When To Wean Kittens Off Mom
This will allow the kittens to get used to spending time without their mother close by and hopefully give mom time to catch up on some sleep.
When to wean kittens off mom. Dip your finger into the formula and offer it to the kitten to lick it off. Certainly this can be done with a fork or spoon but i love to use my blender. At this point you can start to introduce kitten food. To teach your kittens how to lap from a bowl place some kitten replacement formula in a shallow feeding bowl.
If you are weaning a bottle fed kitten dip the nipple of the bottle or syringe eye dropper in the formula instead of using your finger. However you must be very careful about crushing the dry food really well. It is designed to replicate the nutritional value and to a degree the taste of its mother s milk. Repeat this until.
Dip your fingertip or the syringe or bottle the kitten is used to nursing from into the liquid let the kitten lick it then guide him by moving your finger down into the bowl. Weaning a kitten is the process of transitioning the kitten from mother s milk to solid food. It s an important part of the kitten s development and needs to be done at the right time and in the right way. Serve kitten milk replacer in a shallow bowl.
The mother around the kitten in the initial weaning stages. When they start biting and chewing on the bottle they re ready says benson. You ll also want to be sure to purchase high quality cat food which will be introduced to the kitten gradually. Do not use cow s milk as this will cause stomach upset and diarrhea in some kittens.
To help weaning kittens become less dependent on mom and her milk place them in an area separate from mom for a few hours at a time. So slow dealing with the separation is always fine. How do i wean a kitten off of mother s milk or bottle feeding. When you are weaning kittens you can add into the kitten formula a bit of canned or dry kitten food.
Pet owners should make the transition as easy as possible for kittens. Normally the queen or mother cat will handle kitten weaning on her own. But if you re weaning a kitten that has been orphaned you can start a little earlier between three and four weeks. With mom they ll start to try to eat her food and she ll push them away from her says benson.
Once they re weaned feed them a high protein kitten diet. The process generally begins when a kitten is around four weeks old and should be complete by eight to ten weeks. When they ve reached the bouncing off the walls stage they re probably done with nursing. Kittens require a lot of protein and they eat a lot.
It is advisable to keep the queen i e. Weaning can begin earlier in the case of orphaned or hand fed kittens. A good rule of thumb is to see if a meat is listed first on its ingredients. Mama cat only puts up with so much.
Place a high quality dry kitten food in the blender with kitten milk replacer and hot water. The first thing in weaning a kitten is to deal with the separation from its mother. The kitten is able to spend more time alone without the mother if it becomes independent. If you give away or sell your kittens let the new owners know what a kittens needs nutritionally.
Please do not push. It is not recommended to separate the kitten from its mother. Make sure this area has a litter box and water bowls. When you first start weaning your kitten off of its mother s milk you ll want to buy milk replacer.
But when the queen has trouble producing milk or when a litter of kittens is orphaned we need to intervene. Blend these ingredients together until the. How to wean kittens.