Kitten Food & Hand Rearing Kittens

Knowing what kitten food to feed your orphan kitten can be quite a worry, especially as they may not have received the benefit of their mothers first milk which contains essential antibodies to help fight illness.

It can be quite a daunting task to take on the responsibilities of keeping your kittens healthy and so I will try and provide as much information here as possible without too much of the science. However it is important that you know a little about the nutritional requirements of newborn kittens and the composition of a queen's milk.

Nutritional requirements and the queens milk

The queen's milk is designed to change in composition to aid the different development stages of a growing kitten and trying to replicate those changes can be a fine balance.

The mothers' milk contains colostrium for the first 12 to 24 hours. This contains the antibodies the kittens need for protection against illness. It is also lower in protein, fat, lactose and is higher in moisture than normal cows milk.

No artificial kitten food milk can be formulated to exactly duplicate the queen's milk and so if you do have a kitten that has been orphaned from birth they will require a lot of extra care to prevent illness.

picture by Shioshvili on flickr

A kittens intestines when first born are not fully developed and cannot digest some foods. Over supply of some nutrients can therefore cause diarrhea and lead to dehydration which can lead to death.

If you do have to hand rear your kittens then you will have to take on the feeding schedule and provide the best kitten food to ensure they thrive into healthy cats.

Commercially bought kitten food when hand rearing

Whole cows milk is not suitable for kittens, it does not contain enough of the vital fats and protein levels required to promote proper growth and for the new born kitten will cause diarrhea as it will not be able to digest the lactose in the milk.

There are several cat milk replacements that are available to buy and are the best kitten food to use if you can get it for your kittens. It is specially developed to contain enough extra moisture and the level of solids similar to that of natural cats milk.

Using the powder version of kitten milk is less wasteful but there can be problems blending it to ensure that it not lumpy and unable to pass through feeding nipples. Here are some tips to try and prevent this:

• Add powder to water
• Sprinkle a little at a time mixing as you go
• Use cold water to mix and warm it to feed
• Use a blender if available
• For newborns add extra water for the first two days to make the solution thinner, as moisture is very important during these first days.

Home made milk substitutes for kitten food

If you can not easily buy formulated kitten milk then your only alternative is to try and make your own suitable kitten food milk yourself. The golden rule for newborns is that you need to add one third to one forth extra moisture to your mixes for the first few days.

Homemade substitutes are:

1. Two thirds of a cup of whole cows milk with one third non-fat dry milk powder and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
2. Two thirds of a cup of whole milk with half a cup 18% coffee cream
3. 1 cup whole milk with quarter of a cup 30% whipping cream
4. 1 cup evaporated whole milk (never condensed milk) with half a cup of water

Remember if you can buy commercial kitten food that is far the better solution for your kittens' nutritional requirements.

Feeding schedule & Amounts

Kittens will feed from their mother 10 to 20 times a day, only taking a little each time. This is not practical when hand rearing kittens, so you will have to set up a schedule for feeding that doesn't allow the kittens to go hungry but will ensure they receive enough to enable them to thrive.

For normal healthy kittens feeding every 6 hours is sufficient. If the kittens are a little weaker then reduce this time to every four hours.

Bottle-feeding amounts:

Allow the kitten to take as much of the bottle as they want. They should be consuming at least 3 to 4 ml for every ounce of their body weight.

Tube feeding amounts:

Feed 8 to 10 ml for every 4 ounces of the kittens' body weight. This should be done slowly so as not to over feed or cause inhalation of the milk.

Feeding tools

The easiest way to feed a kitten is to use a commercially bought kitten feeding bottle with a rubber nipple attached at the top. It is important to note that the rubber nipples supplied for human babies are far too large and are the wrong shape for the mouths of kittens. Special kitten sized ones can be bought from pet stores and vet surgeries.

It is important that the correct nipple is obtained, as it will help stimulate the kitten into feeding. They usually require a long thin nipple that can reach far back into their mouths.

If you have a kitten that finds it difficult to suckle then the other way of feeding is via a tube that is passed directly into the kittens' stomach. You will need to buy a stomach tube that is known as a size 8 French, 15 inches in length (6 French for very small premature kittens).

These specially designed stomach tubes will be available from your vet surgeries. They have a fitting on one end that is designed for a syringe to be attached to it, so that the correct amount of kitten food can be administered.

Never use an eyedropper as a feeding tool unless it is an emergency. They are not very efficient tools for feeding and the kitten cannot suckle on it. It may also allow too much fluid to enter the mouth causing the kitten to choke.

picture by Mitch2742 on flickr

How to feed orphan kittens

It is important to feed your kittens correctly as not doing it correctly can harm the kittens. The main concern is Pneumonia caused when fluid enters the lungs.

Bottle-feeding

• Warm the bottle with the formula by placing in a cup of hot water for a few minutes.

• Test the milk on your wrist, it should be very warm but not hot. (Kittens prefer warmer milk than human babies)

• Hold the kitten so they are on their fronts and so have to extend their heads to get the milk. This is the natural position.

• Make sure the kitten is warm while feeding; hold them close to you or to a warm blanket.

• Squeeze a little milk out so that the nipple is wet

• Place the nipple into the kittens' mouth and push to the back of the mouth, as this will encourage the kitten to suckle.

• Move the nipple in and out slightly; this will also encourage them to suckle.

• Make sure that air is entering the bottle when the kitten sucks, this will prevent a vacuum that prevents the kitten being able to suck the milk out.

• Make sure that milk is not running out of the kittens mouth, if this happens it means the hole in the nipple is too large and there is a danger of the kitten breathing in the fluid.

Stomach Tubes

It is important that the stomach tube is not accidentaly placed into the Kittens trachea instead of the oesophagus. This is why it is important to use the correct equipment and are shown how to insert the tube by the vet before you attempt to do it yourself.

You should also attempt the procedure in front of the vet to make sure that you are placing the tube correctly. The tube should go down the throat easily and does not require any force.

Mark the tube with a pen at the point just in front of the kittens nose when correctly inserted so that you know in future when it is correctly placed.

Weigh the kitten and work out how much formula they need and draw up the correct amount into the syringe. Place the tube into the kittens' stomach and then empty the contents of the syringe.

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