I’ve Just Found Out My 8 Week Old Kitten Is Infact 6 Weeks Old !! Please Help – Advice As She’s Not With Mum?
firstly, work this out for me, she was born on 20th september. although I was told she was 8 weeks old – doesn’t this work out that she is just over 6 weeks old ?
The poor thing needs to be with it’s mother for at least 8 weeks don’t they ?
She ate some cat food, but does she still need her mums milk ?
How can I care for her properly without her mum around ? Do I give her baby (human) formula milk ? Do I carry on giving kitten food ? Shall I wet it with water ? (it’s the dry Go Cat complete stuff).
Where shall I put her to sleep ? In our room ? on our bed ? on her own downstairs ? With or without Lola the 10 week old ?
I’m so new to this. But I love them so much already I want the best for them !
I’ve got a 10 week old kitten too who I’ve only had a week, so I need to please her too.
I’m angry as I wouldn’t have taken her had I know this age.
ALSO – please don’t judge, I’m not happy about this situation, but we lost our jobs, and get housing benefit etc, will PDSA help with jabs etc ? I’ve given them treatment for worms and fleas today so that is fine. Will they see Miya the 6 week old for free ? I don’t mind paying of course, but things are tight.
poor thing x
Tags: Advice, Found, Help, I've, Infact, Just, Kitten, Please, Week, Weeks
Cat Health | admin February 7, 2010
5 Comments to “I’ve Just Found Out My 8 Week Old Kitten Is Infact 6 Weeks Old !! Please Help – Advice As She’s Not With Mum?”
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By avaroe, February 7, 2010 @ 9:29 pm
I had the same thing happen to me luckily i had an older cat who could teach her anything she hadnt learnt. The advice i got from my vet was to keep her on kitten food, other than that just to make sure she is doing the normal things- like litter training. The only issue u might get is grooming as this is something the mother teachers her young-hopefully the 10 week old will help the 6 week old. U can call a vet for over the phone advice and the rspca- though they would probably want info on the person who gave u the kitten.
In regards to the other issue if u r in receipt of benefits inc income support, job seekers allowance or working tax credits the RSPCA can help with the injections (free) and also assist with the costs of getting them spayed/castrated (someone recently told me they cover all the costs now if ur eligible- but dont quote me on that). You can also call up cats protection and they will send you a voucher to help towards costs in case the RSPCA cant help.
Good luck
Also as the others have said dont give her cow milk- this can make the kitten ill. When i talked to the vet about giving our kitten cat milk the vet informed me that this wasnt necessary but i could if i wanted to. The most important thing was to keep her on kitten food and that she was eating, which she was.
By APB, February 8, 2010 @ 12:10 am
Don’t give human or cow milk to a cat, you can buy kitten formula at a pet store.
If your kitten is already eating the kitten food keep giving her that, but give her a little kitten formula for a while.
By E.L, February 8, 2010 @ 1:00 am
Exactly the same thing happened to me when we got our cat, Tim years ago (who sadily isn’t with us anymore). We only found out after taking him to the vet to get him checked over on the day we got him. You should do the same as the vet may give you some simulated cat milk to give your kitten the nutrition it should still be being given by its mother. Either way, the vet will know what to do and won’t judge you. If someone tells you a kitten is 8 weeks old then you can’t be blamed for believeing them.
It didn’t do anything detrimental to Tim when he was taken from his mother at 6 weeks, but it depends on how strong and healthy the individual kitten is and upon its background, so my best advice would be to take your kitten to the vet as he/she is an expert.
By SS, February 8, 2010 @ 4:39 am
If the kitten is showing independence then it is fine. Give it kitten food and you can soften it with some canned food. Your kitten will be just fine. I have raised many kitten without the mother (abandoned). If anything your kitten will be more dependent on you now and as it gets older it will adjust just fine. Don’t worry. It also sound as if you have another young cat. It will also have a companion to play with.
By sunshine, February 8, 2010 @ 11:19 am
Hi,
First of all relax. If the kitten is eating a little food that’s great..it means it can eat. If you can possibly get something called kmr..it comes in a can from pet store..it means kitten milk replacement. You can try putting this in a saucer or bowl to see if the kitten will drink it. IF it does great if it doesn’t you can get a kitten baby bottle to help it along. As long as she ate some cat food…she should be able to eat on her own…please try to buy kitten food special for kittens…it has extra vitamins and stuff that babies need over regular cat food….Do not give regular milk,,it will give the kitten the runs and at this age a kitten can dehydrated and get sick very very quickly.
If your are only using the dry food,,leave out some dry and mix some with water and see which the cat prefers.
Don’t be angry about the cats age…it will be fine if you nurse her along!