Newborn Kittens Care

Brushing her coat and trimming her claws are two important elements of newborn kitten care and the sooner you start routine cat maintenance the easier it is for both of you.

Newborn kittens care. So until then they will be very reliant on their mother or you as their human caretaker for sight and sound. Newborn kittens should get all of their nutrition from their mother. Like a human baby a newborn kitten will need to be fed frequently approximately every two to three hours. At 6 12 weeks old start giving them dry.

Provide blankets a heat lamp or a heating pad to ensure the kittens stay warm. If you are committed to helping the newborn kittens and become their surrogate mother then you will need to provide a safe warm home for them. Food and nutrition for a newborn kitten newborn kittens do not have any teeth and get all of their food and nutrition from cat milk. Chilling is one of the most critical dangers to newborn kittens.

As a rule of thumb for every ounce of kitten body weight he or she needs 8 ccs of formula. You will also want to check the feeding guidelines on your particular brand of milk. To assist you in your kitten care you can picture the correct amount if you know one teaspoon is just about 5 cc. If the kittens are 1 2 weeks old bottle feed them with milk replacer formula every 1 2 hours.

At 3 4 weeks old provide formula and water softened kitten kibble 4 6 times daily. A two week old kitten can be fed every four to six hours. On the first week of the newborn kittens life they should be fed every two to three hours. Regular brushing or combing removes excess hair thus reducing hairballs and keeps her coat clean and shiny while nail clipping lessens her chances of a claw snag.

If the mother cat is not around you ll need to prepare and feed them yourself. The first milk produced called colostrum is rich in antibodies and will help protect kittens against diseases. Newborn kittens may nurse about every 1 2 hours. These antibodies last for six weeks or more.

This will continue until they gradually transition to solid foods when they are around four weeks old weaning. Use a large enough box to comfortably hold the mother cat and her kittens. To care for newborn kittens when the mother cat is still present feed the mother to keep her strength up but leave the kittens alone for the first week to ensure the mother doesn t reject them. If you are using a brand new bottle cut a small hole in the nipple using small and sharp scissors.

You can use a box or small crate with plenty of dry clean bedding. So a kitten weighing 3 ounces will need about 24 ounces of milk replacement every 24 hours. Make sure you change the bedding frequently so it doesn t get too soiled. The first few days after giving birth the mother cat will produce a very special kind of milk for the kittens called colostrum.