8 week old kitten being sick during or after litter tray - what to do?

[Runnyeggs]

Hi all. First timer here so not sure if this is the correct thing to do...

I got a beautiful 8 week old kitten on Saturday afternoon. Her first night was okay. Sunday morning she was a bit sleepy and didnt really have an appetite.

She is half bengal and very vocal so anytime she needs the toilet she meows. Very cute. Anyway for the last day and a half if she has need to defecate (not every time though) she has vomited.

Is it the litter? Is the litter too high/low?

Is it the food? We have been giving her kitten kibble mixed with water and some wet food.

I spoke to the woman who sold her to me who said that she had been giving her cows' milk but i dont really want to give her it.

Please help. Im a bit worried. It's like having a baby again. She is my first kitten. Ive only ever had older cats before. She is so very lovely though

[Mollycat]

Welcome to kittens and the forum, wow what a place to start, with a Bengal!

Firstly it's not the level of litter making your kitten sick.

It's a good idea to continue the same food and feeding routine at first when you get a new kitten or cat, and a reputable breeder should have given you those details when you picked her up. Good idea to ask and follow it and gradually wean her onto a different food if you want to change it.

Some say kibble should not be watered down due to bacteria being released. I don't know if there is any truth in that but it might be worth looking into and maybe giving more wet food and just a little dry kibble.

8 weeks is a bit on the young side for a kitten to leave mum. Going back 30 years ago we used to get kittens at 6-8 weeks but the recommendation now is 3 months - that doesn't matter now you have her and being younger does have some advantages, your kitten is more likely to listen to you as she is still at a more dependent age. But that might be part of her issues.

Have you tried a phone call to your vets to see if they have anything to say about the vomiting?

[Runnyeggs]

Thank you for your answer!!

Shes only half-bengal (imagine a black panther where you can see the markings but just in the light and thats my girl)

I have been in contact with the previous owner who said that she was feeding her bits of ham & Chicken and water mixed with wet food.

I will refrain from kibble for the time being.

I didnt know about the 8 weeks thing so I apologise for getting her now... would you reccomend that I get her a kitten formula??

[Runnyeggs]

She is alsp chewing A LOT. Could she be teething aswell?

[Mollycat]

Sounds beautiful! My girl looks like a flat grey but really she has very faint mackerel tabby markings. Love those kind of "ghost" markings.

Baby teeth start to come through from about 3 weeks and they start to get their adult teeth around 5 months I think but I can't remember the details - I did have a chart of which ones come first etc I will post if I find it before someone else answers.

My last kitten was just over 6 weeks when they handed her over, not properly weaned so I had to get her to lick her food from my fingers for the first few days. By 12-13 weeks they have had more guidance from mum and have a more developed personality and better manners, apparently. But 8 weeks isn't a problem! You might find this helps her develop an extremely close relationship with you, where she actually listens to you in the way older kittens sometimes simply won't. As an example I used this to teach my kitten to keep away from the road, because at that age they are just programmed to learn, and by 12-13 weeks that instinct is much weaker as they are much more independent. It shows with their mum as playing her up and being a pain in the neck to her. Grab the moment, you should be able to train/teach her a lot very easily.

If she isn't used to kibble I guess maybe it could be an issue for her, see how she goes without it and let us know? And pics would be nice Pleeeeaase?

[Runnyeggs]

Here she is xxx

She cant reach our windowsills yet (bay windows) so its hard to take a pic of her markings.

[Runnyeggs]

Xx

[Mollycat]

Ohhh she's so adorable!!!

How is she doing today?

[Runnyeggs]

Yeah pretty good.

Thinks she's getting used to us (and our mad house!). I have 2 children who initially were very excited but theyve learned pretty quickly that she wont come to them if they make a lot of noise.
Shes been sitting in their laps and just is a very loving cat. She's so sweet.