How to feed a kitten was my first question when I got my Lucy! Since you are reading this, that means you got your first kitten, Congratulations! You probably thought by now, “how hard could it be”?! Yet I want to tell you that it’s not as simple as you think it is.
In fact, feeding a kitten isn’t any different from providing a baby. It takes a lot of time and effort to know what food to choose, depending on what age your cat’s in, what it prefers, and whether it’s a weaned or unweaned kitten.
All this so that you could provide your kitten with the needed nutrition and see it in good shape! So without any further delays, let’s start answering the question by talking about how to feed an already wean kitten.
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How To Feed A Kitten That Is Weaned?
Weaned and unweaned kittens aren’t the same when it comes to feeding them, so in order to answer the question, how to feed a kitten that is weaned, we need to understand that a weaned kitten means that she’s already gone from the phase of drinking mother’s milk to the phase of eating solid food.
And it’s usually easier to deal with these kittens. First, you may start with dry food and adding some water to it to make it a little bit soft.
We’ll continue this way until she’s 5-6 months old, then we could start with canned food, with a little bit of kitten chow, and when she’s 6-8 months old, adult canned, dry food is the best choice.
How To Feed An Unweaned Kitten?
Well, in that case, you’ll have to make more efforts, my friend, because you want to make up for all the things your kitten’s mother would have done.
The first thing is consulting the vet to let you know what the kitten needs and what she doesn’t. You have to feed her with a particular kitten formula for the first three weeks and every 2-3 hours at intervals.
After three weeks, you will decrease the frequency and feed her every 6 hours, and you have to start the weaning process after eight weeks and then begin providing it with soaked dry food. It’s also essential to choose a kitten food with high quality by consulting your vet.
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How Often To Feed Your Kitten?
Whereas it is possible to feed an adult cat once or twice a day, a kitten needs to be fed about 4-5 times a day. This is because of the need for calories that a kitten needs.
Your kitten will not be able to eat enough in just one sitting, and if they do, they are likely to suffer from “scarf and barf,” where a cat consumes too much food too soon and tries to throw that food up.
Tips To Make Feeding Your Kitten Easier
- Feed The Kitten By Using An Eyedropper Or A Syringe
Using an eyedropper or a syringe to feed a kitten is highly recommended because the tiny nursing bottles that we get from vet clinics are too large that the kitten can’t get around the nipples with their mouths.
So, feeding your kitten using this method has proven to be very helpful, especially if you start using 3 cc scale and gradually going with larger ones.
But be careful to give just a few drops at a time, whether you’re feeding with an eyedropper or a syringe, as many veterinarians advised that the kitten could inhale the formula if she were given too much formula at once (more than they could swallow). This can make your kitten more vulnerable to pneumonia by inhaling formula.
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Another important thing about how to feed a kitten well is to feed her as much as she wants, so she will calm down and sleep before the next meal.
A tiny kitten will start taking around 1 cc at a time. As she gets larger, about 12 ccs will be consumed at a time.
In fact, kittens learn that food comes from the syringe that you keep n your palm. If you have trouble getting them to take the syringe formula, let them nuzzle for a few seconds in the palm of your hand or let them suck on your fingertips. Then bring the syringe in and let them suck on it as you press down the plunger very slowly.
- Use The Powdered Kitten Formula Or The Formula You’ve Mixed By Yourself
The Powdered kitten milk replacer is available in either a premixed or dry form at most vet clinics to provide all of the nutrients your cat needs; it is specially made for kittens.
Follow the instructions on the label. For instance, body weight determines the amount to be fed. There is no doubt that the question, how to feed a kitten is a tricky one that needs a lot of understanding of the nature of kittens and their needs, but once that is done, you’re all good to go!
Final Thoughts On Feeding Kittens!
Taking care of your little kitten can be a challenge for you, especially if you are working a full-time job. However, your kitten is your baby and a family member that needs your special care.
However, feeding your kitten will be the best “task” you have every day; when I got my kitten, I had no idea what to do next! However, after I learned how to feed a kitten, everything started to be easier for me and more ” FUN.”
Finally, I hope you found this article useful and informative about how to feed a kitten. Let me know your answer down below. Do you have more information about this topic?
Also, If you have any other questions or different opinions about it, leave a comment below.
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Hello! First, I want to thank you for this amazing post! I just got my kitten and I sure learned a lot from this post. Feeding a kitten can be tricky and hard but once you do it as mentioned in this post it will easier. However, make sure to make a fun Task to not let it annoy you! This article on how to feed a kitten is a treasure! Thank you again!