.
My girls get rump steak, they won't eat a cheaper cut of meat. Fresh meat is best, had been giving them a pet one from supermarket and vet said he wouldn't feed his animals any meat he wouldn't eat. I give them a little bit of the Coles Applaws tiny tin meat with the rump too.
Their stools should be small dry and dark, and that is what they are on this diet.
Being a kitten, I'm not sure I would use the litter crystals, she might eat them, which is a bad bad thing.
Can you consider making her an inside cat only, with maybe a safe secure enclosure outside? Far safer for her, and legally cats are not allowed off your property, although show me someone who can make that happen! lol
Congratulations on new kitty adoption..Always so exciting to get a new baby...My tips for a happy healthy kitten are..Feed her a kitten diet for first 12 months.I use Royal canin baby cat and then progress to older kitten ..That is my choice for dry .The pieces are very tiny and easy for a small tiny kitten to chew on.The wet food is a personal choice but mine do also like royal canin kitten in small trays..as previously mentioned Raw chicken wing tips are wonderful to cleaning the teeth and later when bigger a chicken neck ( full of marrow)..Avoid milk ( even pet ones) Fresh water is always best..Small amounts of Grated cheese given occasionally is also a great source of calcium..Crystal cat litter is a cleaner option but avoid the perfume varieties as some cats do not like the smell..I also use breeders choice ( its a recyled paper pellet ) and is not dusty at all..Some of my cat show friends use Oz pet which is great for the envoiroment and even has its own sifter tray..Try to stay with a balanced kitten diet as feeding raw meat only can in time lead to varied serious problems ..In the wild a cat eats an entire carcass not just selected parts so all the esssenitial vitamins.minerals will be absorbed and he will benifit but when we offer fresh meat it is not properley balanced..Take your baby to the vet for an overall assesment..As he is a runt be careful he is of a healthy weight and continues to grow..The vet will also check his eyes are bright and bottom clean..Coat free from parasites and mouth free of ulcers ect..He will need to have been microchipped & have his vaccination program started..A safe worming treatment and future desexing..Ypu may like to even train him from the start to play in his travel box by hanging toys and feeding him it for short periods to get him used to feeling safe in it ..then he will have no issues being placed in it for vet trips..ect and you can do the same with a big dog crete..place some toys and put a bed in it and he will learn to sleep in it at night instead of getting up to mischief and jumping all over you while you and your family sleep......Boy is he going to be fun...
@jenni200011 wrote:Congratulations on new kitty adoption..Always so exciting to get a new baby...My tips for a happy healthy kitten are..Feed her a kitten diet for first 12 months.I use Royal canin baby cat and then progress to older kitten ..That is my choice for dry .The pieces are very tiny and easy for a small tiny kitten to chew on.The wet food is a personal choice but mine do also like royal canin kitten in small trays..as previously mentioned Raw chicken wing tips are wonderful to cleaning the teeth and later when bigger a chicken neck ( full of marrow)..Avoid milk ( even pet ones) Fresh water is always best..Small amounts of Grated cheese given occasionally is also a great source of calcium..Crystal cat litter is a cleaner option but avoid the perfume varieties as some cats do not like the smell..I also use breeders choice ( its a recyled paper pellet ) and is not dusty at all..Some of my cat show friends use Oz pet which is great for the envoiroment and even has its own sifter tray..Try to stay with a balanced kitten diet as feeding raw meat only can in time lead to varied serious problems ..In the wild a cat eats an entire carcass not just selected parts so all the esssenitial vitamins.minerals will be absorbed and he will benifit but when we offer fresh meat it is not properley balanced..Take your baby to the vet for an overall assesment..As he is a runt be careful he is of a healthy weight and continues to grow..The vet will also check his eyes are bright and bottom clean..Coat free from parasites and mouth free of ulcers ect..He will need to have been microchipped & have his vaccination program started..A safe worming treatment and future desexing..Ypu may like to even train him from the start to play in his travel box by hanging toys and feeding him it for short periods to get him used to feeling safe in it ..then he will have no issues being placed in it for vet trips..ect and you can do the same with a big dog crete..place some toys and put a bed in it and he will learn to sleep in it at night instead of getting up to mischief and jumping all over you while you and your family sleep......Boy is he going to be fun...
The kitten milk didnt harm my kittens and it was the vet who told me to use it...........and they thrived.
Hi Sandy:)
How exciting!
My babies are just over a year old now and sooo much fun:)....
For kitty litter tray indoors (I use a large paint tray, where the cats use the deep end and I clean regularly) I find the most economical and smell free method is to buy a bag each of the clay pellets/chips to line the bottom 1" at the deep end and buy a big bag of the recycled paper/cardboard pellets to 2/3rds fill the rest. The clay absorbs the urine smell. The 2 diff 'natural'/no chemicals litter products last a few weeks with cleaning the tray out every 2-3 days and are nowhere near the ridiculous price of the crystal/gel litter product.
When the kittens were only a few weeks old I did give them a tiny few dribbles at night time of full cream milk with a squirt of hot water to make it slightly warm. Their stomachs and digestive systems are fine with this when little but they will become lactose intolerant as they quickly grow and I wouldn't give them normal milk once they are about 5-6 months old. As other posters have said-you can buy lactose free milk products for cats if you wish. I prefer and choose to offer my cats plenty of fresh water daily. I have bowls near their food, one at the other end of the house, another outside near the cat flap.
One thing I found helpful when they first came home was a couple of sachets of a product that I bought(not expensive) from the vet for diarrhoea-not caused from drinking milk! I mixed 1/2 a sachet of this with her food for a couple of days and all came good. One of my kittens was suffering from stress (pet shop stated they were both 6 weeks old-they were much much younger!) with it's new environ and prob missing it's mum plus guessing intro to solid food was a big event.
While your kitten is growing it will need 2 wet meals a day plus supervise access/amount to dry biscuits. A vet once told me that cats can develop hardened kidneys if they eat too many dry biscuits especially as they get older. Wet and fresh food is best for them and biscuits to exercise/clean those teeth.
I have found that the brand Gourmet Delight is top quality can food. It is rich and nutritious and has lots of varieties. I mix a couple of teaspoons in a saucer with a teaspoon or 2 of chopped lamb's liver. Liver really helps give the cats a beautiful sheen to their coats and builds up their immune systems. I buy the lambs liver and pre-chop into wee parcels to freeze. 15-25 secs microwave blast is all you need to defrost before feeding a bit, then in the fridge with the rest for the next fresh feed. Add to this freshly chopped chicken -also buy bulk and make parcels to freeze or use leftovers from human prep meals. The odd offering of beef for variety and once a week I open a can of sardines in oil.....YUUuuum!! and full of those omegas. To help with the odd furball issue I have a tube of delicious(!) tasting, white paraffin/cod liver oil based feline laxative laced with malt syrup which I smear about 1/2 a teaspoon firmly into the fur on front of each front leg above their paw from my finger.Too much or applied lightly and they WILL 'flick' it off!They simply lick and clean up and fixes the furball prob easy-peasy.
I keep my babes in at night and supervise their goings on outside regularly during the day. We play with them regularly-and we love them sooo much
Enjoy!
While your kitten is growing it will need 2 wet meals a day plus supervise access/amount to dry biscuits. A vet once told me that cats can develop hardened kidneys if they eat too many dry biscuits especially as they get older. Wet and fresh food is best for them and biscuits to exercise/clean those teeth.
Yep, it can do bad things to their kidneys, but I think this is related to the cheaper no-frills,generic branded,and go-cat type supermarket dryfood.
The best thing anyone can do is ak the vet for advice when you take your new pet for it's vaccinations/checkup. Their is much more emphasis on pet diets in their ongoing training then there was years ago.
For raw food my kitty likes lizards and mice, unfortunately they don't agree with her and I usually have to clean the partly processed remains off the floor. Horrible animal she is 
edit: forgot to say. Too much soft food long term can be bad for their teeth, hence the chicken necks, and wings (and mice and lizards)
ummm raw. and only small ones. Doggie gets the big ones.
She's fussy though, some times she loves them, other times she won't touch then. I rely a lot on the mice and stuff she eats, to clean her teeth.
I gave mine a small piece of toast and vegemite last week. She refused to touch it! First cat I've met that didn't at least lick the vegemite off the toast. Even the dog turned his nose up at it. And yet they eat rotten road kill and blerky lizards.
