What To Feed Orphaned Kittens
Kittens under three weeks old can t control their body temperature.
What to feed orphaned kittens. You should warm the milk up to 95 100 degrees before feeding it to the kittens. Kittens 7 weeks and older should eat mainly dry kibble. Compared to cow s milk queen s milk contains more than twice as much protein which helps explain why cow s milk is not ideal for feeding orphaned kittens. Prepare to feed the kittens.
When attempting to feed your kitten for the first time get a drip of milk on the end of the syringe or teat. Many veterinarians have incubators to warm a chilled kitten. Feed your kitten a food that is made specifically for kittens. 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.
Hold them upright or over your shoulder and pat their back. Position the kitten similarly to the way he would nurse from his mother with her head straight feet down and stomach resting. Mix the wet food with water until it achieves a soupy consistency and consider warming the mixture before serving. Sit in a comfortable chair with a towel folded on your lap.
Mix up the milk replacement formula using a little whisk to get the lumps out. Commercial kitten milk replacers are recommended as they are superior to cow s milk and home made mixtures. Pet food labels are required to carry a statement identifying the life stage or stages for which the food is intended. Kittens that are bottle fed should consume about a tablespoon or 15 ml of special kitten formula at each feeding.
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. Kittens have nutritional needs that are different than those of mature cats. Can per kitten of kibble in a dish and wet food in a dish at all times and a dish full of water at all times kittens 3 to 5 weeks should be given baby cat kibble. The milk replacer you choose should meet several key nutritional factors.
Do not feed a kitten until it is warm since it can t properly digest when cold. Sterilize the bottle and nipple in boiling water then let them cool completely on a clean towel. How to feed orphaned kittens the kittens will need to be burped during and after each feeding. Make sure you keep a fresh supply and not too much at one time.
5 kittens found on street april 12th they were about 10 days old i feed them every 6 hours. Kittens 5 to 6 weeks should be given kitten kibble and kibble should be mixed into the wet food.