What To Feed Orphaned Kittens
Many veterinarians have incubators to warm a chilled kitten.
What to feed orphaned kittens. Mix the wet food with water until it achieves a soupy consistency and consider warming the mixture before serving. Make sure you keep a fresh supply and not too much at one time. Kittens 5 to 6 weeks should be given kitten kibble and kibble should be mixed into the wet food. However if the mother is unable to nurse the kitten a foster mother is the second best choice.
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. The milk replacer you choose should meet several key nutritional factors. Do not feed a kitten until it is warm since it can t properly digest when cold. If there is a foster mother available her kittens should be no more than 14 days older than the orphaned kitten.
Giving an orphaned kitten milk the best milk for a kitten is his own mother s milk. Compared to cow s milk queen s milk contains more than twice as much protein which helps explain why cow s milk is not ideal for feeding orphaned kittens. Kittens under three weeks old can t control their body temperature. Learn how to handle the kittens.
Always take care to wash your hands before and after handling the. You can purchase commercially available milk replacers from a variety of sources including local pet stores online retailers and some larger feed stores. Creating a nurturing environment. Commercial kitten milk replacers are recommended as they are superior to cow s milk and home made mixtures.
A newborn kitten can only digest milk and more specifically the milk from a female cat. Can per kitten of kibble in a dish and wet food in a dish at all times and a dish full of water at all times kittens 3 to 5 weeks should be given baby cat kibble. It is okay though to syringe feed a few drops of 5 sugar water or to rub a little bit of karo syrup on the kitten s lips. When the orphaned kittens reach about 3 weeks of age you can start providing watered down meat based kitten food for them to nibble on.