# Weaning a kitten **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 1, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaning-a-kitten/767391 "2016-10-01T18:16:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaning-a-kitten/767391/1 "2016-10-01T18:16:43Z")
I picked up a stray kitten about 10 days ago in pretty bad shape about 3 weeks old. She is doing very well now and I am feeding her every 3 hours by bottle. I would like to start weaning the kitten but she doesn’t show any interest in eating. Would missing a feeding be a good idea to encourage her to eat, maybe missing two feeding. I would give her water in place of formula if I skipped feeding. She is chewing the nipple off her bottles and acting like she wants to eat the bottle so I think she is ready to start weaning. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaning-a-kitten/767391/2 "2016-10-01T18:52:24Z")
I had a kitten that needed formula for a little while. He was only bottle-fed for a week, just until he gained enough weight, then we offered canned kitten food, a bowl of water, and a bowl of formula. I had to change the formula every six hours or so. I didn’t put very much in the bowl at a time. At first he mostly was interested in just the formula, but he lapped it up the way a cat drinks water. I mixed some water in with the canned cat food so he could lap that up, and that got him more interested in it. Once he had tried it a few times, he became much more interested in the food. He probably would have continued to drink a little formula every day, but as soon as he was eating as much food as the vet recommended, I stopped giving him the formula. He had a crate that we had used for housebreaking puppies, which we kept him in a lot of the time-- we played with him a lot of the time, but he slept a lot, and he was in the crate overnight. He was so tiny, there was room for a litter box made from a disposable baking pan, a lambswool hammock, and a nice padded spot with an old baby blanket, and underneath several layers, a heating pad turned on low overnight (the vet’s suggestion, because he was tiny and had very little body fat at first), and some toys, including one hanging from the top that he loved. He ended up doing really well, and went from being probably a litter runt to a 12lb cat. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaning-a-kitten/767391/3 "2016-10-01T19:00:00Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I had a kitten that needed formula for a little while. He was only bottle-fed for a week, just until he gained enough weight, then we offered canned kitten food, a bowl of water, and a bowl of formula. I had to change the formula every six hours or so. I didn’t put very much in the bowl at a time. At first he mostly was interested in just the formula, but he lapped it up the way a cat drinks water. I mixed some water in with the canned cat food so he could lap that up, and that got him more interested in it. Once he had tried it a few times, he became much more interested in the food. He probably would have continued to drink a little formula every day, but as soon as he was eating as much food as the vet recommended, I stopped giving him the formula. > > He had a crate that we had used for housebreaking puppies, which we kept him in a lot of the time-- we played with him a lot of the time, but he slept a lot, and he was in the crate overnight. He was so tiny, there was room for a litter box made from a disposable baking pan, a lambswool hammock, and a nice padded spot with an old baby blanket, and underneath several layers, a heating pad turned on low overnight (the vet’s suggestion, because he was tiny and had very little body fat at first), and some toys, including one hanging from the top that he loved. > > He ended up doing really well, and went from being probably a litter runt to a 12lb cat. A few days ago I had him lapping up formula from the table top, but for some reason I can get him to lap out of a bowl or dish. I will give your method I try, I think he is about 4 1/2 weeks now ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaning-a-kitten/767391/4 "2016-10-01T19:27:53Z")
I’m on my phone so the text is small, which made your thread title appear to be “Wearing a kitten”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaning-a-kitten/767391/5 "2016-10-02T00:55:23Z")
Yeah. I first thought, “Why would you wear a kitten? And where would you wear it?” ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaning-a-kitten/767391/6 "2016-10-02T01:39:14Z")
You should call a vet and see what they say ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaning-a-kitten/767391/7 "2016-10-02T03:55:34Z")
I got a stray kitten at about 6 weeks. I bottle fed him for 1 day. He attacked the bottle with such veracity that I presented him with solid food the next day and he immediately went for it. It was a combination of dry and wet food. I suspect the cat will let you know when to switch. When I say he attacked the bottle I mean that he tried to gnaw the plastic behind the nipple. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaning-a-kitten/767391/8 "2016-10-02T04:07:45Z")
I asked the same question many years ago, and got some great advice. See this thread: > **[Weaning a kitten](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=117599)** > > My wife and I have once again taken in an orphan kitten. We seem to be an easy touch for a farmer friend who has this happen from time to time. Either that, or the farmer knows that any kittens passed to us will get good care. Anyway, this recent... And as you will see, there was confusion back then also, about “weaning” vs. “wearing.” ETA: I must have done something right all those years ago, as that kitten is now 14, and still with me! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaning-a-kitten/767391/9 "2016-10-02T04:10:26Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Would missing a feeding be a good idea to encourage her to eat, maybe missing two feeding. I would give her water in place of formula if I skipped feeding. No, at that young, and with a background as a stray, I wouldn’t skip the feedings. Have you tried giving her kibble soaked in her formula? Also, have you considered giving her the Bene-bac gel? It promotes healthy gut bacteria in young critters who are weaning or had food disruption. A dose of that might make her more interested in food. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weaning-a-kitten/767391/10 "2016-10-02T14:33:34Z")
I weaned my batch of microkitties when they grew teeth that made ruination of the KMR bottle nipple. The way I did it was to mix up KMR with some of that grain stuff and put it in a big wide frying pan, and I locked all 6 in a small storage closet with it for a little while. They were hungry and they learned. They walked out into the middle of the frying pan and I had to wash off their little kitty feets which were coated in milky goop but they had learned how to lap stuff up.