Help: What to feed a one month old kitten
Bill Leachman
Can anyone recommend what to feed a one month old kitten. Its wild mother
no longer seems willing to take care of it and we're not sure what would
be the best course of action.
Many Thanks, \
Bill
duns...@airmail.net
Best advice: take the kitten in for a checkup. Momma may be ill and could
have passed it on to the kittens. The vet will recommend a good feeding
procedure.
Next best advice: If this were an orphan kitten, this would be the time to
start the weaning process from formula to kitten food. My personal
experience was the following at this stage: I warmed up some soft kitten
food and pour some warmed formula over all. The kitten drank the formula
and started chowing down on the solid food. The food must be warmed as
kittens get tummy aches with refrigerator-chilled formula and soft food.
But not too warm. This should last about 2-3 weeks. After the kitten has
been weaned off formula, introduce some dry food into the soft food and
increase the dry while you decrease the soft. This should take about 2-3
weeks. Be sure to use a good quality kitten food until it is a year old -
kittens need the extra protein and fat provided in the kitten food.
Best of luck.
Gail
In article <51ifbl$s...@kronos.crosslink.net>, Bill Leachman
MM
In article <dunsons8-160...@dal42-18.ppp.iadfw.net>,
duns...@airmail.net wrote:
> Best advice: take the kitten in for a checkup. Momma may be ill and could
> have passed it on to the kittens. The vet will recommend a good feeding
> procedure.
>
> Next best advice: If this were an orphan kitten, this would be the time to
> start the weaning process from formula to kitten food. My personal
> experience was the following at this stage: I warmed up some soft kitten
> food and pour some warmed formula over all. The kitten drank the formula
> and started chowing down on the solid food. The food must be warmed as
> kittens get tummy aches with refrigerator-chilled formula and soft food.
> But not too warm. This should last about 2-3 weeks. After the kitten has
> been weaned off formula, introduce some dry food into the soft food and
> increase the dry while you decrease the soft. This should take about 2-3
> weeks. Be sure to use a good quality kitten food until it is a year old -
> kittens need the extra protein and fat provided in the kitten food.
>
> Best of luck.
>
> Gail
My 2¢
The baby may not be weaned at all. If she can't lap liquid formula (I
recommend the really good kind you get at the petstore or vet--and I've
been through this with a 3-week old refugee), feed her with a syringe
(also available at the vet.) Warm the formula, draw some into a large
plastic syringe, cuddle kitty and place the "nipple" of the syringe in her
mouth. Coax a few drops out at a time and be patient. Eventually she will
learn to suck on the syringe. Nurse her every 3 hours or so. (Check with
the vet).
If she's ready for soft food, I second the suggestion that you need the
good stuff.
And if she's really tiny, you may have to help her eliminate waste. If you
do (it's easy), email me for how-tos.
My baby was 3 weeks old and barely alive when I brought him home. After a
month of bottle-feeding and coddling, he came out fine. And now he's 14
mos and HUGE!
Love that baby
mm
Leslie A. Wasson
Bill Leachman (Leac...@crosslink.net) wrote:
: Can anyone recommend what to feed a one month old kitten. Its wild mother
: no longer seems willing to take care of it and we're not sure what would
: be the best course of action.
: Many Thanks, \
: Bill
Four weeks is about right to begin weaning. Small bowls of kitten food,
moistened with warm water, placed on the floor, should work. The kittens
will find them on their own usually, or you can place them nearby.
Usually once they get their little noses into it, they're sold! If they
don't seem to get the picture, a phone call to a vet might be good policy,
just in case. There is cat formula available if they're not quite ready
for solids.