kittens going potty

Question
I saw a previous question about kittens being stimulated to use the bathroom.  Our dog found 3 kittens under our shed.  I am estimating the age to between 3-4 weeks.  We fed them the kitten formula.  After they ate, I did what the previous e-mail stated.  I ran a warm cotton ball over their head and down their back, then did their stomach to their privates.  How long does it take to know if it worked. We did it to all three kittens and nothing happened.  We had this happen to us 2 years ago.  I let my German shepherd play mother.  She would clean them after they ate and then they would go potty.  For some reason with these kittens, they are not defecating.  I am getting a little worried,  I don't want them to get clogged up.  Any suggestions??

Answer
Georgia,

Kittens this age can do it on their own.  Only newborns (1 week - 2 weeks of age) may need help pottying. Given that the kittens are outside, how can you tell if they are pottying on their own or not? At 4 weeks, the kittens may be weaned, which would resolve any bathroom issues.

We always start to wean our kittens on a good strained meat baby food (only ingredients are strained meat and broth or gravy with no added salt, onion or garlic) and begin to gradually add cat food to the mixture to get them eating cat food. We often have had to put a little bit in their mouths, at first, until they got the knack of eating normally. Also, there is usually one stubborn one who takes a little longer to get weaned!

If you are still sure they are not defecating, you can take them to your vet to see if there is a problem.

Please let me know what happens.

Best regards... Norm.