My 2-week-old kitten won't eat and cries. How can I feed her?

At 5 weeks Baby should be old enough to start eating some solid food. You can try mixing some canned kitten food with some kitten formula like KMR and putting it in a shallow dish. If she still won’t eat I would recommend seeing a veterinarian to determine what might be wrong. They can also teach you how to tube feed if necessary.

Your kitten may be sick if she is refusing to nurse. You will need to supplement her feeding with kitten milk replacer which you can purchase at your local pet store. If, after attempting to bottle feed, she still refuses to eat, you will need to take her in to be examined by a veterinarian. I hope this helps. Best of luck. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello, & thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Make sure what you are feeding the kitten is an appropriate kitten milk replacer. Kittens this young are not able to regulate their temperatures well, so make sure you have her on a heating pad set on low with a towel on top. There should be an area for the kitten to move off if it gets too warm. Make sure you are not overfeeding the kitten. A kitten needs 2 tablespoons ( 30 mls ) per 4 ounces ( 115 grams ) of body weight daily. Divide the daily amount into equal portions for each feeding & fed every 3-4 hours until bedtime. Stimulate the genital area after each meal, but do not be concerned if she does not have a BM each time. You can try feeding her a congee, which is often tolerated by the sickest kittens. Take 1-2 cups chicken broth ( low or no salt added ), add 1/4 cup white rice & a tiny sliver of fresh ginger. Boil for 2 hours. While cooling, add 1 Tbsp good quality protein powder - egg or casein, not soy. Stir together very well. The mix should be a bit thick. Drip into kittens mouth 1/2 - 1 ml at a time. Hopefully she will start to turn around. Just keep at it. Good luck.

Seven weeks is old enough that Pebbles should be on a solid kitten diet either in kibble form or via wet food. Feeding milk such as goat milk may cause digestive upset and isn't the best for kitten tummies. It may be that your kitten has some stomach upset or is confused by the change in food and is hungry, which is why he is crying. Offering some regular kitten food and seeing if he eats it may help. If Pebbles continues to not want to eat, or appears ill/lethargic, then scheduling a vet visit ASAP to rule out any health problems is best.

If the kitten is only 15 days old it should be on a completely liquid diet of formula (KMR or another kitten replacer) as it is way too young to be eating any solid food. Once the kitten is about a month old you can start to introduce solid foods such as wet kitten food mixed with a slurry of the formula and then start weaning to more solid foods from there. The kitten likely also doesn't know how to properly use the bathroom yet, so using a warm washcloth on its bottom can help stimulate it to go much like a mother cat would do. Once it is a bit older you can start bringing it to a litter box as well. Check out this article on orphaned kitten care that may help you more: https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-raise-orphan-kittens/

Yes! If she is willingly to drink the kitten formula I would try to feed her more if she seems thin. If she won't eat more at one sitting, try to feed her every 2 hours smaller amounts. I hope this helps!

Has she pooped? Mothers lick their rear ends to stimulate them to defecate. You may want to take a warm damp wash cloth and try to gently wash her rear end. Also kittens at that age are used to snuggling with their warm litter mates. Snuggling her up close to you it with a stuffed animal may help as well. Good luck to both of you!