Can a newborn kitten drink regular milk?
This article will answer the question “Can a newborn kitten drink regular milk?”, and how to feed a kitten?
Can a newborn kitten drink regular milk?
No, a newborn kitten should not be fed regular milk. Kittens only survive on their mother’s milk or kitten milk formula. Feeding cow milk to the kitten will result in diarrhea, dehydration, and death.
Even if the kitten survives, nutritional deficiencies are common. If the mother isn’t around or If it has abandoned the poor kitten, you can rely on the kitten milk replacer.
Contact your vet to choose which type of kitten milk to use. Prefer buying a powdered kitten formula instead of its liquid canned counterpart to avoid diarrhea.
How to feed a newborn kitten?
Find a nursing feline mother
Rather than feeding the kitten on the milk replacer, it is urged to look for a feline nursing mother that can adopt the poor kitten.
Always watch out for rejection from the queen or mother cat. She can reject or even murder the strange-smelling kitten.
To dodge rejection, rub the abandoned kitten with the kitten of the queen mother. This will help conceal the foreign smell of your kitten.
Get milk
Buy a good kitten milk replacer after consulting with your vet. Follow the instructions on the package of the milk to make the kitten formula milk.
Note: The canned ‘Cat milk’ is meant to be fed to your kitten.
Construct a plan B
Construct a plan B If you have to urgently feed the kitten.
- Boil some water. When it cools, feed it to your kitten to replenish hydration.
- If the kitten looks hungry, stir 1 tsp glucose powder in 1 cup of boiled water. Feed this solution to your kitten when it cools. This is a one-time solution only.
- Another solution for a hungry kitten is rice water. Drain the water that remains after cooking white rice. Use this starchy water to redeem the kitten’s energy.
Make a schedule
Make a feeding schedule for your kitten. The kitten needs utmost attention until it starts on the solid food. The tiny stomach of the kitten demands it to be fed frequently throughout the day and the night.
Learn about the weaning process
A kitten is ready to wean after 4 weeks. To promote the weaning process, you can keep solid food around the kitten. Never force it on the kitten. The kitten should nibble on the solid food out of its own interest.
Soak the solid food in some milk formula or water to ease digestion and attract the kitten. Gradually cut down on formula milk while increasing the portion of solid food during weaning.
6-8 week old kitten requires 6-8 meals a day to fulfill its nutritional and energy requirements. A 9-month-old kitten can survive on 3 meals while an adult cat only needs 2 meals per day.
Feeding the kitten
Preferably use a bottle and teat set like Catac bottle and teat set, specifically designed for kittens. If you do not have the facility of a bottle and teat set, a syringe will also do.
Sterilize the equipment
Sterilizing is not the same as washing the equipment. For sterilizing the feeding equipment, you can use a steam sterilizer or dip the tools in a dilution of Milton sterilizing fluid in a bowl.
This fluid can be purchased from the baby aisle of any drug store. Before feeding the kitten, give it a rinse with boiled water to get rid of the residual sterilizing solution.
Make and heat the milk
The prepared milk should be at body temperature. Too hot milk will scald your kitten’s mouth. Make fresh milk for each feeding session to avoid bacterial contamination.
Check your kittens’ body temperature
Ideally, your kitten should be 96–100 °F warm for the first three weeks. Use a heating pad underneath a well-insulated nest or a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel to maintain your kitten at this temperature. The temperature of the kitten affects the digestion of milk.
Feed the kitten
Place a towel on your lap, and snuggle in the kitten. The stomach of the kitten should be resting, head straight, and feet down. Do not rush and feed slowly to prevent the kitten from inhaling milk.
Feed the correct amount
| 1-3 days | 2.5 milliliters (0.08 fl oz) of KMR every two hours |
| 4-7 days | 5 milliliters (0.17 fl oz) of KMR 10 to 12 feeds a day |
| 6-10 days | 5 to 7.5 milliliters (0.17 to 0.25 fl oz) KMR 10 feeds a day |
| 11-14 days | 10 to 12.5 milliliters (0.34 to 0.42 fl oz) KMR every three hours |
Other FAQs about Milk which you may be interested in.
What happens when adding milk to scrambled eggs?
What happens when adding milk to soup?
How long does it take to produce milk?
Conclusion
This article answered the question “Can a newborn kitten drink regular milk?”, and how to feed a kitten?
References
https://www.wikihow.com/Feed-a-Newborn-Kitten
https://pets.webmd.com/cats/guide/newborn-kitten-care#1
