Newborn Kittens Care With Mom

You can encourage the same elimination pattern by holding each kitty put a towel over your lap first and gently stroking its body with a warm washcloth.

Newborn kittens care with mom. A separate room is ideal. It is up to you as the owner to. Like a human baby a newborn kitten will need to be fed frequently approximately every two to three hours. Weigh each baby regularly to ensure they are all gaining weight.

Keep the mother cat and her babies in a quiet part of the house. You must accomplish this task. If the kittens are 1 2 weeks old bottle feed them with milk replacer formula every 1 2 hours. Make sure the room is warm enough as kittens are unable to regulate their body temperature when they are only a few days old.

If the mother cat is not around you ll need to prepare and feed them yourself. Newborn kittens cuddle up with their mother and siblings to stay warm. At 3 4 weeks old provide formula and water softened kitten kibble 4 6 times daily. Wrap a heating pad or hot water bottle in a blanket to create a warm bed but position it so that your kitten can move away from it if she gets too warm.

At 6 12 weeks old start giving them dry. This generally occurs by the time the kitten is about 8 weeks of age. Provide blankets a heat lamp or a heating pad to ensure the kittens stay warm. Soon you will be rewarded with a bowel movement after every meal and will not need to give this assistance.

Do the same thing with its abdomen and butt. So a kitten weighing 3 ounces will need about 24 ounces of milk replacement every 24 hours. While mother cats are as attentive and loving as human mothers there are instances when they could not attend to the needs of their newborns. Keep an eye on the heating pad to ensure that it s working properly and that it doesn t get too hot or malfunction.

Check tummies after feeding to see if they are full. If you have newborn kittens who ve been separated from their mother consult with a veterinarian shelter. By the sixth week kittens can become self sufficient. Where possible allow the kittens to wean naturally from their mother.

If your kitten has been abandoned you ll need to keep her warm. Lactating cats should be fed free choice with appropriate food that is designed for lactation. 7 to make sure the kitten defecates and urinates you need to take on the role of mother. Allow them to eat the gruel for about 15 20 minutes and then return them to mom.

Chilling is one of the most critical dangers to newborn kittens. Caring for newborn kittens can be very exciting especially if you know what to do. Mom will likely appreciate this break by this time anyway. The first three weeks are the most critical because of the delicate nature of the young felines.

To care for newborn kittens when the mother cat is still present feed the mother to keep her strength up but leave the kittens alone for the first week to ensure the mother doesn t reject them. When a kitten is born find a soft toy or teddy bear to comfort the newborn cat as a surrogate mother and to share warmth. Some kittens take longer than others to acclimate to the weaning process. Mother cats encourage newborns to move their bowels by washing their bums with her tongue.

As a rule of thumb for every ounce of kitten body weight he or she needs 8 ccs of formula. A mother cat s milk provides everything a kitten needs during the first four weeks of life.