What Milk Can Kittens Drink
Milk does contain some beneficial ingredients but it s not necessary to give your cat milk.
What milk can kittens drink. For instance people increasingly ask whether goat milk for cats is an acceptable treat. Kittens will drink their mother s milk for the first few weeks of life or a specially designed kitten formula milk if necessary. You can also feed them kitten milk replacement formula. Can kittens drink baby milk.
Whole 2 percent and skim cow s. No other sustenance not even water is yet required. Cow s milk can upset a kitten s stomach and should be used as a last resort. These formulas come in either canned liquid or powdered form.
You can find these formulas in pet supply stores along with the other items necessary to feed your little one such as nursing bottles and nipples. The following nutrients are found in regular cow s milk. So if you give it to your kittens they may suffer gastrointestinal distress. This applies only to mom s milk though as cow s milk can often lead to tummy distress and diarrhea troubles in kittens so be careful and keep it away from them.
When a cat drinks milk undigested lactose will stay in their intestines rather than passing into the bloodstream and end up fermenting says dr. But even though kittens can digest lactose it s too much. Water makes up 70 of a cat s body and is vital for survival. The only milk that is healthy for kittens to drink is either their mother s or they will need a kitten milk replacer which can also be called kmr or kitten milk formula.
However you may feed orphan kittens goat s milk available at many large grocery stores or supermarkets. However they will be fully weaned by around 8 9 weeks of age. Human baby formula is very high in lactose. The resulting diarrhea can dehydrate them during an important time in their development.
Kittens should be drinking water by the time they are 4 to 6 weeks of age. Goat milk for kittens is a little more salutary than cow s milk but the. The extra lactose allows baby formula to have a consistency more like breast milk. The aspca states that this milk provides all of a kitten s required nourishment.
Young kittens need milk either from their mother or if orphaned rejected a milk supplement if a foster mother can t be found. Kitten milk replacement kittens orphaned prior to 4 weeks old need to drink a kitten milk replacement formula.