What Milk To Feed Orphaned Kittens

Commercially prepared kitten milk formulas are readily available and are nutritionally balanced to meet the needs of orphan kittens.

What milk to feed orphaned kittens. Under normal circumstances this is not a problem because they are cared for and fed by their mothers. 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. 5 kittens found on street april 12th they were about 10 days old i feed them every 6 hours. If there is a foster mother available her kittens should be no more than 14 days older than the orphaned kitten.

However if the mother is unable to nurse the kitten a foster mother is the second best choice. These are not perfectly balanced nutritionally but will suffice for several days until commercial formulas can be obtained. Prepare to feed the kittens. Start by offering a small amount.

These replacement formulas are closer to that of a mother cat s milk. On average the total fluid volume fed per day including milk replacers should be approximately 180ml kg of kitten body weight. There are kitten milk replacement products available that are much better such as just born kitten replacement formula available from petco and other places. Queen s milk is highly digestible and very calorie dense.

Sterilize the bottle and nipple in boiling water then let them cool completely on a clean towel. What to feed orphan kittens don t use cow s milk to feed newborn kittens. Homemade milk formula recipes are also available. Kitten positioning for feeding is very important.

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. There are 5 cc s in a teaspoon you will need to feed every couple of hours at first and gradually build up time between feedings as they begin to eat more at each meal. Mix up the milk replacement formula using a little whisk to get the lumps out. One position is simply to place the kitten on its stomach on a towel or cloth on which it can cling.

When kittens are born they are tiny and helpless. This is where the crucial surrogate mom bonding happens. Kittens are most comfortable in a position like the position they d be in if they were nursing from a mom cat. Kmr is a well known kitten milk replacer.

At the first few feedings the kittens will probably only consume a few cc s worth of milk. Different people have different styles of bottle feeding. You should warm the milk up to 95 100 degrees before feeding it to the kittens.