• Greetings. We have three newborn kittens who are still with their mother. We have a home they are all being adopted to. We had them and their mother examined at Banfield in Bloomington, MN when they were 6 weeks old and all was good with both kittens and mother. All three kittens are male. They are now 8 weeks old. One of the kittens has no interest in solid food and continues to want to nurse. The other two do both solid food and nursing. Mother appears to becoming disinterested in continuing to nurse. Is there anything we can to encourage/promote the one hold out kitten to start eating solid food? Should he be doing so by 8 weeks? We are concerned about adopting him out while he is still nursing. Thank you for your assistance.

  Hi Patrick,
  It is concerning that an 8 week old kitten does not have any interest in solid food. In most cases at this age they should be almost completely weaned from mom. Prior to removing him from mom it would be best for him to be checked out by a veterinarian. They can make sure that there is no underlying medical or physical issue that is causing this. If there is one of these issues then abruptly weaning him could lead to low blood sugar which can be dangerous. Your vet can recommend any treatment that he needs if there is an underlying issue. If he is normal then they can work with you on ways to get him to eat the solid food so that he can be weaned safely.  
   

Answered by:

John Smith, DVM
Veterinarian

Dr. John Smith is a graduate of LSU, Class of 1998. He has over 10 years of experience...

Tags

Behavior