What To Feed Newborn Kittens
The hydration newborn kittens need from their mother if the kittens have their mother she will be in charge of feeding them.
What to feed newborn kittens. Feeding the wrong sort of milk such as cow s milk can have short term and long term effects including diarrhea dehydration nutritional deficiencies and long term health problems due to poor growth. Depending on its size and condition your newborn kitten will need approximately nine to 12 daily feedings. Normally all water needs should be covered in their entirety by breast milk during the first weeks. Feeding newborn kittens newborn kittens should get all of their nutrition from their mother.
Kittens cannot control their body temperature so help them regulate their body temperature before trying to feed them especially if they have been exposed to cold temperatures. Therefore you will need to purchase kitten milk replacement kmr formulas to feed the baby kitten. This will continue until they gradually transition to solid foods when they are around four weeks old weaning. Some of the best kitten milk replacement formulas are nutri vet hartz just born nurturall c and pet lac.
Use a large enough box to comfortably hold the mother cat and her kittens. She should breastfeed them at least until 8 weeks old. For the first two weeks of life you will need to count on feeding the kitten every two hours during the day and every four hours overnight. The cat bottle may have an inferior nipple which the kittens can drink.
At about three to four weeks old they can be offered milk replacer from a bowl and then small amounts of moistened kitten food four to six times a. And this how to feed a newborn kitten with a bottle choose the best kitten feeding bottle rather than the regular baby bottle. A newborn kitten can only digest milk and more specifically the milk from a female cat. Stack clean towels to line it.
Chilling is one of the most critical dangers to newborn kittens. A heating pad on low a warm water bottle or even a sock filled with rice and put in the microwave can all provide a steady but mild heat source to a cold kitten. 1 in order to bottle feed the kitten you will need to gather a few supplies. The first milk produced called colostrum is rich in antibodies and will help protect kittens against diseases.