What Should I Feed An Orphaned Kitten

At the end of week six decrease meal times to only three times a day.

What should i feed an orphaned kitten. Fresh water is very important although for a newborn kitten you buy kitten milk in a can to be feed by eye dropper or syringe. The gruel should become less and less watery and dry kitten food should be introduced along with a bowl of water. Kittens up to two weeks old can generally consume their daily intake in 4 5 meals per day. Note that it s not until adulthood that two meals a day for a cat is acceptable.

It is okay though to syringe feed a few drops of 5 sugar water or to rub a little bit of karo syrup on the kitten s lips. Split up the daily portion into three equal parts and feed 1 3 at each feeding. Kittens under three weeks old can t control their body temperature. By six weeks of age a kitten should be eating the gruel four times a day and nursing less.

Feed the kitty approximately 8cc or 1 4 ounce of formula per ounce of his weight every 24 hours. Hold the bottle at a 45 angle. A kitten aged between six to 10 weeks old needs to be fed six to eight meals a day while a kitten aged 10 weeks to six or seven months needs four meals a day and a kitten up to nine months needs three meals a day. Feeds should be every 2 3 hours around the clock.

To encourage suckling gently stroke the kitten s throat in a downward motion. Use the feeding guidelines on the food label as a starting point to determine how much to feed your kitten. Feeding orphaned kittens can feel like a full time job especially in the beginning when they need to be fed the most. You can also use a syringe without a needle to drop the formula into the little one s mouth a drop or two at a time.

Remember to keep the kitty on his tummy while you feed him. The feeding protocols below are provided by the kitten nursery of salt lake county animal services in partnership with best friends animal. The feeding guidelines provide a starting point but you ll need to monitor your cat s body condition and adjust the feeding amount accordingly. But it s also incredibly rewarding and before you know it your kittens will be eating on their own and soon ready to find homes.

You can stop the feeding when the kitten begins to slow down the consumption or becomes disinterested. Once they get the hang of it the kittens should consume the milk replacer greedily. Orphaned kittens should be fed on a strict schedule preferably every 2 4 hours. Do not feed a kitten until it is warm since it can t properly digest when cold.

Many veterinarians have incubators to warm a chilled kitten. When the orphaned kittens reach about 3 weeks of age you can start providing watered down meat based kitten food for them to nibble on.