What To Feed Newborn Kittens
A newborn kitten can only digest milk and more specifically the milk from a female cat.
What to feed newborn kittens. The hydration newborn kittens need from their mother if the kittens have their mother she will be in charge of feeding them. And this how to feed a newborn kitten with a bottle choose the best kitten feeding bottle rather than the regular baby bottle. 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. Some of the best kitten milk replacement formulas are nutri vet hartz just born nurturall c and pet lac.
Normally all water needs should be covered in their entirety by breast milk during the first weeks. This will continue until they gradually transition to solid foods when they are around four weeks old weaning. These are available at your vet s office or a pet store. Newborn kittens have a delicate stomach and won t be able to digest average milk.
The first milk produced called colostrum is rich in antibodies and will help protect kittens against diseases. Therefore you will need to purchase kitten milk replacement kmr formulas to feed the baby kitten. Feeding newborn kittens newborn kittens should get all of their nutrition from their mother. Kittens that are bottle fed should consume about a tablespoon or 15 ml of special kitten formula at each feeding.
To bottle feed a kitten follow these steps. She should breastfeed them at least until 8 weeks old. Purchase kitten milk replacement formula and a bottle designed for feeding a kitten. Kittens under 4 weeks old must be fed every 3 hours around the clock including at night.
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 a. The cat bottle may have an inferior nipple which the kittens can drink. Newborn kittens may nurse about every 1 2 hours. 1 in order to bottle feed the kitten you will need to gather a few supplies.