My 6-week-old orphaned kittens won't eat solid food. What to do?

If the mom hasn't started weaning Clyde yet, she should soon. I would give it another week, and if she isn't pushing him away by then, then you can separate them. Clyde will watch the other kittens and figure out what to do pretty soon.

If the kitten is 4-6 weeks it should be fed solid food, not milk. You should try kitten wet food, warm it up before offering to the kitten. If kitten allows, you can hand-feed or even syringe feed. Please, remember that kittens at that age should be fed very small amounts every 2-3 hrs.

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.

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/

I'm sorry to hear you're struggling with the kittens! At 4-weeks they should be starting to get a little interested in wet food, so continuing to try the slurry should help. You can put a little on a spoon or on their noses to see if they will lick it off to encourage them to try it. Keeping the formula warmed and feeding them on their stomachs (in the same position they'd be in when nursing from mom) may also help them recognize you are trying to feed them. If they're not on solid foods yet, they may not have a whole lot in the way of stool production, and any stool they produce may be very liquidy still. It's a good idea to bring them to the vet anyway, especially if orphaned, as they may need to start getting vaccinations sooner to account for the loss of mom's natural antibodies, and your vet can examine them, deworm them, and treat any issues as needed. This article about orphaned kittens may also help as well as it has feeding schedules, etc. https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-raise-orphan-kittens/

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Don't worry your English is very good. Usually the weaning process when they transitioned to eating food other than the mother's milk happens at about 4-6 weeks of age. Good luck!

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your cat :( For the kittens, mom would have been weaning them by this point. Offer a bowl of warmed kitten formula, a bowl of warmed wet kitten food and a bowl of warmed formula soaked kitten kibble. Smear the contents of the bowls along the mouths/lips of the kittens so that they get the taste in their mouths. This will generally stimulate them to start eating. Royal Canin makes a great kitten food called Baby Cat for kittens under 6weeks old. This is what I fed my little rescues. Best of luck!