What To Give Newborn Kittens
At 3 to 4 weeks old they may need to eat between four and six times a day.
What to give newborn kittens. Use a large enough box to comfortably hold the mother cat and her kittens. Starting from the top massage the tummy. Provide blankets a heat lamp or a heating pad to ensure the kittens stay warm. Stack clean towels to line it.
Therefore in the first days of their life we must give them a substitute which will fulfill the same functions as colostrum. 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. Chilling is one of the most critical dangers to newborn kittens. Its use is not only to give nutrients to the newborn kitten but also to provide passive immune defenses by transmitting immunoglobulins.
Take a cotton pad moistened with warm physiological solution. This allows the kitten to suckle as if from her mother. Under normal conditions the mother does this licking the crotch of the kittens every three or four hours. Don t give a kitten cow s milk which can cause gastrointestinal upset.
When the kittens are 3 4 weeks old provide formula in a shallow dish as well as some kitten food that has been softened with water. Do not give cow s milk to the kittens because it is too hard for them to digest. Kittens need constant feeding to stay nourished. A kitten that had a mother would receive the colostrum in their first hours of life.
Keep the newborn kittens with the mother. If you do not have a feeding set then the next best option is a syringe which you can use to drip the milk into the kitten s mouth. Provide plenty of food and a safe place so that she can look after her kittens. Newborn kittens typically nurse every one to two hours.
If your cat has just given birth she ll take care of the kittens. The teat is long and narrow which is ideal to fit inside the mouth of a newborn kitten. When the kittens are 1 2 weeks old bottle feed the kittens every 1 2 hours with a commercial milk replacer formula.