Kitten looks younger than 5 weeks.

Question
Im sorry, I just sent you a question but now im worried again. I looked at a bunch of pictures of 5 week old kittens, and my kitten looks so much younger than that. Is there a way to tell how old she is? She is eating wet food I gave her and drinking from her water bowl..does this mean mama weaned her already. Im worried her previous owner took her before she was weaned. Thanks again.

Answer
Ashley,

Just because a kitten is eating solid food and drinking from a dish doesn't mean that they are weaned. I have seen 3 1/2-4 week old kittens eat and drink in addition to nursing from mom. A vet will be able to provide you with a fairly accurate age so I would recommend that you take her to see one shortly. If this kitten is younger than 4-5 weeks old there is a good possibility that you may have to supplement her diet with a milk replacer or weaning formula. I would also recommend that you be choosy about the canned food as the lower quality foods may not have the nutrition that this little one needs. I would suggest that you feed this little one a good quality, holistic dry food made from human grade ingredients and small servings of high quality canned food or commercially available meat and broth baby food (preferably organic) without salt, starch or other additives. You can also cook chicken by boiling it, chop it up and toss it in the food processor and use a commercially available kitten milk replacer to get the mixture to about the consistency of cooked cream of wheat. Most young kittens will enjoy this mix and you don't have to worry about some of the ingredients in canned foods. I have found that the majority of the high quality holistic foods are well tolerated by even picky cats...In any event, do your research and only feed a food that you are confident feeding. The Menu Foods scare certainly showed that there is a glaring deficiency in terms of the quality of food people think they are feeding their pets and the actual quality...I hope that this information helps. If you have any further questions, concerns, or you would simply like to send an update or some pictures my way, please don't hesitate to contact me again.