How To Take Care Of Newborn Kittens And Mother

But you can still help by providing food and shelter for the mother cat.

How to take care of newborn kittens and mother. Use a large enough box to comfortably hold the mother cat and her kittens. Stack clean towels to line it. During the time a mother cat is pregnant until a month after she s done nursing feed her a high quality kitten food. When your kitten is around 6 or 7 weeks of age you can switch her to a dry diet.

4 to give the baby cat milk you can use a baby bottle a syringe or a dropper. Provide food for the mother cat if she is still around. Begin by offering formula in a shallow bowl that s easy for her to drink from. You should place the food and water near the mother and kittens.

Chilling is one of the most critical dangers to newborn kittens. When you feed the kitten hold it horizontally with the belly facing downwards and the head tilted slightly upwards. At about three to four weeks old they can be offered milk replacer from a bowl and then small amounts of moistened kitten food four to six times a. Provide blankets a heat lamp or a heating pad to ensure the kittens stay warm.

The mom is the best suited to care for them so leave them with her unless you re able to take the whole family in and care for them if the mom does not return within an hour or two it is time for you to step in and help. This gives the mother cat and her kittens extra calories and nutrients. You can start to transition your kitten away from the bottle at 3 or 4 weeks of age. As a general rule you should give a newborn kitten thirteen milliliters of milk per hundred grams body weight.

Newborn kittens may nurse about every 1 2 hours. Think of how a kitten would eat from its mother. Using damp cotton wool wipe the area around her anus. Hold the kitten correctly while feeding.

With the mother cat out you ll also have to do this job. Like a human baby a newborn kitten will need to be fed frequently approximately every two to three hours. Mother cats encourage their young to defecate and urinate by licking the anus and genital areas. Once she relieves herself wipe the area then clean up her bottom with a clean fresh of cotton wool.

So a kitten weighing 3 ounces will need about 24 ounces of milk replacement every 24 hours. If the mother cat is still present and caring for her kittens then the kittens will be better off if you let their mother take care of them. However the kitten will stop drinking milk when it is full. Don t take the kittens to a shelter.