Thread: Force feed/drink

Not sure going to get a reply to this but please any advice on how i go about making my MC drink and eat regular, (yes i know you all say i got my kitten to soon but im going to look after him and do whats best) so far vets fees have come too £157 for treatment he is underweight if i remember right vet said he weighs less than 1kg or less than a bag of sugar now we are booked in for weekly weigh ins, they did give him his first jab today because he had improved since monday we now need to get the weight on him they gave me a syringe for the kitten milk and dry food to eat. Now my problem is he falls asleep after eating a few mouthfuls or after i have syringe fed the milk he falls asleep so he can not eat his kitten wet food, he will not touch the dry food at all iams or the dry food vet gave what can i do??? Do i just carry on trying to force the milk in?? Havent a clue how to make him eat all time now dont get me wrong he will lap water from the water bowl and he will eat lil bits on his own but he really needs to put weight on, didnt realise how small he was until a friend shown me her 8 week old kitten and she is bigger and heavier than my 9week old :(

Quite honestly I would forget the kitten milk,if he is drinking water he is getting his fluid input that way the milk side will dampen the appetite down anyway,I would try & encourage him to eat his wet food more & just try leaving an assortment of dry bikkies in little dishes in different areas of the house,there are two different types of past that might help him as well,will just see if I can find out which one is best,be back shortly.....
Nutri gel plus is the one you want x

Personally I would try different foods to see if there is one he cant resist. Also you could try feeding him some cooked chicken or tuna or boiled egg? He may eat it better if you hand feed him initially. I'm no expert but my mum had a cat that was very small and skinny as a kitten and went on to be one of the biggest cats I have ever seen. Good luck. x

I might be wrong but it sounds like he is associating food with something unpleasant... being force-fed. Perhaps the falling asleep is his way of saying "leave me alone". Try to make eating a fun game... like throw bikkies at him to run after and catch, kittens should do a lot of running anyway. Don't fret about him weighing less than your friend's cat... all kitties are different. You should have seen my Minnie when we just got her - mousey little thing but tough as old boots and grown into a formidable lady 2 years on.
Furthermore, as Kiwi01 says, find out whatever he really likes and let him eat that.
I am not a fan of Hills but they have a wet food named a/d which cats find very tasty and is good for convalescence.
Most important thing is... don't stress yourself out - kitty will pick up on your stress.

Thank you, dry food is left here there and everywere at the moment but he just doesnt bother with it ( i count the biscuits so i know if he ate any) he had a nice go at his wet food last night which i have to mash up ive noticed he acts like he has never chewed food before because he just laps and when a piece of meat goes in hes like whoa lil chew and spits bits out lol so mashing his food seems to be the way at the moment i persume he will get better at chewing food as he gets more used to it im offering food every 2hrs through the day he helps himself to water whenever he wants , its hard not to stress when you know your lil one is underweight i just want him to put weight on so then we can relax

If he can't chew try a mousse / pate type of food. I wouldn't really care what he was having so long as he was having something although obviously the better quality stuff is ideal.

At a year old my three are very different in size and weight. Lily is still only 4.25 Kg, Arnold 7 Kg and Jock somewhere inbetween. Of them all, Lily has the biggest appetite but she is also the most active. Hence, she looks like a rake.

How much is it costing to take him to the vet to be weighed? Don't get me wrong, I think it is a good idea that he is under supervision of a professional but weekly weigh ins at the vet? Really? I weigh mine at home, much less frequently now but I used to weigh them it seemed like every day.

None of my 3 would touch Nutrigel +. They all loved Nourish-Um. Same idea and I have no idea what the difference in composition is.

It is difficult not to become neurotic about it but I agree with Antonia, try and associate feeding with fun. I also wouldn't be too worried about him sleeping. That's what kittens do. Just make sure he is able to maintain his body temperature or make sure you are doing that for him.