Posted on 12/09/2004 7:07:59 AM PST by Tarpaulin
Eddie: Fried pussycat!
"Serious question: can a six-week-old kitten survive without its mother? That's extremely young and probably not weaned."
No problem. Kittens generally begin to eat solid food at about 4 weeks. At six weeks, they're adoptable, although it's usually better to wait until 8 weeks.
One of my stray cats had a litter, then got sick. She recovered, but couldn't provide milk any more. I hand-raised the kittens, starting from three days after birth. At four weeks, they started wolfing down wet cat food, and my job was done. Momma kitty lived a good long life after that.
Feed it milk with a dropper. But it will probably always have attachment disorder and try to nurse.
I have a Ball Python.
Looks like a larger version of mine.
I was 8 years old in South Carolina on base and mom gave us a ride to school. We heard something and looked back and the cat was jumping ten feet in the air in pain.
Mom was afraid to stop with us, but after dropping us off went back. The cat went to sleep in the hood but got out at the wrong time.
I didnt know cats could jump that high. I still remember it to this day.
Now, that's the definition of "Ambitious"...
Extracting the remains is much more disturbing. Trust me....
"Feed it milk with a dropper. But it will probably always have attachment disorder and try to nurse."
No need, at six weeks. They're all ready to gobble wet cat food at that age. It's early, but I've had several kitties that I got at six weeks. No problems, other than the usual hassles of raising cats from kittens.
Kitty ping.
This happened in Missouri? I didn't think pythons run around wild there. What kind of snake is that?
"Extracting the remains is much more disturbing. Trust me....
"
Those weren't my words, but I'll bet you're right. I'd rather avoid the situation.
Thanks ... it might be useful to know that someday. We've never had kittens younger than 8 weeks. Our current feline is 18 and spayed!
Yikes!
Hey, the kitten passed the Viking Kittie inintiation challenge. Let's UPS him a helmet pronto! ^_^
kung pao kitty
On who's behalf?
"Thanks ... it might be useful to know that someday. We've never had kittens younger than 8 weeks. Our current feline is 18 and spayed!"
It's sure better to wait until they're 8 weeks old, but don't be afraid of one a couple of weeks younger. Any earlier than 6 weeks, though, and I'd turn the kitty down, if possible.
You can hand raise kittens from birth, but it's a big, big job. I did it with five kittens, and didn't lose a single one, but it's one of those every two hour things, 24/7. I don't recommend it. Even my vet was blown away that I'd managed it successfully. I gave all the kittens away, once they were 8 weeks old. They were really cool little cats, very friendly with humans and pretty well adjusted.
The momma cat couldn't nurse, but she did all the other rearing stuff. When it was time for the kittens to eat, she'd carry them over to wherever I was and meow loudly. I'd feed one and put it on the floor, then she'd carry it off and bring me another, until all five had been fed. It was like living in a cartoon, really. But I worked at home, so I was available.
BTW, if you ever do have to hand-raise unweaned kittens, do some web research. There are little jobs to do that you wouldn't know about.
That's funny!
I guess my mind doesn't work that way 'cause I completely missed that fore, er, I mean, WORD play...
Oh man does this bring back a bad memory for me! A good friend gave me two kittens this summer and later that day I drove into town. On the way I heard this "thump" and in the rear view mirror I saw one of the kittens in the road and I pulled over to try to get it. Too late! He ran into the brush and I couldn't coax him back. Went to the store and came back home and found the other kitten hanging onto the wheel well pretty thrashed up! I felt really bad, they didn't even last one day at my house.
I never told my friend what happened. Someone else gave me another kitten and when my friend came over she commented on how different the kitten looked now that it had grown up!
I just nodded and agreed that he did look different.
Thanks again ... you never know when something like this could be useful. Just this summer we found a cockatiel in the back yard, of all things. Kittens are much more probable!
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