When To Wean Kittens Off Kitten Food

The abrupt transition from mother’s milk to solid food will always have a negative effect on your kitten. So, be patient and make your kitten to transit toward the solid food in a gradual manner. Bottom line: Wean your kitten the right food at the right age in the right manner! This will make the weaning a wonderful experience!

When to wean kittens off kitten food. When you are weaning kittens, you can add into the kitten formula a bit of canned or dry kitten food. However, you must be very careful about crushing the dry food really well. Certainly this can be done with a fork or spoon, but I love to use my blender. Place a high quality dry kitten food in the blender with kitten milk replacer and hot water. Weaning a cat off of soft food is a process that must be carried out gradually to avoid intestinal and digestive problems. Gradual Transition Introduce your cat to dry food by crushing it into crumbs and sprinkling it over the soft food for several feedings. Kittens should never drink cow's milk, which causes digestive upset and diarrhea. Dip your finger into the dish; let the kitten lick off the milk, and then guide it down to the bowl. A kitten may walk into its dish, cleaning the milk replacement from its paws as it figures out this new way of eating. This is a good thing. Again, no two kittens are the same, so trying to get them to conform to a timetable is futile if they are not yet ready to be weaned. Here are few “don’ts” when weaning a kitten. Do not shove the kitten’s nose into the food. This can cause the food to go up the kitten’s nose resulting in health problems.

How Do I Wean a Kitten Off of Mother’s Milk or Bottle-Feeding? Serve kitten milk replacer in a shallow bowl. Do not use cow’s milk, as this will cause stomach upset and diarrhea in some kittens. 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. How To Wean Kittens Off of a Bottle. If you have been to my blog, then you have seen my latest topic about newborn kittens. I have written post about caring for two through eight-week-old kittens and how to bottle feed kittens.. Therefore, the logical next step in kitten care in how to wean kittens off of the bottle and onto kitten food. How to Wean Kittens - Top Tips. I find that weaning kittens can be easy with some litters and much harder with others. I usually start weaning kittens by introducing my kittens to ‘solids’ at about three to four weeks though I do not worry if they are not eating until about five or six weeks old. Wet food is the healthiest choice for kittens to start off with, as the moisture content will help them stay healthy and hydrated. However, some kittens may prefer dry food, and that’s okay as long as you choose a healthy kitten kibble. You'll also want to pick up some shallow food dishes so the kitten can easily access the food. 3.

How to Wean a Stubborn Kitten. If you have a new litter of kittens, you may be wondering how you keep them happy and comfortable (Click here to see my best cat beds for kittens).). In particular, you may be keen to wean them off their mother’s milk and transition them. Once your hand-raised kittens reach around 4 weeks old, it's time to wean them onto solid foods. This process can last up to six weeks while the little ones adjust to their new diet. With a slow, steady transition, your furbabies should be eating on their own with no complications. Kittens can start to wean around that age...but many people suggest allowing the kittens to still have access to mom even when they begin to eat solid food. Is there a particuliar reason you want them to stop going to mom?? Kittens are recommended to be placed around 8-12 weeks of age. Step 2: Choose a high-quality kitten food. Click here for our guide to the best kitten food. Step 3: If your kittens are bottle-fed, mix the kitten food and formula into a milky meat smoothie. Step 4: Say goodbye to the bottle and hello to a big-kid food bowl. Step 5: Set the foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating.

Weeks 6-7: By now, the kitten weaning process is complete, and they should be eating all solid food by week seven. Other Kitten Weaning Tips . When you are weaning a kitten onto solid food, it’s important to use a food formulated specifically for kittens. These formulas have the higher levels of calories, protein and calcium that growing. When you first start weaning your kitten off of its mother's milk, you'll want to buy milk replacer. It is designed to replicate the nutritional value and to a degree the taste of its mother's milk. You'll also want to be sure to purchase high-quality cat food, which will be introduced to the kitten gradually. Weaning is a big step in a kitten's young life. It happens when kittens move from mother's milk to solid food. Just as important, it's a time when a kitten moves from depending on her mother's care to becoming a more socially independent cat. And if you live with a cat, you know just how seriously they take that independence! When I begin weaning kittens I usually start off with some kitten food that is of a paste like substance and add some hot water to increase the smell of the food. Often this is enough to encourage some of the more greedy kittens to venture over to the bowl and give it a try.

Fill the kittens' food bowl with kitten-milk replacement. Dip your finger into the milk and then let the kittens lick it off before slowly moving your finger toward the bowl. Make sure that the bowl is shallow enough for the kittens to reach. Prepare to continue bottle-feeding kittens that have been bottle-fed, but always offer the bowl first. Kittens can begin eating solid food at around four weeks old. Begin by feeding your kitten soft or wet canned food. As they grow used to eating solid food and their teeth continue to develop, begin to mix in dry food softened with a bit of water.