What To Feed Newborn Kittens By Hand

Ask your vet for advice on which milk to provide as well as advice on hand rearing.

What to feed newborn kittens by hand. Here s how to safe. Regular human baby bottles will likely be too big but most pet stores have newborn kitten bottles and nipples as well as a commercial formula specifically designed for kittens. It is essential that kittens receive colostrum to protect them against disease. Newborn kittens need to feed every two to three hours.

A newborn kitten can only digest milk and more specifically the milk from a female cat. The kitten s head must not be elevated since newborn kittens do not have a well developed gag reflex and the lungs can easily be filled with milk. Never give cow or goat s milk as kittens find this difficult to digest. Kittens can only absorb colostrum during their first 16 to 24 hours of life and they should feed within two hours of birth.

By six weeks of age a kitten should be eating the gruel four times a day and nursing less. At the end of week six decrease meal times to only three times a day. If any kittens do not receive the first milk contact your vet. Kitten puppy milk from the supermarket is not suitable.

Each spoonful must be gently poured into the kitten s mouth. Kmr milk replacer a commercial formula comes in both liquid and powdered varieties for hand feeding newborn kittens. 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. Spoon feeding is slow and requires great practice.

The milk will be the only nutritional contribution that the newborn kittens will need until weaning. Dropper feeding is similar to spoon feeding but a little quicker and cleaner. The natural composition of the milk of the mother cat changes within 72 hours after birth and starts to produce milk itself instead of colostrum. Feeding the wrong sort of milk such as cow s milk can have short term and long term effects including diarrhea dehydration nutritional deficiencies and long term health problems due to poor growth.

If your kitten is a preemie you will need to dropper feed it until it s strong enough to suck on the bottle. This is available from most vets and reputable pet shops. You can use tvm formula for example. Cow s milk is also unsuitable.

What to feed your kittens newborn kittens need artificial milk formula specifically for kittens.