Newborn Kittens What To Do

Offer these foods 4 times per day.

Newborn kittens what to do. Some moms will leave their kittens at this age. The mother cat offers her newborn kittens their best chance for survival so wait and watch as long as you safely can for her to return before removing them. This will continue until they gradually transition to solid foods when they are around four weeks old weaning. If they don t eat right away but look healthy please continue to wait for mom.

Newborn kittens may nurse about every 1 2 hours. During the first week all kittens do is eat sleep and have their mother help them go to the bathroom. When kittens are first born they are helpless they cannot see hear keep. Starting from the top massage the tummy.

Remove the kittens only if they are in immediate grave danger. Kittens at 8 weeks should be weened from nursing. Technically 1 week and 1 day. Use a large enough box to comfortably hold the mother cat and her kittens.

Provide blankets a heat lamp or a heating pad to ensure the kittens stay warm. Try stroking the foster mother s own kittens and then stroke your own kitten. You can test to see if a kitten is old enough to eat solid food by getting a pate style wet food and see if the kitten eats. Darling as a newborn.

Under normal conditions the mother does this licking the crotch of the kittens every three or four hours. Take a cotton pad moistened with warm physiological solution. The best food for the kittens is their mother s milk. They will typically weigh around 3 4 ounces and are smaller than the palm of your hand.

Offer these foods 4 6 times per day. At about three to four weeks old they can be offered milk replacer from a bowl and then small amounts of moistened kitten food four to six times a. Stack clean towels to line it. This will help transfer the smell of the mother s own litter to your newborn kitten.

Newborn kittens should get all of their nutrition from their mother. If the mother cat returns. A queen the cat is more likely to reject the kitten if it smells totally unfamiliar so by disguising your kitten s scent you re increasing the chance the queen will accept her. They rely on mom for everything.

Chilling is one of the most critical dangers to newborn kittens. Learn more about newborn kittens in our kitten guide. These antibodies last for six weeks or more. The first milk produced called colostrum is rich in antibodies and will help protect kittens against diseases.

When the kittens are 6 12 weeks old decrease the amount of formula that you offer them and begin to give them dry kitten food. The kittens at 1 week old.