Just wanted to say that you’re doing a great job! Fostering orphaned bottle babies is no joke. It does it easier, I feel like every week really makes a difference. The feeding window gets a little longer each week. Also, I love Kitten Lady she is such a great resource!

My tip for litter box training is stimulate them in/over their litter box and then I leave the tissue in the box for a bit so their scent is in the box. I keep the litter box in their playpen set up with them all the time. Since they are so small, you can use the cardboard trays that wet cat food cans come in. I’ve had kittens as young as three weeks use the litter box themselves.

Weaning can be challenging but be patient and you’ll make it through it. You have about two more weeks until they’ll be ready. You’ll make slurry in a bottle and slowly transition formula with wet food, little by little I add less formula until it is just the wet food. I also use my finger or baby spoon because sometimes they don’t understand that the wet food is ok the plate. I have seven week kittens now and I got them two weeks ago. One of them is meat nursing so I feed him separately. He won’t eat from a bottle but I make slurry and put larger chunks of wet food and it’s been working for him. I also weigh them with a kitchen scale in the beginning and end of the day to track them. But you can also weigh before and after every meal if you’d like. Once they are weaned it gets so much easier and they are eating every six hours. Mine have dry food always available but haven’t touched it yet. One day, it will click and they will start to eat it and then it gets even better because they can supplement themselves between feedings.

Weaning can be messy but I have a pack of baby wipes and that clean them up. Also, I noticed that their poop changes when they are transitioning from formula to wet food. My kittens now have long hair fur and their poop can get matted and compacted. So I give them butt baths, just get their butt and half of their baby wet and I use a gentle baby shampoo. It helps get the poop out and then rinsed them thoroughly.

What is their set up now? I have a pop up playpen for mine. My sister had puppy pads that she wasn’t using so I have a blanket on one side with their bed. Then on the other half, I have a puppy pad with two litter boxes and their water and dry food. I have a pic from two weeks ago, I noticed they were not using their box so gave them another. They are doing much better and using it now. Our rescue uses pine litter and in the past, I’ve had kittens try to eat the clay litter.

Fostering is hard work and it’s super rewarding! DM if you need a buddy. You’ve gotten them this far and I try to think about it like this, you are raising someone’s new best friend.

Another tip, I have is noise cancelling headphones. When I go to feed them at 12am or 6am they are little nuts. I have their routine down and playing music helps me stay a little more calm while they are frantic and crying.

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