What Can I Give Newborn Kittens To Eat

Learn more about newborn kittens in our kitten guide.

What can i give newborn kittens to eat. A newborn kitten can only digest milk and more specifically the milk from a female cat. Kittens are born blind and deaf. Between weeks 3 and 8 give the kittens a safe space to wander around in your house or apartment while supervised to fulfill their natural curiosity. Any more than 10 could upset the nutritional balance of her food.

Begin with a milk substitute. A kitten s eyes will start to open when the kitten is around seven to 10 days old. If the kitten is a newborn then its eyes and ears will still be sealed shut. Anything you add to your kitten s daily diet should not account for more than 10 of the total daily calories.

When offering your kitten any of these different foods keep the 10 rule in mind. Ask your veterinarian how to give newborn kittens a mixture of cow s milk and egg yolk until you can get kmr. Since their dietary needs are different from older kittens you will need to bottle feed if your kitten is a newborn. The grasses can provide fiber vitamins and minerals for your kitten but they primarily offer your kitten something new to experience.

Part 2 of 3. Take care not to overfeed or underfeed your kitten. This bottle emits only one drop of milk at a time to control the rate of feeding. Newborn kittens are those under two weeks old and they survive on a diet of milk and cannot digest solid food.

Bottles with faster flow could endanger the kitty by causing her to aspirate milk into her lungs. Colostrum is produced by the mother cat. Newborn kittens need mother s milk or kitten milk replacer kmr. If you re concerned that kittens will not readily take to eating solid food you can provide a milk substitute as an intermediary step one.

Mix powdered milk with water according to the manufacturer s directions then warm to body temperature. Therefore in the first days of their life we must give them a substitute which will fulfill the same functions as colostrum. When kittens are first born they are completely helpless their eyes are closed their ears are folded and they can t stand keep themselves warm or eat on their own they rely on mom for everything. A kitten that had a mother would receive the colostrum in their first hours of life.

To properly feed a newborn kitten purchase either liquid or powdered kitten milk and a bottle designed especially for feeding newborn animals. 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. Kittens should be offered food at least 4 times per day. In addition offer one new.

In fact many kittens have more fun uprooting the grass than eating it. Provide some moist foods in the diet regularly e g. Choosing a type of solid food. You should avoid sausages sausage meat and cooked manufactured meats as they can also contain sulphite preservatives.