Kitty won't eat
 

okay I feel like a giant geek for even asking this question... but I'm going to anyway... I wasn't sure really where to put it.

My honey and I just got a kitten... he's old enough to leave his mama. But he won't eat. He won't eat kitty food. Wet or dry. So we go to the store and buy kitty formula and a bottle. He'll take a TEENY bit from the bottle... if I physically get him to open his mouth and squeeze some onto his tongue. Which is a HUGE pain in the ass, especially when I'm sunburnt and his kitten claws hurt like a bitch. I've put some of the formula in his food dish, to see if maybe he'll take some when I'm not paying attention, but he's following me around the house. Aack! I don't know what to do! Anyone else have a problem similar? What did you do?

Hey,

We had the same problem with a kitten we got from the SPCA. She was very dehydrated, and for the first few days she didnt want to drink or eat so we got a little eyedropper and forcefully made her drink and gave her some food. We were worried about her.

I'm about 99% sure the reason was that the kitten was just stressed about the changing surroundings. We just made sure she had plenty of fresh food (try wet food, they will usually eat that before dry food - but make sure to ween it off of it so they dont "only" eat wet food, that is a pain!). I think the kitten will come around in a day or so.

They should naturally eat when they get hungry enough; if it doesn't in a few days I would take it to the vet because it has more problems than just stress about changing surroundings.

Good luck!

That makes some sense. We got him Saturday but it stayed at his parents' house Saturday night because we had to clear it through management at our apartment first. He probably is stressed. I just worry about him. I can tell he's hungry, but now that food's available, it's like he doesn't want to eat it!

Mix kitten food (NOT "Kitten Chow"!!!) with some milk and make it available in a bowl. This should work, based on my experience.

If you want a healthy cat, you'll use one of the more balanced foods, like Science Diet or IAMS. These foods are somewhat more expensive, but they're also MUCH better for your cat than any of the plain Kitten/Cat "Chow". No FUS is good FUS.

I'd probably take the kitten to the vet ASAP. I know I'd hate to go hungry for days just because somebody didn't understand that I was sick or how to help me.

Well, he wouldn't eat this morning from the bottle (fought tooth and nail to stay away). But when I got home from work today I tried again and he took some food from it. So I hope *crosses fingers* that that's a sign that he really was just stressed from changing environments. Instead of scratching at me to get away he just kinda pulled his head back a little bit and kept kinda gnawing/chewing/whatever the fuck kittens do to bottles.

Remember: kittens have no brains in their heads. They grow them later. You can tell by how they run full power into walls and other objects, then act the same. :D

I hope you get your little guy to eat soon. I just got a kitten myself on Sunday and he's eating like a champ.

Now, if he could only figure out the trick of the litter box :rolleyes:

Also remember that you are now mommy ;) a kitten usually will not seperate itself from who it sees as mommy. (You said that it was old enough to leave the mother but I doubt it.. they take kittens from the mothers WAY too early..

the more you rest and relax, the more the kitten will. Try to have the food close to you when you do curl up on the couch.. it will be a natural progression..

and good luck

When he poops on the floor, put it in his litterbox... praise him when he goes there. One of my friends told me she had to pour water in the litterbox so he'd know it was okay to go there. :shrug:



I think he sees me as mommy. He tried all night last night to burrow himself into my hair.... and he tried using my earlobe as a nipple..... :crazy: Wierdest. Feeling. Ever. haha

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the more you rest and relax, the more the kitten will. Try to have the food close to you when you do curl up on the couch.. it will be a natural progression.. and good luck

Right after he started sucking on my earlobe I grabbed the bottle. He was fighting it less and less. You can tell he still doesn't like it though. I don't blame him, ya know? I mean, I'D rather have grilled chicken than fake milk. :p

This morning I was mixing some of his formula and he was watching me, staring at the spot where we keep his food dish. Just for kicks I sat down the can of wet food there. It was cute to watch him sneak forward and sniff at it. Then I put the formula in his dish next to that, and he sniffed both of them, and kept staring at me like "Do you HAVE to watch me?" So I left the room... he was in there for a while, so I hope he ate something.

I love kittens. I've had my earlobe sucked by one before and you're right, it is the weirdest feeling in the world. I hope your kitty is eating now. I think instinct will kick in, and she'll start to eat once she gets hungry enough. Wanna post some pics? :)

My wife got a kitten while I was on a trip. She wanted it to be a secret, but it wouldn't eat anything but scrambled eggs, that she had made one morning. She made eggs for this cat for 3 days, trying wet catfood all the time and it wouldn't eat it. When I got home I knelt on the floor, but the kitten between my legs, gently pried his mouth open and put some kitten food ( the wet kind) onto his tounge, and closed his mouth. You could almost see his attitude change. He went right over to the food and ate. This cat now weighs in at over 20 lbs 10 years later (and he is not fat, he looks like a large raccoon!) This is the same food he would just come up to, sniff and walk away from!

Maine Coon cat, quite likely.

Yeah, they have to be told what is "food" at first. I forgot about that. Been nineteen years since I last had a kitten, but I do recall that she had to be shown that the food was something to eat. I shoved her muzzle into the Kitten Chow-and-milk. Later, she understood dry Kitten Chow. But when I switched her to normal Cat Chow, she needed it explained again. Later, she apparently realized that the shape doesn't matter, but not at first.

See, kittens have no brains. Really! OTOH, they have no experience, either.

BTW, that cat is the one I learned not to feed Purina (critter) Chow with. She eventually came down with a case of FUS, which is NASTY! Got educated about the topic, and switched her food to better stuff. Never happened again.
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Hm, looks like newer research into the problem has made it a bit less simple.

He ate!!! He ate he ate he ate!! He resisted the bottle less and less, and I could tell he still didn't like it. So I tried, just for shits and giggles, putting some of the gravy from the wet food on my finger. At first he sniffed it, but I put a little on his mouth and he licked it off, and it was like the shades were pulled... he attacked my finger as if he hadn't eaten in well, three days.. lol. I had to teach him that it was okay to eat the food that I'd set out for him, and it was so exciting to see him eat it! :D:D


This is Mister Miyagi (aka PoohBag ):love:

http://www.radiobox.com/alfred/miyagi1.jpg

Aww, I love kittens.

Hate cats, but love kittens :)

such a little kitty for such a big name . :) Cute!

yeah we call him Miyagi.... Mr. Miagi had a first name, I can't remember it right now. But that's his full name. Mr. K. Miyagi (I really can't remember the first name right now)

CUTE KITTY! That's the exact kind of cat I want. Red and white and fluffy.

I'm glad he started to eat. Now be careful what you feed him, one of my cats got hooked on pasta and gained like a pound and a half in two weeks.

the little fuck just left us a 'creamy little gift', as my honey called it on our carpet. Good thing he's so damn cute.

He ate too fast, betcha. :rolleyes: Kittens.

I think I have a solution. Cats, when they are unsure of someone, will not eat with them around. This includes family.

My cat, when he was a kitten, had to be left alone to eat. It took a few weeks til he was happy with us around. Now it's all we can do to keep him from our food :)

So, I would leave the little one alone with some meat and some dry biscuits (and lots of water) he might eat.

Beautiful cat, by the way

Some of you may remember a thread I started last year about disciplining my monstrous kittens (http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...threadid=17699).

They are both 1yr 4mths old, and the male cat EATS tape. After the double-sided tape suggestion went horribly wrong, he has now made anything with adhesives one of his preferred snacks. He actually pulls open our desk drawer and removes the postage stamps and eats them (we find the remains all over the floor). We now have to hide our stamps, mail (he eats the adhesive part of the envelope), and of course, all the tape in the house. Now, whenever we need some tape, we can't find it because we had to hide it so well from the cat.

Mercifully, the litterbox problem was solved when we shelled out $100 for one of those automatic self-scooping litterboxes. After we got that, they both became masterful litterbox babies.

Also, we've always fed them Hairball Control catfood, and neither one of them has EVER thrown up anywhere.

So, I guess the trade-off is okay.

Heee... that's funny. But only because I'm not in your shoes. Sorry :p


Thanks for posting that link. Learned a few things for my own little guy.

Having just been through this, let me say that you are in for a lot more creamy surprises. My two little terrors are going to be two in a few months. One is a type A cat, and one is a type B cat. I have an explorer, and a coward. Its quite funny. We can't keep any houseplants for very long, they seem to taste too good. My pristine leather couch is in shreds. I have fur on ALL of my clothes. My arms and legs look like i've been in a glass factory explosion. But I'd never give up trouble 1 and trouble 2. One of the cats just took a piss in my fiance's purse. That was awesome.

:eek:

Here is terror #1:

http://thedragers.net/albums/Jeffers...icture_008.jpg

We think he should be in the cat olympics. Here is a shot we got of him, this isn't as high as he goes either:

http://thedragers.net/albums/Jeffers...icture_035.jpg

Too bad the little bugger peed and shat on a new duvet we got for our wedding, there was like $200 down the drain.

Now he bites a lot. We've tried to train him to not do it to no avail starting from an early age. I'm pretty sure we tried every trick in the book - nothing works. He's a pretty cat, we just have to warn all visitors not to try to pet him.

Anyway, not to threadjack, glad your cat is eating now :)

I love black cats!

hey go look at my cat Pumpkin in Tilted Portates :p

More pics of kittens and cats, please.

aurigus, that kitty is too sweet!! I love black cats... they always look so mysterious!

My kitty eats like a piggy now... right at the moment he's sitting on my shoulder begging for attention. The poor thing's been alone since about 10 this morning.

Kittens are awesome fun. They also like that "Cat-Milk" stuff you can buy from the pet store. Sometimes I get it for my full grown fat kitty. He loves it.

my kitten Bootsy wouldnt do just about anything the first few days we had her. she wouldnt eat, sleep, drink, pee, poop, anything. eventually though, she got used to her surroundings and is now very active and very vicious.

though in this pic, she doesnt look it:

http://img25.photobucket.com/albums/...s/DSCF0031.jpg

this is her the day we got her, a month ago almost. she looks chubbier in the newer pic above, but thats just cause shes squnched up. shes definitely gotten bigger though.

http://img25.photobucket.com/albums/...kittykitty.jpg

I remember that teeny pic!! I thought you were naming her sillygirl~ :(

aaw.... well actually i was going to but then Ana (my fiance) got to pick the name instead.

Sillygirl is from now on her middle name :)

Agh! Overwhelmed by the cuteness! Quick, someone tell me what a pain kittens are before I go out and get another one.

Think of a small child. One that won't get any smarter, won't ever grow out of diapers, and won't ever leave home. That should do it. Oh, and a small child with CLAWS.

Kitties!
 

we have two kittens (actually they are not kittens anymore, nearly full grown) but when we got them they also refused to eat for 2/3 days.

They just chose to hide under the couch all day. We always made sure that food and water were always available to them (btw, milk is not recommended for kittens) and once the hunger really got to them they just gave in an ate.

After that we have had no problems with our cats.

One more thing: If you ever want to bathe your cat, now is the time to begin. Get him/her used to water and you will have no problems later on.

Cats love it after you have shampooed them and they are all super-fluffy.

Milk is okay for kittens. It's not okay for adult cats; it gives them the runs. I wouldn't give much of it even to kittens, though.

I find my 13 year old cat likes the meltings from vanilla ice cream. She might like the rest too, but that's for me. :D Doesn't seem to be too much for her. I do not give her anything with chocolate in it, however. Since she expects the remains from ice cream, that means I mustn't bring chocolate ice cream in the house. :/

He's not a pain at all... I heart him so much!!

We were showering last night and Miyagi kept trying to climb into the bathtub. It was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. I always have to be holding him or he acts like I neglect him. I picked him up and held him and he didn't freak out at the shower or anything like all other kittens I've had have done. It's so funny! He just stood on my shoulder for a while.

I love it when little kittens ride around on my shoulder. But then they get tooooo big.