This post is written primarily for anyone who needs to know how to hand rear a young orphan kitten.

For the rest of us, this information could well prove useful at some point in the future.

If you have recently found an abandoned kitten, please go to your local Veterinarian as soon as possible.  Amongst other things, the kitten could be injured, or dehydrated, or be suffering from a congenital abnormality (that caused it to be abandoned by its mother in the first place).

The information contained in this post was dictated to me by a Veterinary Nurse, she works at a Cat Hospital near Cork, Ireland (further details at end of post).  She has hand reared many young kittens, some of whom are have now reached a ripe old age

FEEDING

The frequency of feeds and amount of milk supplement to give the kitten will depend on its age.

The links to You Tube videos in this post show kittens of various ages, so if you are in any doubt, these videos will give you a good idea as to the age of the kitten you are dealing with.

One day old kittens

If the kitten’s eyes are still closed and it is small enough to fit into palm of your hand, it will be generally be under 10 days old.

One week old kitten

This is a good video illustration of a one week old kitten, but it is also an example of how NOT to feed a kitten (see ‘How to feed a kitten’ below, for an  illustration of the correct feeding position)

All young kittens’ eyes are blue. So, if the kitten’s eyes are any other color you have a small cat on your hands.

If the kitten is younger than 10 days old it will need hourly feeds 24 hours a day, of about half to 1 mil of milk supplement. Don’t give more than this amount as this will be likely to cause problems.

Ten days old kittens

From ten days old you can increase the amount to 1 – 2 mils at each feed, every 2 hours 24 hours a day.

Two weeks old kittens

Continue feeding as above.

From about 2 weeks of age, for one of the day’s feeds, give the kitten just cooled boiled water.

Three weeks old kittens

From 3 weeks old you can increase the feeds to 2 – 3 mils every 3 hours 24 hours a day.

Four weeks old kittens

From 4 weeks upwards you can increase the feeds to 5 mils six times a day.

All milk or water should be given at body temperature. Test its temperature by putting some of the warmed liquid onto the inside of your own wrist, before giving it to the kitten.

As a general rule, if the kitten cries a lot it wants feeding.

TOILETING

Important

Kittens from birth and up until  3 weeks of age, don’t know how to eliminate their waste products by themselves. So in order to stimulate the kitten to urinate or defecate, you have to mimic what the mother would do.  To do this; get a damp piece of tissue or toilet paper and rub this gently over the kitten’s genital area.  Do this before each feed.  Be very careful and don’t rub too much or too hard, but keep going until the kitten starts to urinate or defecate - continue what you are doing for a couple of seconds until elimination is complete.

ELIMINATING/ FEEDING/ CLEANING

Until the kitten is old enough to clean itself and eliminate by itself, follow this 3 step procedure at each feed:

1) Eliminate – as above

2) Feed – as above

3) Clean Face -  use a soft damp tissue or toilet paper to gently clean the kittens  face.

KEEPING THE KITTEN WARM AND COMFORTABLE

Kittens from birth up until approximately 2 weeks old can’t regulate their own body heat, so they need to be kept warm. A good way to do this is to cover a hot water with a towel, as this provides a soft gentle heat.  In order to check that the bottle isn’t too hot, test with your hand where the kitten will be lying. Make the towel into a snug little nest.

EYES

If the kitten’s eyes are closed do not force the eyes open, as they are closed for a reason and opening them could damage the kitten’s eyeballs.  Especially, for example, if it has Cat Flu. If you are in any doubt at all consult your Veterinarian.

HANDLING

Only one person, acting as a replacement mother, should take on the responsibility of the handling and rearing of the kitten. The kitten will be able to feel safe and secure with this one person’s familiar scent. Kittens rely solely on their sense of smell up until they are about a week to 10 days old, when their hearing develops (their sight develops around the same time).

WHAT TO FEED THE KITTEN

The best thing to feed the kitten is Cats Milk Substitute and this can be bought at a pet shop or Veterinarian’s.  If you have found an orphan kitten and can’t obtain the milk substitute immediately, feed the kitten a little glucose in warm water as a temporary measure. Don’t give a very young kitten cow’s milk, as this can give it diarrhea (which can prove fatal) and don’t give it Kitten Milk, as this is for older kittens.

HOW TO FEED A KITTEN

How to bottle feed a kitten

This video shows how to correctly bottle feed a kitten.

Use a Kitten or Puppy Bottle which can be bought in a pet shop.  Sometimes its necessary to put a hole into the teat of the bottle. If you have to do this, make sure the hole is not too big, or you will drown the kitten.

Alternatively you can use a 2ml syringe.

When feeding the kitten, lay it down on its belly at a slight angle, with its head up and tail down, imagine its up against its mother (not like a human baby). When you put the teat into the kitten’s mouth, put it into the center of its mouth and aim up to the roof of the mouth. This will allow the kitten to use its natural sucking reflex. Don’t be tempted to squeeze the bottle if you feel the kitten is not drinking quickly enough, or you will drown the kitten (the feed will go into its lungs).

Golden Rule - if milk is coming out of the kitten’s nose, stop immediately. This means that the feed is going down into its lungs. You could be giving the feed too quickly, or it could indicate that the kitten has a cleft palate (see your Veterinarian).

WHAT TO DO IF YOU SEE THE KITTEN BEING REJECTED BY ITS MOTHER

If you have seen a kitten being born and the mother rejecting it, then the kitten hasn’t had a chance to drink from the mother and so will not have been able to obtain the Colostrum found in her milk. Colostrum is produced in the mother’s milk during the first three days after the kitten has been born.  The kitten needs this substance to build its immune system and be adequately prepared for life. If it hasn’t been able to feed from the mother for those first few days, it will suffer from a compromised immune system for the rest of its life and it will always be a sick cat.  This rejection could happen for a number of reasons; the mother could be too young and can’t cope, or there could be something wrong with the kitten and the mother doesn’t want to waste her energy on it.

In this case give a little Milk Substitute to the kitten and keep trying to put the kitten back on the mother’s teat.  The kitten could have a cleft palette or there might be something internally wrong. or the kitten could be premature or under developed (see the Veterinarian).

TYPES OF FEED

The best food to give the kitten is Royal Canin Baby Milk for cats and this you can buy in a pet shop. Or Vita Milk which is the Veterinary version - its the same milk with two different names.

The next best choice is Cimicat.

Lactol is adequate but not so good.

Don’t be tempted to give Human Baby Milk as its a completely different formula and won’t contain enough proteins and minerals to nourish the kitten.  It is also likely to give the kitten diarrhea.

AVOID GIVING ANYTHING THAT WILL GIVE THE KITTEN DIARRHEA, OR IT COULD BE DEAD WITHIN 8 HOURS.

FEEDING FROM A SAUCER

At 3 weeks of age, when the kitten has just starting to explore and stumble around, you can start putting down a small saucer, with a little of the Milk Substitute in it. Stimulate the kitten to go to the milk, by putting the teat of the bottle near the kitten’s mouth and as it is about to feed, lowering the teat down to the saucer. Alternatively, you can dip your finger into the milk, put it to kittens mouth and then lower your finger to the saucer, so it gets the idea where the milk is.

INTRODUCING SOLID FOOD

At 4 weeks old you can start to introduce solid food – the kitten will be walking around (stumbling a bit) at this stage and its ears will be perked up, its teeth will have just come through. The best thing to start feeding it with, is a little bit of cooked chicken (wonder food for both young and old).  At 4 weeks you can start feeding the kitten human baby food, as long as it doesn’t contain garlic and onions. The baby food must contain meat as cats are carnivores, but a small amount of vegetables is alright.  For a 4 week old kitten 1 teaspoonful of food is a big meal.

Even though you have started giving the kitten solid food, continue to give it Milk Substitute as well, up to 6 weeks of age. You can leave a bit near the food.  Cats don’t like mixing their food and milk and don’t like eating out of bowls - they don’t like their whiskers touching sides.

LITTER TRAYS

Introduce a litter tray from about 4 weeks of age, use a low pan (litter tray) with a clumping litter. Don’t use either wood chip, peat moss or sand, as if the kitten tries to eat this type of litter (which they often do) this could result in it suffering from an internal blockage.

To get the kitten to use the tray, simply pick it up and put it into the litter tray, it will know what to do as this is an instinctive response.  However, if the kitten doesn’t seem to know what to do, hold one of its paws and make a pawing motion in the dirt with it. Alternatively, if the kitten has peed or poohed somewhere, put that pee or pooh into the litter tray.  Always keep the tray where the kitten can see it and keep it in the same room as the kitten – the next room is too far away.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Kittens learn how to deal with things from 5 – 7 weeks of age, so don’t be afraid of having noise going on around the kitten - vacuum,  dog etc as it will have to get used to these things.

From 4 – 5 weeks of age you could give Canin Dried Baby (pet shop) or Canin Weaning (Veterinarian).  This is a tiny biscuit specially formulated for a baby kitten up to 12 weeks of age.

You can give the kitten Royal Canin Growth from about 9 weeks onwards till its about 6 months old.

When it has been spayed, put the young cat on to adult biscuits.

The kitten can be re homed at 8 weeks of age.

The  Veterinary Nurse who supplied this information works at The Cat Hospital, Glanmire. County Cork, Ireland. Where she runs a Free Nurses Clinic and will give a health check to your kitten and advice on any of your cat questions.

Queries  021 4824601

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