When to start feeding kittens and how?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Newborn kittens require special feeding. It is provided by the mother cat. And up to a certain age, the kids themselves cope with this task.

Kittens grow up, they need complementary foods. Mother's milk is not enough. When to start feeding kittens and how, we will tell in the article.

Help the cat

The pet pleased the owners. Squeaky lumps appeared. If the cat has given birth for the first time, the litter should not be too large. 3 to 6 toddlers are ideal.

Mother is able to feed a given number of kittens normally. If there are more of them, you will have to introduce complementary foods for kittens, or, more correctly, top dressing.

For these purposes, you can buy a substitute for cat's milk. It is sold in good pet stores. It is not cheap, we will warn you right away.

You can make a substitute yourself. It is different from the purchased one, of course. But time-tested and not just one cat person.

1. Take a liter of milk.
2. Add two yolks to it.
3. Here goes a teaspoon of sugar.
4. Mix everything.
5. Feed the kitten warm formula.

How many times to feed newborns

This is a very difficult stage. The first week you will have to feed the baby constantly: every two hours during the day.

It will get easier in the second week. You can lengthen the breaks in night feedings by 0.5 hours.

Introducing complementary foods

If the cat feeds the children herself, the complementary feeding scheme will be different. The baby begins to open its eyes about two weeks after birth. It's time to start feeding the kittens for the first time.

On the Internet they say that it should be administered at 3-4 weeks of age. This is not true. Kittens grow, require more food. But mother's milk doesn't get any better. Kittens need extra vitamins for active growth.

Where to start? As already mentioned, babies are fed from 14 days of age. It all starts with milk. It can be made according to the above recipe.

The milk should be a little warm. We dip a finger in it, draw it over the kitten's lips. He will start fussing, licking his lips. As soon as I realized that there was milk on my lips, we give him a finger. Our task is to make the baby lick it. And gradually lower your finger into a saucer of milk. We carefully make sure that the baby does not choke by lowering the muzzle into it.

The saucer should be shallow, with low edges, so that the baby is comfortable. Two weeks old is approximate. The fact is that at this time the eyes of the kids open. More precisely, they should already be completely open. That's when they start feeding the kitten.

Thirdweek

Another week passes. The baby is already 21 days old. It's time to start thinking about feeding kittens with meat.

It used to be that crumbs should be given minced meat and porridge in meat broth. Now the position is different. Kitten feeding begins with baby food. Of course, it must be meat or meat and vegetables.

Heating food a little. We take a teaspoon. We need half a spoonful of nutrition. We bring the kitten to the nose. The baby begins to actively sniff, fussing and trying to lick the treat. If there is no last attempt, then we take a little puree on the tip of your finger. And we pass them on the lips of a kitten. Someone recommends rubbing a treat across the sky, but on the lips - more familiar and calmer. The sky can also be damaged.

Strictly observe the rule: one day - one new dish. Do not give the kitten immediately porridge, meat puree and cottage cheese. Feed mashed potatoes on Monday. On Tuesday, cook porridge, and on Wednesday, give cottage cheese.

Cooking porridge

When kittens are given complementary foods, we found out. Now let's find out what kind of porridge they can eat.

First of all, it should be very liquid. You can cook with milk. Meat broths should not be used, this is too fatty a product for a three-week-old kitten. Let's start with the manga. We cook it in milk without s alt and sugar. Cool down, give to the baby. It is necessary to offer according to the same principle as meat puree. Volume - half a teaspoon.

Introducing cottage cheese

Another useful product for feeding a kitten. They make it on their own. We take curdled milk or kefir. The fatter these products are,the more high-quality cottage cheese is obtained.

Pour into a saucepan, heat over low heat. We do not touch the first 5 minutes. Then we take a spoon or slotted spoon, stir the product. It should not stick to the bottom of the pan.

When the curd begins to separate, sinking to the bottom, almost ready. It should float in a greenish serum. If the serum is this color, turn off the fire.

Next, take gauze folded in several layers. We throw cottage cheese on it. Gauze is placed in a colander so that the whey from the curd is glass. Then we hang a gauze knot and leave to ripen for 12 hours.

This curd is suitable not only for feeding a kitten. You can eat it yourself.

Nutrition up to one month of age

All of the above are given to a kitten until they reach the age of one month. Then introduce new foods into the diet.

Chicken yolk start to give from 21 days. Just do it very carefully. They start with a grain, in the literal sense of the word. If the baby reacted normally to the product, give a little more. And they closely monitor the reaction of the crumbs to the innovation.

From one to three months

Complementary feeding of a kitten begins at the age of two weeks. This is what we found out. We know when and how to introduce meat, porridge and cottage cheese into the diet.

After the pet is 30 days old, gradually expand its menu.

In addition to semolina, they begin to feed the baby with rice, buckwheat and oatmeal. Boil it in milk or water.

Instead of baby food, they give minced chicken or beef. Start feeding the kittenvegetables. They are boiled, mashed, add a little vegetable oil. Can be mixed with minced meat to make your pet more willing to start tasting.

During this period, they begin to give cheese. In very small quantities and no more than twice a week. It should be noted that not every kitten will like it. Some cats don't eat cheese all their lives.

From the age of two months, the pet is given meat. Choose lean varieties: chicken, turkey or beef. How to give: raw or boiled? There is active debate on this issue. Others say that you can give raw meat. It is pre-frozen very well. If you are going to offer your pet, they defrost and scald with boiling water. Then finely chopped.

Someone leans towards the boiled product. The meat is boiled well, cooled and cut into small cubes.

Boiled meat is not as he althy, but safer for feeding a kitten.

Three months and older

The ration is expanding again. Now the baby is given offal, but only in boiled form, of course. It is permissible for a growing baby and a fish. Strictly sea, boiled, boneless.

According to some reports, a kitten can be given cream. We kindly ask you not to do this. This is too oily. The baby's stomach can't handle it. Diarrhea is guaranteed for a kitten if you give him cream to drink.

Kefir is another matter. You can add half a teaspoon of sugar to it and treat the kitten. The baby will appreciate this drink.

Starting at three months of age, remove milkfrom the pet's diet. It is replaced with kefir or natural yogurt.

How many times to feed

We figured out the feeding of a kitten. Finally, let's talk about the number of feedings.

Monthly kittens are fed 6 times a day. When the baby is two months old, he is transferred to 5 meals a day. This continues until four months of age. After the pet should receive food four times a day.

Conclusion

We talked in detail about feeding kittens, at what age and how to feed them. This is a responsible matter, but it cannot be called difficult. Rather, it is a very painstaking process - accustoming the baby to new products.