What Milk Should Kittens Drink
For instance people increasingly ask whether goat milk for cats is an acceptable treat.
What milk should kittens drink. Clean fresh water for cats and kittens who have weaned. 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. For the first weeks of their lives the diet of kittens consists of mother s milk only.
Typically kittens are eating solid foods by 8 to 10 weeks old. Kittens drink their mother s milk until the mother gradually weans them as early as 4 weeks old. The aspca states that this milk provides all of a kitten s required nourishment. 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.
However they will be fully weaned by around 8 9 weeks of age. The kittens mother provides the best milk for their needs at that age. Kittens will drink their mother s milk for the first few weeks of life or a specially designed kitten formula milk if necessary. No other sustenance not even water is yet required.
Although kittens can drink their mother s milk many cats lose the ability to process it after being weaned. Starting at around 6 or 7 weeks most kittens can switch over to solid food completely and no longer need to drink from their mother. There are other varieties of milk. Water makes up 70 of a cat s body and is vital for survival.
After that you may begin adding canned food to their diet. Mother s milk will do for the first 3 to 4 weeks. In the case that your nursing kitten happens to be an orphan then it necessary for you to substitute mother milk using kitten milk replacers. When a cat drinks milk undigested lactose will stay in their intestines rather than passing into the bloodstream and end up fermenting says dr.
Cow s milk can upset a kitten s stomach and should be used as a last resort. Goat milk for kittens is a little more salutary than cow s milk but the. You can also feed them kitten milk replacement formula.