Anyone ever litter train kittens??

[Magda12]

as i said i have no choice. it’s either have mom cat have worms that could be deadly to her if she keeps having them. She’s eating the food because she was an outdoor cat that isn’t used to having food out all the time, and one kitten is ready to wean, she has been licking up formula i put in a bowl. Now back to my original question about how to start weaning them, because that’s the advice i need right now.

I just told you. You can't force wean them. They're going to to keep nursing if they're with their mom until SHE weans them. Or call your vet. Not really sure what else you're looking for here.

 

[CKfarm22]

I just told you. You can't force wean them. They're going to to keep nursing if they're with their mom until SHE weans them. Or call your vet. Not really sure what else you're looking for here.

Obviously you don’t have the advice i’m looking for so why keep commenting?I need advice on how to wean kittens in which you’re not helping me at all, but instead are telling me the mom will do it, some mother cats don’t wean their kittens until the kittens are 12 weeks old. I stated WHY i need to wean them, for the sake of the mothers HEALTH so yes i am FORCE weaning them. Many people have weaned kittens but mine are being stubborn and they’re still with mom. So please if you can not help me with my situation then stop replying to me and have someone give me the advice i need.

 

[Magda12]

Ok, good luck

 

[NatJ]

Next thing i’m struggling with is weaning the kittens from mom. So the dilemma is, all the kittens and mom are in quarantine in a room in my house. Anytime i put food or kitten formula in a shallow dish, mom cat automatically thinks it’s for her. If i turn my back for 2 seconds it’s all gone. I can not let mom cat out of the room because they are still in quarantine. Does anyone have any solutions or thoughts of what i should do?

I can think of several ideas, although each has some possible downsides.

You could put in several dishes of food or kitten formula. Or smear it around on a large dish. That way the kittens may get some, because the mother cannot be at every spot at once. Seeing the mother eat the food may help the kittens realize it is good stuff, so her eating some may be helpful that she eats it too.

Maybe you could put the mother cat in a carrier or crate for a bit, so the kittens have a chance at the food. (This might distress the kittens enough that they will not eat, or it may be fine. If the mother really likes to eat, you could give her a little bit of food in the crate, and give food to the kittens outside the crate.)

Or just hold & pet the mother cat, to give the kittens time to sample the food. (Only if the mother cat will allow this.)

Or if the mother cat is not tame, maybe you can sit right by the plate of food to discourage her while the kittens eat, or even smear food on your finger and offer that to the kittens to taste. (If the mother cat is not tame, this may just tame her instead of letting the kittens have the food-- a different good effect, but not the one you are currently looking for.)

Maybe you can put the food in a cage with kitten-sized openings, where the mother cat cannot go. Then the kittens could wander in and out and sample the food. (Getting the right size openings may be difficult, depending on how much bigger the mother is than the kittens. But people so make "creep feeders" for many kinds of animals, so the young ones can get extra food without the mothers being able to overeat.)

Maybe you can put out a large amount of food, and the mother will get full and leave some for the kittens.

I don't know whether any of those will be quite right, but maybe my ideas can help you find something that does work.

 

[CKfarm22]

I can think of several ideas, although each has some possible downsides.

You could put in several dishes of food or kitten formula. Or smear it around on a large dish. That way the kittens may get some, because the mother cannot be at every spot at once. Seeing the mother eat the food may help the kittens realize it is good stuff, so her eating some may be helpful that she eats it too.

Maybe you could put the mother cat in a carrier or crate for a bit, so the kittens have a chance at the food. (This might distress the kittens enough that they will not eat, or it may be fine. If the mother really likes to eat, you could give her a little bit of food in the crate, and give food to the kittens outside the crate.)

Or just hold & pet the mother cat, to give the kittens time to sample the food. (Only if the mother cat will allow this.)

Or if the mother cat is not tame, maybe you can sit right by the plate of food to discourage her while the kittens eat, or even smear food on your finger and offer that to the kittens to taste. (If the mother cat is not tame, this may just tame her instead of letting the kittens have the food-- a different good effect, but not the one you are currently looking for.)

Maybe you can put the food in a cage with kitten-sized openings, where the mother cat cannot go. Then the kittens could wander in and out and sample the food. (Getting the right size openings may be difficult, depending on how much bigger the mother is than the kittens. But people so make "creep feeders" for many kinds of animals, so the young ones can get extra food without the mothers being able to overeat.)

Maybe you can put out a large amount of food, and the mother will get full and leave some for the kittens.

I don't know whether any of those will be quite right, but maybe my ideas can help you find something that does work.

Thank you so so so much for this! I’m going to try some of these and see if they work!

 

[CKfarm22]

Maybe you can put the food in a cage with kitten-sized openings, where the mother cat cannot go. Then the kittens could wander in and out and sample the food. (Getting the right size openings may be difficult, depending on how much bigger the mother is than the kittens. But people so make "creep feeders" for many kinds of animals, so the young ones can get extra food without the mothers being able to overeat.)

I was thinking about getting like a large home depot moving box and cutting it in one part so it’s flat (if that makes sense) and setting it up with just an opening big enough for only the kittens to be able to get into. The kittens are pretty small compared to momma so

 

[NatJ]

I was thinking about getting like a large home depot moving box and cutting it in one part so it’s flat (if that makes sense) and setting it up with just an opening big enough for only the kittens to be able to get into. The kittens are pretty small compared to momma so

That sounds like a good idea to try

 

[CKfarm22]

That sounds like a good idea to try

So I have made some success. I mixed some water in with a little bit of wet cat food, one kitten was very interested in it and ate from the bowl. For the 2 others, i used a syringe and fed them like that so they could get a taste for it! They are also interested in dry cat food so they were nibbling on that too! I’m so happy