Content

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• Part 1 of 2: Preparing to feed a newborn kitten
• Part 2 of 2: Feeding the kitten
• Warnings

Ideally, kittens should stay close to and be fed by their mother cat for eight weeks before being separated and / or adopted. In the event of a rescue, the death of the natural mother, or when circumstances cause a cat mother to reject one or more of her kittens, human intervention is necessary. There are many things to consider if you find yourself in the position of feeding a newborn kitten. Careful consideration and preparation will make bottle feeding a kitten a soothing and comfortable experience and help to result in a happy, healthy pet.

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Part 1 of 2: Preparing to feed a newborn kitten

1. Try to find a nursing mother cat (queen). Seek advice from local veterinarians and shelters to find out if there is a nursing mother cat capable of receiving the kitten. Breast milk is best for a baby mammal, and before bottle feeding a kitten with supplemental milk powders, it is recommended that you find a nursing cat that can take the place of the absent or incapable mother.
   • Be aware that even if you find a cat who is able to nurse the kitten, she may not accept the kitten. Always stay present when the nursing cat is busy with your kitten; there is a risk that a nurse may try to kill a kitten she rejects.
   • If you are lucky enough to find a foster mom, try masking the scent of the new kitten. Try to pet the foster mother's own kittens and then your kitten. This will help transfer the scent from the mother's own litter to your newborn kitten. A nurse (the cat) is more likely to reject the kitten if it smells totally unfamiliar, so by changing the smell of your kitten. masking you increase the chance that the nurse will accept her.
2. Get milk. A newborn kitten can only digest milk, and more specifically the milk of a female cat. Feeding the wrong kind of milk, such as cow's milk, can have both short-term and long-term effects, including diarrhea, dehydration, nutrient deficiencies and long-term health problems from poor growth. You can buy kitten formula at your local pet store, vet, and even online. Renowned brands are Beaphar and KMR, but you can also ask your vet which formula he or she recommends.
   • Bottle milk for cats comes in a tub or can and is a dry powder or liquid. You use it in much the same way as bottled milk for babies, following the directions on the package, which tells you how many scoops you need with what amount of water.
   • Be aware that the milk sold in cartons is like cat milk is not suitable. This is cow's milk from which the lactose has been extracted, and is designed to make cow's milk accessible to adult cats (more to fulfill our need to feed them milk than there is physiological need in the cats). It is not suitable for use on kittens.
3. Have an emergency plan if you can't get replacement milk right away. The ideal milk is to use the milk of a replacement nurse. If you don't have one, use boiled water to feed the kitten and buy replacement milk right away. If the kitten appears very hungry, you can add a teaspoon of glucose powder to 250 ml of boiled water. But you should only do this with a single feed. Don't repeat it.
   • Another alternative to bridging the gap until you have bottled food is to use rice water, which is water that rice has been cooked in. Boil some white rice in water and drain the liquid. This contains a little starch (energy) and is not laxative, and can be used as a temporary solution.
   • Watering in the meantime will keep the kitten from drying out, and is a better compromise than feeding something (like cow's milk) that can upset her tummy and make her sick.
4. Plan your time. Remember that the younger the kitten is, the faster the cat's metabolism increases and the more often she needs to be fed (because of her tiny stomach). This means that you, or someone else in your household, or a friend or neighbor, should be around all day until the kitten is old enough to transition to solid food.
   • A newborn kitten, technically a kitten under two weeks old, needs feeding attention day and night until she is old enough to begin the process of transitioning to solid food.
5. Know that you can wean an orphan kitten early. Weaning means removing the kitten from the milk and slowly introducing solid food. You can do this once the kitten is four weeks old, when your kitten is no longer a newborn. You can tell if your kitten is not a newborn and is ready to receive solid food when she starts biting the bottle's teat.
   • To wean your kitten from milk, put a small amount of food in her bowl. If she doesn't seem ready or doesn't want to eat it, you can add a few tablespoons of bottled milk or water to soften the food and encourage her interest. Make sure you always have solid food available so your kitten can try it when she is ready and wants it. Over time, you can reduce the amount of milk you offer while increasing the amount of solid food.
   • Most kittens can handle a solid food diet from the age of 7.
   • A kitten aged six to ten weeks should be fed six to eight meals a day, while a kitten aged ten weeks to six or seven months needs four meals a day and a kitten up to nine months old needs three more meals a day. Note that two meals a day is not acceptable for a cat until they are adults.

Part 2 of 2: Feeding the kitten

1. Gather your supplies. To feed your newborn kitten you need some sort of feeding device. If possible, use a bottle with a teat specifically designed for kittens, such as Catac's. The bottle itself is very small and it has an open end at the top so you can hold a thumb on it to control the flow rate of the milk if it drips from the teat too quickly and overwhelms the kitten. The teat is long and narrow, which is perfect to fit a newborn kitten's mouth. This gives the kitten a chance to suckle as if it were from her mother.
   • If you don't have a feeding set, the next best option is a syringe, which you can use to drip the milk into the kitten's mouth. However, the kitten cannot suckle on a syringe, so try to buy a bottle with a teat as soon as possible.
2. Sterilize the materials. Keeping all of your materials sterile is crucial. Simply washing everything is not enough. Consider using a steam sterilizer (such as for baby bottles) or placing the material in a solution of Milton sterilizing liquid in a dish.
   • You can purchase Milton Sterilizing Fluid from drugstores, often found in the baby aisle. Follow the directions on the package. If you choose to sterilize your cat food supplies with the Milton liquid, make sure to rinse everything with boiled water before using it to wash away any residue from the sterilizing liquid.
3. Prepare and heat the milk. If you are using liquid bottled milk, open the can and measure the required amount according to the packaging. If you are using powdered milk, follow the directions on the package regarding the amount of scoops and water required. Always follow the instructions carefully, as too concentrated milk can upset the stomach, while too much diluted milk will not provide enough nutrients for your kitten.
   • Always prepare the milk fresh before each feed. The milk contains no preservatives and newborn kittens have a weak immune system, so any bacterial contamination from milk left on for too long can be disastrous to the kitten's health.
   • Do not put the bottle food in the microwave; this will cause bubbles from very hot or very cold formula in the bottle. Instead, put the formula in a container and put it in hot water.
   • Make sure the milk is at the right temperature - neither too cold nor too hot. Ideally, the milk should be at body temperature, so when you put a few drops of it on the back of your hand, it should feel like about the same temperature as your skin. If it's too hot, the milk could burn your kitten's mouth.
4. Check your kitten's body temperature. When you are ready to feed the kitten, make sure she is warm. To some extent, a kitten's digestion is dependent on her temperature. If she is cool her digestion will be slow and the milk will remain in her stomach and ferment. Newborns usually snuggle close to the mother and tend to get very warm. The ideal temperature is 35.5 to 37.5 degrees Celsius for the first three weeks of life.
   • Try to keep your kitten at this temperature by using a heating pad under a well-insulated nest. If you don't have a heating pad, use a towel-wrapped hot water bottle to avoid direct contact with the hot bottle, which can cause burns. Replace the hot water bottle as often as necessary to keep it warm.
5. Feed the kitten. Sit in a comfortable chair with a folded towel on your lap. Hold the kitten about the same as they would lie with their mother, with her head straight, paws down and a resting stomach. When trying to feed your kitten for the first time, form a drop at the end of the syringe or teat. Hold this very close to the kitten's mouth. Her sense of smell is strong and she will probably smell the milk and try to keep her mouth against it.
   • If you are using a pacifier, give her a little help at this point by squirming the pacifier in her mouth. Then nature should take over and start sucking.
   • If you're using a syringe, gently squeeze the syringe to squirt a drop into her mouth. Let her swallow between the drops. Never flood her mouth with milk as she could inhale the milk, get milk into the lungs and develop pneumonia, which is usually fatal in young kittens. Just take your time and go slow.
   • The kitten's attitude is very important. Never feed a kitten on her back, like a human baby, and always make sure the kitten is resting on something when you feed her. Make sure the head is not elevated as this will cause inhalation, inhalation of bottled milk into the lungs, which is serious and can even be fatal.
6. Enter the correct amount. Beaphar and other KMRs include instructions for how much and how often to feed on the pack. Follow the instructions on the packaging. Here are a few instructions for how much and how often to feed your kitten in the first few weeks of her life.
   • One to three days: 2.5 ml of KMR every two hours
   • Four to seven days: 5 ml of KMR, 10 to 12 feedings per day
   • Six to ten days: 5 to 7.5 ml KMR, 10 feedings per day
   • Eleven to 14 days: 10 to 12.5 ml of KMR, every three hours
   • Fifteen to twenty one days: 10 ml, 8 times a day
   • Twenty-one days and beyond: 7.5 to 25 ml, 3 to 4 times a day, in addition to the introduction of solid food
7. Watch for signs. When learning and practicing to bottle feed a kitten, keep in mind that overfeeding or misfeeding can cause problems with inhalation. Observe your kitten during feedings to make sure that no milk is coming through the nose and that the stomach does not feel distended.
   • In terms of quantity, if you have a greedy kitten and she keeps sucking even after she has eaten the recommended amount, look at her tummy. If her tummy is tight and swollen, stop feeding. This is a sign that her stomach is full, but she doesn't realize it yet. Not overfeeding.
   • If your kitten takes less than the recommended amount, don't panic. This could be the kitten's individual preference. If you're concerned that she hasn't taken enough, don't force her to take more and risk filling her lungs, but stop, let her rest, and try again an hour later.
8. Stay calm and relaxed. It is important to remain patient and calm while bottle feeding a kitten to make sure the kitten is comfortable. In addition, allow the kitten to feed at its own pace when bottle feeding to avoid overeating or digestive problems.
   • Encourage and stimulate burping by holding the kitten with its back against your body and gently rubbing its stomach. In the relationship between nurse and kitten, the mother will lick the kitten to help it pass wind and feces. Don't be surprised by any results - it's a good sign!
9. Clean the back of your kitten. Immediately after each meal, the mother cat licks the anus and genital areas of her kittens to encourage them to urinate and defecate. The mother actually licks up their secretions, which is the natural way to avoid a polluted nest, which can attract predators. Without a mother, however, you have to get started. Use damp cotton wool and wipe this over the anal part with a licking motion. When the kitten is relieving, wipe it away with the cotton ball. Finish with a clean wad of cotton wool to clean her backside, and then you're done until the next feed.
   • This is an important step in feeding your kitten successfully. If you don't mimic the mother's stimulation of the kitten's secretion, your kitten will not empty her bladder and intestines and she can become very sick.
10. Return the kitten to her warm nest or box to rest. Continue the regular daily feeding schedule for the next several weeks until weaning to solid food is appropriate. At this point, you can talk to your vet about a suitable weaning diet.
    • Add solid foods such as soft canned food and hard kibble to the diet when the kitten is approximately four weeks old. Some kittens will be bottle-fed until they are eight weeks old and this progress should be communicated with a veterinary professional.

Warnings

• Weigh your kitten every day for the first two weeks. You can use a kitchen scale, but make sure to cover it with a clean cloth or rag. Your kitten should gain about 15 grams per day for the first two weeks. Carefully monitor weight throughout the feeding, and consult a veterinarian if the kitten is losing or gaining weight too quickly.
• It is best to leave kittens with their mothers until they are at least six weeks old, although eight to 10 weeks is better. Breeders recommend waiting until a kitten is 12 weeks old before moving to a new home. Complications can arise if a kitten is orphaned; kittens may be less social, develop health problems and their general development and well-being may be adversely affected.
• If the kitten is not eating at all, consult a vet as this could be a sign of illness.