How to Get a Kitten to Eat Out of a Dish

Weaning is a big event in a kitten's life. However, it's not an event that's going to require much of the kitten's human guardian. Many kittens get the knack of eating from a dish with no more than their mother's example. If your kitten is taking its time about eating out of a dish, it may just be that your kitten isn't quite ready to start taking solid foods, or it may be that your kitten needs a little extra direction about what exactly it is supposed to do.

Things You'll Need

  • Kitten Weaning Formula
  • Dry Kitten Food
  • Shallow dish
  • Fork
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Instructions

    • 1

      Mix the kitten weaning formula according to the directions on the product's label.

    • 2

      Place the formula in the saucer and set the saucer in front of the kitten. Allow the kitten to investigate and even walk in the formula if it wants. Most kittens do walk in their food dishes at first. This often leads to the kitten grooming itself, tasting the food for the first time and returning to the saucer for more.

    • 3

      Offer the saucer to the mother cat and allow her to drink from the saucer in front of the kitten.

    • 4

      Dip your finger in the saucer and allow the kitten to lick the formula off your finger. Then let the kitten see you dip your fingers in the saucer so that it will associate the taste of the liquid on your fingers with the liquid in the saucer.

    • 5

      Make a thin gruel with the dry kitten food and formula once the kitten is consistently drinking the kitten weaning formula from the saucer. Put a couple tablespoons of dry kitten food in 1/2 cup of kitten weaning formula. Allow it to soak until the food is soft. Using the fork, mix this into gruel.

    • 6

      Offer the gruel to the kitten. If the kitten is hesitant about the gruel, go through the same process of introducing it as you did when you first offered the weaning formula.

    • 7

      Increase the amount of dry kitten food and reduce the amount of formula in successive meals so that the kitten is eating only the dry kitten chow by the time it is 10 to 12 weeks old.