What To Feed Orphaned Kittens

Give the gift of life for an orphaned kitten. One cat can have up to 3 litters of kittens a year, which can be approximately 12-18 kittens. Most kittens born to stray cats end up orphaned in shelters without the proper nutrients they need to survive. Just $2.66 can provide a weeks worth of formula for 1 kitten.

What to feed orphaned kittens. An orphaned kitten needs formula that is specific to his needs and evaporated milk is not nutritionally balanced for him. Commercial kitten formula is available at any pet store or places like Wal-Mart or you can make your own at home with some ingredients you may already have on hand. Orphaned kittens will need extra care for survival to compensate for the loss of their mother. Kittens must be kept warm, very clean, and fed frequently using an appropriate amount and type of formula by bottle or less often tube feeding. To ensure nutrition is adequate, daily weight checks should be performed for the first 4 weeks, then weekly thereafter. At 4 weeks kittens start to play with each other and develop teeth. Check with your veterinarian as to the timing of the needed vaccinations. The kitten should be ready for adoption at 8 weeks, and can be spayed or neutered at that time if in good health. Health Problems. Orphaned kittens are especially vulnerable to diseases. What Do Kittens Eat Besides Milk? When the orphaned kittens are three to four weeks old, begin to offer milk replacer in a shallow bowl, then introduce a moist, easily chewable diet. You can make gruel from warmed milk replacer and a high-quality dry or canned kitten food. Serve it in a shallow bowl and feed the kittens several times each day.

Between 1 to 3 weeks of life, kittens need two tablespoons for each 110 grams of weight every 2 to 3 hours. To feed the kitten, place them in the same position that they would have if their mother gave them milk: hold the kitten with their head high and belly on a towel, let them suck over and over again but do not give him too much. You must. What to Feed Your Kitten. Kittens have nutritional needs that are different than those of mature cats. Feed your kitten a food that is made specifically for kittens. Pet food labels are required* to carry a statement identifying the life stage (or stages) for which the food is intended. Choose a food that is intended for growth. To care for orphaned kittens less than 3 weeks of age, feed them every 2-3 hours with powdered cat milk replacer heated to 95 degrees F. After feeding the kittens, you'll need to wipe their genitals with a damp cotton swab to encourage them to urinate. Feed the kitten. Sit in a comfortable chair with a towel folded on your lap. Position the kitten similarly to the way he would nurse from his mother, with her head straight, feet down, and stomach resting. When attempting to feed your kitten for the first time, get a drip of milk on the end of the syringe or teat.

2. Use an eyedropper or a syringe to feed the kittens. The first time I raised orphaned kittens, I discovered that the small nursing bottles available at vet clinics were too big. The kittens couldn't get their mouths around the nipples. So, at first, for newborn kittens, I used an eyedropper. Weaning Orphaned Kittens onto Solid Foods . The transition from formula to solid foods begins at about 3-4 weeks of age for orphaned kittens. But adjusting to solid foods can stress the kitten's digestive system. This video will guide caregivers through food selection and preparation, along with tips for handling the transition period. But kittens have a higher requirement for protein, amino acids, and minerals, as well as for some vitamins. For example, kittens should get about 30% of their energy from protein. For these reasons, most experts recommend you feed your kitten specially formulated kitten food until age 1. Although some cat foods are labeled as appropriate for. 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.

However, when the kittens are not used to dry foods yet then you can mix them with little amount of water. While for the wet foods, you need to store them into refrigerator and when it is the time to feed the kittens, you can warm the foods. Feed a kitten 12 weeks of age should have the same pattern. Maine Coon kittens, 8 weeks old How to Feed Orphaned Kittens. The kittens will need to be burped during and after each feeding. Hold them upright or over your shoulder and pat their back. Bottle or tube feeding needs to be done very carefully to prevent aspiration of the supplement with subsequent aspiration pneumonia or drowning. Substitute 2-3 tube feedings a day with. We, at Animal Mama Clinic, are happy to give you free advice and offer you free hands-on lessons and demonstrations on how to feed, stimulate, house and raise the orphaned kittens. Feeding orphaned kittens can feel like a full-time job, especially in the beginning when they need to be fed the most. 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.

The most nutritionally balanced food if the orphaned kittens are too young to be weaned is a commercial kitten formula such as KMR. This can be found in pet stores and veterinary offices, and is one of the best products if you have to resort to bottle feeding kittens. Once they get the hang of it, the kittens should consume the milk replacer greedily. You can stop the feeding when the kitten begins to slow down the consumption or becomes disinterested. 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.