Raising kittens: when to start weaning, what to feed and how to feed a newborn kitten

Kittens are the same little children, they, like all newborn babies, from the first days of life feed exclusively on their mother’s breast milk. But over time, kittens need to change the diet, they must switch to more adult food in order to learn how to serve themselves. From this article you will learn the following information about kittens:

• when to start feeding;
• what to drink;
• whether any special supplements are needed to their main food.

Feeding newborn kittens

Regardless of which way you acquired a small pet, it needs your attention and care. If you decide to introduce complementary foods into your baby’s diet, you need to make sure that he is healthy, nothing bothers him and the pet feels great. An important aspect in feeding an animal is its age, so first you need to make sure that it is really time to feed. How to do it?

When to start feeding?

small pet can appear in several ways:

• from a pet store, from an exhibition or from a bird market;
• from the street, from friends or acquired by ad;
• born from your cat.

The best option for acquiring a pet is the bird market. So you will be able to see the living conditions of the baby before he gets into your family. You will understand how to feed your pet in the first days of his stay in your house, and also most accurately find out his age.

You should not buy a kitten if he is not yet 5 weeks old – until that time, babies eat exclusively breast milk. Mother’s milk is required for kittens up to 8 weeks, but after 1 month, babies are no longer so actively attached to their mother and can eat more solid food.

If you are going to take a pet from your friends, whose cat has recently acquired offspring, give him time to grow up. You should not tear a newborn baby away from its mother, otherwise you will be forced to look for a nurse for him or feed him from a pipette yourself. Let the kitten grow up a little and become more independent. Therefore, take a kitten who is already 2 months old.

But if you decide to take the baby from the street, only a veterinarian can determine his exact age. Take your kitten to the veterinarian right away. This is necessary not only to determine the age of the animal, but also to check if it has any diseases, infections and parasites. The fact is that animals picked up from the street can have diseases that are dangerous to humans, so it’s better to spend some time and protect yourself and your loved ones.

After the veterinarian determines the age of the baby, it is worth deciding on his complementary foods. If the animal is not yet a month old, it must be fed with milk. If he is 4 to 8 weeks old, it is worth diluting the dairy diet with more solid foods. After 2-XNUMX months, the kitten can be safely transferred to the food of an adult cat.

When to start feeding babies if they were born from your cat? Kittens are starting teething at 2-3 weeks of age from birth. Therefore, at the age of 4 weeks, you can gradually add complementary foods to their diet. However, there are situations when a mother cannot feed her babies. Then the owner will have to artificially feed them on their own.

How to feed a newborn kitten artificially?

The best option for feeding a newborn baby is the search for a nurse. If you have other cats or even dogs at home, try to offer them to feed the little pet. It happens that an animal can be lactating, even without pregnancy, so this option should not be ruled out.

If there are no animals, you will have to feed the baby yourself. To do this, you must purchase at a pet store or veterinary pharmacy special adapted milk formula for newborn kittens. Some people think that kittens should not be fed cow’s milk. However, many experienced cat owners managed to feed them with such milk, diluting it with boiled water. Diluted cream may also work for this.

You need to start with 22 grams of food per day, divided into several doses. Do not give your newborn more than 6 ml at a time. Do not dilute the mixture for a long time, before each feeding it is necessary to prepare a fresh portion. The break between feedings should be 2 hours, gradually increase the interval as the kitten grows. At the age of two weeks, it is necessary to increase the interval to 3 hours, and by the month to reduce the number of meals to 6 times a day.

Milk can be fed through a pipette or a nipple purchased from the children’s department. Make sure that the baby eats in a natural position, i.e. lying on the stomach.

How to feed kittens?

You can start feeding your pet aged 4 weeks. For the first feeding, you can use milk porridge. After assimilation of milk porridge, you can boil the porridge in water and add a little minced meat to it. Over time, increase the amount of meat, and, on the contrary, reduce the amount of cereals. At 2 months old, a kitten should be able to eat clean meat.

Diversify your baby’s diet vegetable puree. They can be combined with milk porridges, or you can add them directly to them. Gradually add fermented milk products to the complementary foods: cottage cheese, cheese, sour cream and others. The veterinarian will tell you the most correct diet based on the weight and condition of your pet.