My 2-month-old kitten is constipated and won't drink. What to do?

At 8 weeks your kitten can be on a completely solid diet, and if you're feeding regular cow's milk it could be what is causing the diarrhea (cats can't handle milk.) If she doesn't drink a lot and doesn't like moistened food, you can try adding in a pet fountain or other running water source that may encourage her to play or drink a bit more. If she is still having loose stools even after feeding only her regular food, a vet checkup to rule out parasites and GI upset is also a good idea. If she is trying to nurse your other cat, just separating her for a bit can help deter the behavior.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Kachie! Constipation is serious in pediatric puppies and kittens. Since it has been a week I urge you to take Katchie to the Vet and see if an enema is needed. Kitten milk replacer/formula commonly causes GI problems, either diarrhea or constipation. After every bottle feeding the kitten needs to be stimulated with a warm wet soft washcloth over the anus and genitals. I always recommend bottle fed kittens be weaned sooner, around 3 weeks. So I would start offering canned kitten food mixed with formula and decrease bottle feeding. By 5 weeks she should be off formula and eating kitten food 100%. I wish Kachie the best!

If there is cat formula available I would start him on that, it's more nutritionally balanced for cats and should help stop the diarrhea. This website https://www.thesprucepets.com/kitten-supplement-formula-552272 offers several recipes for homemade kitten formula. Copper actually looks old enough to get started on solid foods. Get some dry kitten food and add some kitten formula, let the dry food absorb the liquid then mash it into a gruel and put it in a shallow dish for her to eat. It will be messy, and she will probably need a bath, but she'll learn how to eat solid food this way. Alternatively, you can get canned kitten food and mix some formula with it to make it into a gruel and feed that. Put another dish in with just the wet or dry kitten food, you'll be surprised how quickly she picks it up. Make sure she has plenty of fresh water in a shallow dish. She may not drink much while she's eating wet food, but if she ends up eating more dry food you'll see her drink more. Good luck with Copper!

It is hard to say. I would recommend that you have Mushi examined by a vet. A kitten on the appropriate kind of kitten milk replacer really shouldn't have constipation. The vet may need to take an x-ray to determine what is going on.

MIracle is REALLY cute! You could check to see if she is dehydrated by pinching up the skin between her shoulder blades. If it is slow to go back to normal then she is dehydrated which could be contributing to the lack of feces. I would have your vet take a look at her if she is dehydrated so they can give her a little fluids if needed. If she is well hydrated then I would continue to feed her every 3 hours and be sure to use a warm wet cloth at every meal to rub around her anus. This will help to stimulate her bowel movements. If she still hasn't pooped within the next 24-36 hours then I would have your vet look at her. With her being so small, I don't want to give her a bunch of stuff over the counter as they can be quite sensitive. I hope this helps!

Constipation can be a very serious condition, it can be caused by a physical blockage (foreign body like a bone) or a functional peristalsis deficiency of the intestines. In order to treat simple constipation, you should increase the fibers in the food (e.g. canned pumpkin) and can add a little mineral oil to the diet. I strongly advise taking Acil to the vet in order to check if there is a serious condition causing the constipation first.

A 6 week old kitten should be able to be on normal food without milk right now. I would wait another day to see if she poops. Constipation isn't super common in kittens, especially on wet food, but it is possible. If Luna doesn't have a bowel movement by tomorrow, she should get checked out by the vet.