What Can I Feed Orphaned Kittens

Suppose you find orphaned kittens after all the pet stores in your area have closed.

What can i feed orphaned kittens. You will probably have no problem knowing when they need feeding as a hungry kitten can be quite loud. Follow these best practices for proper kitten hygiene. Quick response can save a kitten s life. A newborn kitten may need to eat around 6 8 times a day or every four hours and less frequently after the first 2 weeks.

It is not unusual for kittens to have some difficulties digesting cow s milk based formulas. Prompt action and veterinary care is required. 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. Do not feed a kitten until it is warm since it can t properly digest when cold.

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. Hypoglycaemia results from inadequate or infrequent feeding. Kittens that are bottle fed should consume about a tablespoon or 15 ml of special kitten formula at each feeding. But not everybody keeps such a product in the pantry.

Once they get the hang of it the kittens should consume the milk replacer greedily. The first formula on our list which is based on goat s milk may be used instead of store bought milk replacement formulas such as kmr breeders edge or just born up until weaning. Many veterinarians have incubators to warm a chilled kitten. You can stop the feeding when the kitten begins to slow down the consumption or becomes disinterested.

Kittens need a kitten milk replacement specifically formulated to contain the proper balance of proteins and nutrients they need to support healthy growth. Kittens have no reserves and will go downhill rapidly. Kittens under three weeks old can t control their body temperature. Bottles and nipples should be cleaned and then boiled in water to sterilize them between uses.

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. This is very time consuming for someone who is bottle feeding a newborn kitten so if at all possible you will want to try to keep the kitten with its mother or a surrogate lactating cat who can nurse it. It can cause severe depression muscle twitching and occasionally lead to convulsions. Discard formula after 1 hour if left at room.

If a kitten ever refuses to feed do not delay. Here are some kitten formula recipes you can make using ingredients available at most grocery stores. Never prepare more milk replacer than can be used within 24 hours and always keep it refrigerated.