My kitten has never willingly drank?

Question

A week ago, my fiance and i found a kitten (approximately 4 weeks old) running across a three lane one way, luckily missed by 3 cars or more. since then we have been feeding it canned kitten food and trying to give it Cat formula with an eye dropper.

she eats and plays like a champ (although she rarely eats without having to be set in front of her food.) she seems VERY happy. but she will NOT drink anything. she pulls away from the eye dropper and REALLY doesn't enjoy if you force her to drink it. tried water and milk both in a bowl, dipping her foot in it, tapping her nose to it, and just letting her run around it randomly, but she has absolutely no interest in it. I pay VERY close attention to her, so I'm 95% sure she hasn't touched water to her lips willingly

I am informed that some cats really don't need water when they eat canned foods. but i am just wondering if this is a normal problem and she will drink more as she grows?

also, as a kitten she requires being set in front of the food, anyone have any experience on this and if it changes. I would love for her to be more of an independent cat.

Answer 1

my cat never drank when he was a kitten wither.. helk he still bearly drinks now and hes about 9 months..

i asked the vet a while ago and she told me since he eats canned food its not a problem, cuz its juicy and has water in it .. so no worries there..

just make sure to leave fresh water for her all the time ( esp. when the weather is hot) cuz they do drink when youre least expecting it =]

Answer 2

Odds are she's just more interested in playing and exploring than she is in food right now. As she gets older, this will change, and she'll likely eat more.

If she doesn't like to drink, it's really important that you continue giving her at least some wet food everyday so that she stays hydrated. Four weeks is really young to be separated from her mother, so she likely wasn't taught all the survival skills she needed to learn from the mom cat, like seeking out water. (At that age she's probably only ever drank milk with her littler...) I think that will improve with age, but if you're concerned you can always call a vet.

In order to encourage her to eat more, you might want to try playing with her till she gets bored, then shut her in a small room with her food and water for a little while. Without anything more tempting in the room, she may become more interested in her food.

Answer 3

Because she is on canned food she isn't going to drink water as much as a kitten on dry food. Try switching her gradually to dry food. [it makes their p**p alot less runny and she will become thirsty].  Cats will take care of themselves, and you will notice her becoming more independent. If she's thirsty she will drink.  If you let her run around the house with the food and water sitting where she can get it, she's probably drinking while youre asleep.  Or when you're not home.  She wouldn't let herself get dehydrated if water was available to her, it's a survival instinct to drink.  If you still feel that she's not drinking pick her up and pinch[not hard just pick up an inch of skin in your finger tips] pull it away from her body[only about an inch away from her body] and see how quickly it retracts back to her body.  If it goes back fairly quickly then she's fine, but if it takes a minute or if it stays in the "pinched" position that means she's dehydrated.  If you don't see her drink within the next week and you do the pinch test and she's dehydrated, call your vet.  They'll tell you what you can do to make her drink.

In most situations cats, dogs, etc will eat when they're hungry.  Unless you have them on a specific feeding regimen.  If you know you're not going to be home for a few hours, leave some food out for her[unless you have food sitting out for her all the time]  Unless your kitten is in a house with multiple cats, she'll only eat when she's hungry.  Which is why hard food would be a better choice than canned food.  If she's not hungry when you put out the canned food, it could go bad[get a little dry and hard] before she becomes hungry.  With dry food you don't really have to worry about that.  So goes the saying "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink."

I hope this helps!! Good Luck!!