# Kitten wont eat or drink from bowl



## tiffany8949 (Jun 17, 2010)

Tuesday night I found a stray kitten under a building. I am not sure how old she is but I believe her to be about 5 or 6 weeks. She has an appointment at the vets tomorrow so I guess we will find out then.

She will eat canned food from my hand but she will not eat it out of the bowl. I have her set up in my room in a dog kennel with her blankets, litter and food/water dishes. She seems to have gotten the hang of her litter box but not the dishes. 

I am worried that she is not getting enough to eat and drink. I try to hand feed her and bottle feed her kitten milk every 4 hours or so. She will eat a little and get disinterested and refuse the food/milk. 

The bowls that I bought are quite small and she will sometimes stick her face in the water but not actually drink it.

I realize that she needs to be taught to eat and drink from her bowls but I am not sure how to go about teaching her. Anyone have any tips?


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## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

What a lucky kitty that you found her!
I suspect she may be a little too young to eat completely on her own. If you're feeding her every 4 hours, she should be fine for now. The vet can tell you tomorrow.
In the meantime, I have always found that wee kittens do better with a plate rather than a bowl. Yes, they will walk in it and sit in it and be covered in food but they'll eat too.  
Once they get the hang of that, I start transitioning to a bowl.
Good luck with the little one!


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## hoofmaiden (Sep 28, 2009)

Cats really don't drink much--or shouldn't have to. They are supposed to get most of their moisture from their food. At this age, however, the baby should still be on some formula--go get KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) or make formula from goat's milk, and offer it to her in an oral syringe so she can "nurse." Keep offering high-quality canned food as well, from your hand if necessary.

If she was a feral kitten, her mom wasn't eating canned food, but whole prey. She would have brough that back to the nest. So this kitten has probably only seen (1) mom's teats and (2) real dead prey as food to this point.


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## tiffany8949 (Jun 17, 2010)

Thanks for the replies. I will try putting her food on a plate and see how that goes. I hope she gets used to eating and drinking on her own soon!


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

If her mom was a feral like the ones around here, she could have been eating mostly dry food and some wet.


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## Leesa (Jun 13, 2010)

If it makes u feel any better, my 6 yr old and 11 yr old drink out of a cup on the coffee table!!!! They eat out of a bowl but won't drink out of one!!! :luv and I just Found a stray!! Whats up w/ all the strays????????


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## tiffany8949 (Jun 17, 2010)

Thanks for the replies. I think she is finally getting the hang of it!

I tried a plate like Nanook suggested and she got up and ate all by herself! She didn't even make a mess! The next day I put her food in her bowl and she ate out of it!

Getting her to drink on her own has been a bit more challenging. I have her on KMR and was bottle feeding her. Yesterday I squirted some of the milk into the palm of my hand and she lapped it up. Today I tried a spoon and she drank off the spoon. I moved the spoon closer and closer to her bowl and she did take a few laps from the bowl but still prefers the spoon. 

Looks like we are getting somewhere! Hoping she will be an independent eater/drinker by the end of next week.


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## shari (Jun 21, 2010)

I once found a very young kitten that couldn't get that "drink from a bowl thing". I put water on my fingers above the bowl so he kinda licked it off and just kept getting closer to the bowl til he got the idea. It sounds harder to explain than it is but it worked.


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