# when shall i give the kittens food?



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

when should i start putting down food for them to try? they will be 4 weeks on weds?


----------



## catsmum (Feb 4, 2011)

when they start showing interest in their mothers food


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

but there no where near there mothers food?


----------



## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

where are they? whats the set up like?

they need to be able to see mum eat, then at 4weeks watch her, at 4half weeks I put some in their mouths they spit it out again but they lick after so they get the taste, mine are all eating and they are 5 weeks on monday, am well pleased only did it once, they did the rest by themselves! :laugh: 

but remember that some dont eat till 5 even 6weeks


----------



## catsmum (Feb 4, 2011)

mycatroxy said:


> but there no where near there mothers food?


then they should be 

animals learn through seeing and copying


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

at the moment they are still in my room, will be making some sort of den for them down stairs most likely in the living room as my kitchen is too small, so shall i let them go on a wonder and then put them in the kitchen to see her feed then move them back to the nest or do they have to eat in their nest?


----------



## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

It would be easier for them if it's near their 'nest'. You've more chance of success that way.

Give me a few mins I'll draw you a scetch of the set up we had, it might explain a few things better ...


----------



## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

hmm its hard to say as they have been upstairs but have you got a giant dog crate? mums nest with kittens litter tray inside with food /drink for litter training and food eating!

Mine are with me in the lounge for 4weeks, then go into the nuresy into a giant great dane crate for 1 weeks for litter training, normally fully trained by 5weeks and started eating, then the crate goes and they have the nursey to themselves until 6weeks, for mini house visits, then at 8weeks full run of the house! :scared: 

devised the plan after my first litter as wasnt sure how to do litter training, find it works extremly well, only had 1 wee accident in all the litters ive had after 5-6weeks of age! :laugh:


----------



## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

OK, have a look at this ...

I mentioned on your other thread about making a little room out of cardboard for them. This is what ours looked like.










A. The kitten litter tray we purchased from [email protected], with Tesco's wood pellet cat litter.

B. Is a solid pine storage box from Homebase. This was out nest box. We cut a door in one of the ends for Rilly to get in and out of, and lined all the inside with lino adhesive tiles (though I will use ceramic tiles next time).

C. These are ramps we mad out of cardboard  Chris then cut little strips of card board and stuck them onto the ramps to give the girls something to grip as they climbed.

D. Flat plate for the girls to eat food off.

E. A shallow saucer of water

F. This is the 'room' walls which can be made of cardboard (boxes folded flat). I'd recommend it be 4ft high, as they will learn to scale it quickly otherwise.

Now, this is not a huge space and so I wouldn't recommend this kind of set up for long periods. But it does offer you peace of mind if you have something to do and you can't keep an eye on them, or through the night. Rilly got in and out just fine by jumping on top of the next box. Or where the ramp is. You could use an extra piece of cardboard to create a door where the ramp is so it can be completely closed at times.

It's easier to maintain if you have the whole thing on a tiled/lino/wood floor, but if you've got carpet where you want to to it you could use more cardboard instead. We didn't once have any accidents in ours, so if your lucky you won't need to replace it.

I know the majority of this will not be any good to you now, but it might help others with the same question at some point 

HTH xx


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

Aurelia said:


> OK, have a look at this ...
> 
> I mentioned on your other thread about making a little room out of cardboard for them. This is what ours looked like.
> 
> ...


thank you so much this really does help!!!! i will defiantely use this as a guide!!! and will get some cardboard tomorrow!:thumbup:


----------



## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

No problem. It will save you the price of a crate that you might not ever use again, plus it's a much bigger space. Don't forget you'll need lots of tape though


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

right have made den in living room they have plenty of room now to run around and jinx has a cheeky personality loves to explore lol so shall i put the litter tray in there today and put kittens in it and out some food down too?


----------



## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

Well it wont hurt to try, but don't be disappointed if they don't start yet 

BTW I'd love to see a picture of the den  I wish I'd taken some of mine now


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

il take a pic its not very pretty tho lol


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

ive never done this before so see what you think. lol


----------



## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

you need a litter tray & food/drink in there now to 

but worried that they cant see you or view the family to get used to people though, can you make windows? :lol:

they will be jumping out of that in a week lol :thumbup: :lol:


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

yeah am going to put the litter tray in and food once im confident in what im doing going to read up later properly.

i put in some food and brought all of them to it, they had a sniff then walked away i rubbed a little around tinys mouth but they didnt feed so i let roxy eat the rest in front of them will try again tomorrow. shall i constsntly leave the bowl in there? and i have kept boxes to raise the wall if need be lol. 

dont worry they get plenty of cuddles.:thumbup:


----------



## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

100% food And water needs to be there at all times, dont worry aobut putting it on their mouths as they are still young, try it at 5 weeks, but the litter tray has to be with them at all times now aswell, start putting them in it and digging their paws and they can watch mum use it to.


----------



## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

Taylorbaby said:


> 100% food And water needs to be there at all times, dont worry aobut putting it on their mouths as they are still young, try it at 5 weeks, but the litter tray has to be with them at all times now aswell, start putting them in it and digging their paws and they can watch mum use it to.


Or an easier way is sprinkle just a little bit of mums used litter in their tray. If you're using woodchip (which is best for kittens) there will be 'dust' in mums tray where she pees, this is the bit I used. I never once had to put any of my little ones in the litter tray 

I do agree about the food and water being down though. But maybe not food all of the time. You'll soon go through so much food it will be unobtainable as it goes stale after a little while. Instead try mashing some wet up, only a very small amount and spread it around the outside of the dish. Try this maybe half a dozen times a day until they start eating. Chances are mum will eat it if they don't and with such a small amount (less than half a sachet of wet?) a day it won't cost you a bomb.


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

thanks guys this is so helpful shall i put the food down when roxy isnt around? as she will eat the lot?


----------



## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

I also put/leave a bit of wee in the tray, they do normally do it by themselves but I always put them in there, find it quickens up the process  Devised doing it that way after our first litter, only ever had 1 accident over 5 weeks in all of our litters so we are pretty proud of it lol :laugh: 

Depends what you are feeding really, biccis down then wet meat when and as you do it  As mum is feeding she needs more nutritants so let her eat as much as she wants :laugh:


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

thanks guys i really appreiciate it! il start a fresh tomorrow so i can keep an eye on them! they are so cute!:thumbup:


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

well kittens are using the litter tray!!!!


----------



## Aurelia (Apr 29, 2010)

You probably won't see any poop in there until they are starting to eat proper food though, so don't worry about that for now.


----------



## Myanimalmadhouse (Mar 6, 2011)

Just for future ref, anyone elses who needs a den - an old travel cot works really well! it has mesh sides so kittens can see all round, its nice and big so a blanket, litter tray and food will fit in there and mum can jump in and out whenever she wants!

Then the covers all come off and stick in the wash easy and then just fold away for another day :thumbup:


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

Myanimalmadhouse said:


> Just for future ref, anyone elses who needs a den - an old travel cot works really well! it has mesh sides so kittens can see all round, its nice and big so a blanket, litter tray and food will fit in there and mum can jump in and out whenever she wants!
> 
> Then the covers all come off and stick in the wash easy and then just fold away for another day :thumbup:


i thought of this but dont have one lol its a good idea tho!!!


----------



## mycatroxy (Jan 5, 2011)

all kittens have future homes!!!!:thumbup:


----------

