What To Give Newborn Kittens To Eat
Caring for newborn kittens can be very exciting especially if you know what to do.
What to give newborn kittens to eat. Newborn kittens may nurse about every 1 2 hours. Many kittens prefer softer food as it is easier to eat and can ease the transition from milk to solid food. 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. Kittens that are bottle fed should consume about a tablespoon or 15 ml of special kitten formula at each feeding.
The following is a general eating schedule for newborns and young cats. As you can see newborn kittens can quickly grow in a span of two months. By the sixth week kittens can become self sufficient. Kittens suckling well from their queen will sleep between feeds and do not need additional nutrition until three to four weeks of age.
A newborn kitten can only digest milk and more specifically the milk from a female cat. However if you feed them with canned foods only then four times daily should be enough. If any kittens do not receive the first milk contact your vet. Kittens have small teeth and thus they cannot chew on dry foods well this is why you need to give them wet foods as well.
The first three weeks are the most critical because of the delicate nature of the young felines. For the first month of life newborn kittens eat only the milk their mother produces. If you plan to give the kittens both wet canned foods and dry foods then it is okay to give the kittens some canned foods twice per day. For example set out a tablespoon of food per kitten at 8 am 11 am 3 pm 6 pm and 9 pm.
Newborn kittens need to feed every two to three hours. Kittens from six to 12 weeks. 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. What kind of cat food do newborn kittens eat.
Since kittens will eat solid food periodically during the day you need to serve food multiple times. Plan to give the kittens wet food 4 or 5 times each day. To give newborn kittens away wait until they re at least 8 weeks old since they ll be better off staying with their mother for as long as possible. It is essential that kittens receive colostrum to protect them against disease.
If the mother cat doesn t produce.