kitten Bunny & Otter are 4 weeks old!🥳
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So they graduated from the incubator into a playpen👏 Normally I would transition kittens to a playpen around 3 weeks old. But Bunny & Otter were so sick and fragile, I kept them in the incubator a little longer🙏
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But they are both doing great now and ready for more space to play and explore!😻 They are also litter boxes training! I added extra padding under their pen with foam tiles to accommodate for Bunny’s disability. And I used the shallow boxes that wet food comes in as a litter box, so it’s accessible for her to get in and out of🤗
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Bunny & Otter have x- rays this week, PT evals next week, and Otter has a neurology appointment next week too🙏 I’m looking forward to learning more about their conditions and the best ways to help them!🥰
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If you’d like to donate towards the vet bills and services, that would be wonderful!😻
• @babykittenrescue said.
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Good morning from perfect angel, Bunny!😻😇✨
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Bunny & Otter are getting x-rays today!🩻 I’m excited to get more answers and be able to put together a more specific treatment plan😻 But I’m honestly a little nervous about what we’ll find too…
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It’s most likely that Bunny and Otter’s physical abnormalities are congenital. So it’s possible they may have other internal congenital abnormalities. I’m hoping everything is healthy with their heart, lungs, and other internal organs🙏🤞
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The vet is also evaluating Otter’s head for signs of hydrocephalus or a meningocele. Both of which would be serious but should be treatable with surgery once he’s older. I will share what the x-rays and radiology reports find❤️
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If you’d like to donate towards their vet bills and services, we would be so grateful!😻 I will also post our receipt from today in our story🤗 @babykittenrescue said.
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Bunny & Otter are getting so playful!😻 They are discovering toys, and they are both using the litter box now!👏
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They were supposed to have x-rays on Wednesday, but the clinic rescheduled them for today. So they will both be getting x-rays and radiology reports today🩻
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I will share what the x-rays and radiology reports find❤️ Please send good vibes for what we’ll find🙏✨
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If you’d like to donate towards their vet bills and services, we would be so grateful!😻 I will also post our receipt from today in our story🤗 @babykittenrescue said.
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Bottle moments with Bunny & Otter🍼🥰
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They are 5 weeks old tomorrow!🥳 So they will get to try slurry/wet food tomorrow😻 Who do you think will love it the most? Bunny or Otter? Both or neither?🤣
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We actually start the weaning process at 3.5 weeks by adding 1 teaspoon of wet food to 2 cups of formula. We continue to strain the formula so there’s no chunks. I call this “meat milk”🤣🍼
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This way, the start to get used to the flavor of the wet food. And more importantly, it allows their GI tract to SLOWLY start to get used to digesting the new proteins in the wet food🙏
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We slowly start adding more wet food to the formula and continue to strain it until about 4.5 weeks old. At 4.5 weeks old, I blend up 1 can of wet food with 2 cups of formula and continue to feed this through the bottle. I call this “meat shake”🤪🍼
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At 5 weeks old, we introduce slurry (wet food mixed with formula) on a shallow dish. I
like to offer both slurry and big chunks of wet food on the dish, as I’ve noticed some kittens prefer lapping up the slurry while other prefer taking big bites of the chunks. So it’s nice to give them options🤗
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Some kittens go straight for the food and start gobbling it up. Most kittens need some help figuring out how to eat from the fish by hand or spoon feeding them. And some kittens completely refuse to eat from the dish for the first few tries or even first few days!😆
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It’s so important to be patient with the weaning process and allow kittens to move at their own pace. Keep offering the bottle until they no longer want or need it, to make sure they keep getting enough nutrition while they’re honing their eating skills🙏
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And it’s super important to closely monitor kittens’ weight and wellness during this time! If kittens start losing a lot of weight during weaning, you may need to go back to bottle feeding for a little bit longer or sit with them and hand feed them more frequently.
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Weaning is a fun, exciting, messy, and delicate period in a kitten’s life. So just be patient and take the stress off of the kittens and yourself by not forcing it❤️☺️ @babykittenrescue said.
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Update on Bunny & Otter’s x-rays❤️🩻 @babykittenrescue said.
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Bunny is starting to stand up on her back legs!!🥹👏🐇
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She is getting stronger and more stable and I’m just so in awe of this #tinybutmighty girl!!!😭💪😻 @babykittenrescue said.
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