My 6 week old kitten had her 3 days today

Question
Hi my other half has just brought me and my daughter a kitten shes very fluffy and is absolutly beautiful i rang her prevous owners opon recieving her to say thank you and i was told by her prevous owner that she has had her first lot of jabs also shes fleaed and fully weaned and litter trained and she had given her a second worming tablet as she left the door,i gave my thank you's and left it at that however iv tryed her on kitten dry food witch it says you can add kitten milk or water to wet it iv tryed both ways and she doesnt seem to be interested iv put down a whiskas kitten pouch of food for her so far iv tred tukey tuna cod and chiken not all at the same time but just licks the jelly of it and she will not touch a drop of water or kitten milk i was told by a friend its best not to give her kitten milk as it can make her constipated so iv tryed and tryed with the water but shes touched it once and thats because she put her paw in it and ran off shaking her paw iv resulted to spoon feeding but she dont like it to much and i dont like doing it when iv got no one to tell me if im doing it right.Iv read all the information i can of the internet such as not to tip her head back as it could end up in her lungs but i really just want her to be little miss independant as her prevous owners said she is and fully! also has for the litter trainning i dont think she is she peed in my daughters bedroom and on her own bed i was hopeing that shes just trying to leave her sent making her self feel at home but im not to sure if this is the case as i have to put her on her litter try to go to toilet once iv put her on it shel quiet happily dig a hole and go toilet beside her hole, i get the feeling typing this that she might just be lazy but her not drinking water at all is worrying me iv phoned some vets all close by me the fist said they wont see her shes to young the second said she has to be 12 weeks and another gave me a lovly price of 65.00 pounds just to make the appoinment and the vet might look at her and say no i wont touch it i have no idear what to do my other half said if it comes to it money is not a problem but it all seems so silly im going to get a seringe today i think il feel alot better if im just easing it out of the serine and shes taking to it but i just carnt see her doing it but il give it my best try shes very playfull and loves my 5 year old daughter she prefers to cuddle up to her on her lap than she does mind the pair of them make a very cute pair i dont want to worry her prevous owners by phoning them and saying sorry princess is not drinking and will only eat the jelly of her food ,but at the same time i feel iv been lied to and this poor little kitten needs somthing and i have no idear what,i went to pets at home in eastboune and spent over 50.00 on everything for her i really want her to be just a healthy little kitten with not a care in the world if theres anything you can advise me it would be greatly appreciated. Other information you might ask for her bed is next to my bed my daughter sleeps in with me too she loves hiding in a draw next to my bed its a small bedside cabnet shes a funny kitten she does it when its all quiet her food and water and another bowl of kitten milk are in the kitten and her litter box is at the other side of the kitten as i heard you carnt keep them close together at all her scratch post is in the the lounge not that she likes that much the fluffy heart hanging from it is much more fun she loves to play with her toy balls and a feather teaser and a mouse she also has a kitten teddy thats the same size as her all her items are super soft and all states it for a kitten she hasnt got blue eyes anymore i was exspecting to get her with them when i heard how old she was but theres no blue there u can see a tiny little tint of it on the out skirts of her eyes she is very very fluffy black and brown but if u feel under her coat she is just skin and bones bless her ,she eats jelly sleeps and plays and she doesnt like the dark at night however for some reason a draw is fine i have taken her out of it a few times now but she always ends up in it i donno weather she can feel a draft from somewhere and gets away from it there or its her way of saying pee off im tyered and ur sofas or laps are no good right now shes got go cat dry kitten food and whiskas wet food kitten milk says it also containes what their mother produce and water is just from my tap where my daughter and i get our drinking water from she can easily climb on and off my sofas and our bed she gets quite abit of sleep in her eyes witch i wash away with a 100%cotton wool pad (usually their used for my make up)tipped in some warm water she doesnt mind me doing it all at she enjoys it and she also has a dry nose im not sure if thats right either i know dogs have to have wet noses but she jumps and leaps and licks you she looks fine just wont drink and needs abit of help with her toileting and i may have been fibbed to about her jabs take care Charlene sorry for the essay

Answer
Miss Charlene,

I am somewhat concerned by the fact that you mention that this kitten is only 6 weeks old and will not eat or drink independantly. I am guessing that she may not have been weaned yet. Mother cats usually wean their babies between the ages of 6-8 weeks and it is best for them to stay with their mom and siblings until they are 10-12 weeks of age in order to ensure that they are well socialised and eating well on their own. Kitten milk replacer is a good idea, milk will not constipate her at this stage, usually the issue is more diarrea. You can try feeding her warm goat's milk if it is hard to find a proper powdered or canned kitten milk replacer. I would suggest that you try pureed meats like chicken, lamb or beef. You can buy them already prepared in the form of commercially produced baby foods, but it is much cheaper and simpler to puree them at home. You can poach a chicken breast, dice it and then put it in the blender or food processor with the water (after everything has cooled though) and puree it to the consistancy of gravy. You can use an oral syringe to feed this baby. What you have to be aware of is that the kitten's four paws must face the floor at all times. You can put the tip of an oral syringe or eye dropper (not a glass one as it can break) in the corner of her mouth and slowly dribble the food in giving her plenty of time to swallow. It is okay to tip her head back slightly, just be sure that her paws all face the floor and that she gets time to swallow the food. It will be time consuming but at this point it is very important to get the food and liquids into her because it won't take much at this age to become dangerously dehydrated and start losing weight. You can try putting a tablespoon of the pureed meat onto a saucer on the floor for this kitten after the initial force feed. It is best to do this about two hours or so after she has had the food given by the syringe. In order to encourage this kitten to eat you are going to want to dip your finger into the pureed meat and gently put a bit onto her nose to stimulate her interest. Her response should be to lick it off of her nose, you can feed her this way until she gets the idea and begins to take food off of a saucer. Be prepared for the fact that either method of feeding is not going to go over well, this kitten will likely fight you and be a bit snippy over the whole thing, but with a bit of patience and perserverance you should be seeing her eat soon. I would suggest that you use an unscented clumping kitty litter in a litter box that's small enough for her to easily get into and out of. If you see her sniffing about or squatting to go to the washroom immediately place her in a litter box and quietly and gently keep her there until she does her business. When she goes to the toilet in the litter tray you can praise her and tell her what a wonderful girl that she is. Kittens are easy to train so she will get the concept quite quickly. Kittens of this age don't have much control over their bladders, I am actually wondering if you were told her actual age, because from your description of her peeing without warning she sounds quite a bit younger than 6 weeks. She isn't urinating on you or in any other place to say that she is tired and doesn't want to be bothered. For the moment it would be a good idea to have a litter box in most of the rooms that she frequents or you can confine her to a small room that is easily cleaned (such as a bathroom) with her food, water, bed and toys just until she gets the idea of using the litter on a consistant basis. It is important that you clean any area that she may have gone to the toilet in with an enzymatic cleaner which will destroy the scent of any urine or feces so that the kitten isn't likely to make the same mistake based on scent. I would have the kitten examined by a vet as soon as possible since you mention that this kitten needs her eyes cleaned fairly frequently. It is possible that this baby has an eye infection which is also contagious to humans so be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after cleaning the kitten's eyes. The vet will examine her completely and give you medicine for any parasites that she may have. I would recommend that you check for dehydration by lifting the excess skin at the scruff of her neck. If the skin remains in a tented position your kitten is dehydrated and needs urgent medical care by a qualified vet. If you have access to a Blue Cross animal hospital my understanding is that they will see pets that need help. All in all, I think that since you mention that she isn't eating or drinking on her own and she needs help to remember where her litter tray is she is probably only about 3 1/2 - 4 weeks old. If this kitten is as young as I think she may be it isn't her fault that she has trouble eating and drinking on her own and she needs to be shown to the litter box. If this kitten is under 6 weeks she is not likely to have had any vaccines. All in all I do think that you have been fibbed to about the age and condition of this kitten, I think it's fairly likely that she was still nursing on her mom and has no idea what is expected at this age. The urine related accidents you mention seem like she had about as much warning as you did about her need to use the toilet. At this point all that you can do is keep her away from upholstery and carpet and try to take her to the litter box every hour or so. It will be somewhat like taking care of training a puppy, but kittens generally pick up proper toileting habits faster than a pup. If you take the kitten to the litter box when she wakes up or after you have fed her the odds are that she needs to go to the toilet. You can gently encourage her to stay in the litter box until she is done by putting her back in each time that she jumps out and praising her for going to the toilet. You will need a vet to confirm her age and give recommendations more specific to the situation at hand. I wish that I could offer more specifics and I do hope that you have found this information helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me again. I would also be interested in hearing how this little one progresses and what a vet says about her condition and age. Good luck and hopefully all goes well.