Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Why Can't Ollie Lap Up Milk?

So, I've now had my kitten Oliver for 13 days, and he's a great deal of fun and is becoming more independent every day. He's learning -- slowly but definitely -- not to poop in the corner of the dining room, and not to walk on top of my keyboard.

I appreciate all the advice I've gotten from you guys....

But my question is: why can't he lap up milk from a bowl?

Tomorrow he'll be 7 weeks old. I've been feeding him specially formulated kitten milk for the last two weeks now, from a medicine dropper.... He loves it, in a huge way, but just can't seem to understand how to lap it up from the bowl. Even when I shove his face in it (as my local Pet store owner suggested).

What's his (or my) problem?

5 comments:

Dano said...

He'll figger it out when hungry enough.

Best,

D

rhhardin said...

I'd have guessed 8 weeks for a curiosity-driven switch, but I actually don't know.

Steve Bloom said...

That's just mean, Dano.

David, a good intermediate is to get him to lick milk off your fingertips. Once his tongue gets going the lapping shouldn't be far behind. He certainly can lap at that age.

Dano said...

Steve, the cat isn't going to go hungry. Cats have been lapping for millions of years.

Best,

D

rhhardin said...

Bowl lapping actually happens with the bottom of the tongue by surface tension, rather than the top by scooping.

Some high-speed YouTube video I can't find now illustrated it.