In today’s article, we are going focus on how and when to feed newborn kittens. We will assume that the kitten is separated from the mother, and you are solely in charge of providing food for the kitten. It is important to remember that newborn kittens require a large amount of energy and nutrients on a regular basis. In fact, a newborn kitten requires 3 times as many calories as a normal adult cat.
How long can newborn kittens go without eating?
Newborn kittens can usually go 3-4 hours without eating. If they are sleeping through the night, they may be able to last 6-7 hours without being fed. After that, the kitten’s body will start to break down, and the kitten will probably die. It is best to feed a newborn kitten every 2-3 hours in order to ensure they are getting enough nutrients.
A kitten that is 3-4 weeks old can obviously go a bit longer without eating. Kittens at this age can usually survive around 14 hours without being fed. However, we recommend feeding a kitten at this age at least every 8 hours. It is very important that you feed a newborn kitten a balanced, nutritious diet.
What to feed a newborn kitten?
The best thing to feed a newborn kitten is their mother’s milk. It has all the essential nutrients required for a newborn kitten. However, if the kitten is separated from the mother, this is obviously not an option.
The best thing to feed a newborn kitten is milk replacement cat formula. Below are my two favorite milk replacers for newborn kittens.
PetAg KMR Kitten Milk Replacer Powder ($22.99)
Hartz Powdered Kitten Milk Replacer ($12.99)
It is important that you warm up the milk beforehand in order to maintain your kitten’s body heat. We do not recommend feeding your kitten cow’s milk, as it can actually make your kitten sick and cause diarrhea. Diarrhea can be a fatal disease for newborn kittens, because it causes dehydration and severely weakens their body.
It is also important that you give your kitten a bath to help prevent parasites, which can be deadly for newborn kittens. To learn more, check out my article on How Often Can I Give My Kitten a Flea Bath?
How to take care of a newborn kitten
Caring for a newborn kitten is no easy task. There are many things you must do and provide for a kitten so that he/she develops properly. The first 4 weeks of a kittens life are crucial to their future development. In the first couple weeks of a newborn kitten’s life, there are 4 main things you must assist him/her with: providing food, maintaining heat, and stimulating (in order to pee and poop).
Obviously, if the newborn kitten is still with its mother, the mother will do all these things for the newborn. However, there are many reasons why a kitten might become separated from their mother, and you are left providing these services.
Weaning a newborn kitten
We do not recommend weaning a newborn kitten until they are at least 4 weeks old. You want to wait until the kitten is comfortable enough licking and can start the chewing process. When you first start weaning a kitten, you should feed them very soft, wet food. You can make the food more soft by adding water.
You don’t want to feed your kitten dry food because their teeth are not yet able to chew on hard objects. As your kitten gets comfortable eating the wet food, make it less and less moist so that your kitten starts using their teeth more. By the age of 8-10 weeks, your kitten should be able to eat solid cat food.
How to stimulate a newborn kitten
Stimulating is also a very important duty you must perform on a newborn kitten. You must stimulate a newborn kitten in order to help it pee and poop. This is because a newborn kitten doesn’t have the strength or muscles to do it on their own. A mother kitten will usually stimulate their kitten by licking their genitals.
You can simulate this by rubbing a warm towel in a circular motion around your cat’s genitals. After a minute or so, they should begin doing their business. We recommend stimulating a newborn kitten every time after they eat. They will most likely pee every time, and they will probably poop 1 to 2 times a day. You will have to stimulate the newborn kitten until they are around 3 weeks old.
Last but not least, it is important that you always keep your newborn kitten warm at all times. Their body temperature should be around 101 degrees Fahrenheit. You can help them stay warm by covering them in towels or blankets. Another great way to keep a newborn kitten warm is to put a heating pad under their blankets.
If you touch your kitten and notice they are cold, it is very important that you heat them up right away. You should not heat them up too fast though, because any rapid change in body temperature can danger a cat. Try to slowly warm them up over a 30 minute period.