What To Give Newborn Kittens
Here s how to safely feed a kitten via syringe.
What to give newborn kittens. Try to find a nursing mother feline queen. Feeding the wrong sort of. Some of the best kitten milk replacement formulas are nutri vet hartz just born nurturall c and pet lac. Have a backup plan.
Newborn kittens may nurse about every 1 2 hours. Nursing kittens need formula if mom isn t around. Therefore in the first days of their life we must give them a substitute which will fulfill the same functions as colostrum. Preparing to feed a newborn kitten 1.
The following is a general eating schedule for newborns and young cats. Its use is not only to give nutrients to the newborn kitten but also to provide passive immune defenses by transmitting immunoglobulins. This is very time consuming for someone who is bottle feeding a newborn kitten so if at all possible you will want to try to keep the kitten with its mother or a surrogate lactating cat who can nurse it. Provide food for the mother cat.
Spaying early is not usually a part of newborn kitten care but once she s old enough cat experts highly recommend spaying and neutering for your cat s health as well as to keep cat overpopulation in check. Kittens should eat about eight milliliters of formula per ounce of body weight a day. If you re caring for a newborn orphan kitten syringe feeding might be a good option but you want to make sure you re doing so carefully. Purchase kitten milk replacement formula.
Newborn kittens have a delicate stomach and won t be able to digest average milk. At about three to four weeks old they can be offered milk replacer from a bowl and then small amounts of moistened kitten food four to six times. Get help from your veterinarian or local animal shelter. Kittens younger than 4 or 5 weeks need their mother s milk to thrive.
A kitten that had a mother would receive the colostrum in their first hours of life. Do not feel like you need to provide care for these kittens. A newborn kitten can only digest milk and more specifically the milk from a female cat. Part 1of 3 feeding 1.
This means if the kitten weighs four ounces they should eat about 32 milliliters of formula total in a day so you can give eight milliliters of formula every four hours. Kittens that are bottle fed should consume about a tablespoon or 15 ml of special kitten formula at each feeding. Kittens from six to 12 weeks. Consult with local veterinarians and shelters to find out if there is a.