In addition, a newborn kitten needs to be bottle-fed.
When kittens refuse to nurse or when there is no nearby lactating mother cat for the kitten to suckle on, it is necessary to utilize kitten milk formula recipes, sometimes referred as among breeders as “kitty glop” or “cat milk substitute.”
You’ll need to know how and what to feed a hungry newborn kitten if you find yourself in that scenario, even though it is most usually used with orphaned kittens.
When kittens are born, they are defenseless and little. It should just feel somewhat warm or even cool, not extremely hot or heated. All the nutrients that babies need during the first month of life come from their mother’s milk. However, there could be issues that prohibit a mother cat from nursing.
- Possibly dying soon after giving birth, the mother cat.
- The mother cat can abandon the entire litter.
- The mother may not be able to handle the full litter by herself.
- If a kitten is too young or weak, the mother may reject him or her.
- The mother could be suffering from an illness or postpartum issues.
Without human intervention, a kitten will die if its mother’s milk is not available. Highly young kittens are too little to be able to ingest solid food, so they require highly specific nutrition to survive their early years.
Kitty formula can also help sick cats who need nutritional support, geriatric cats who have trouble eating due to dental or jaw problems, and nursing mother cats who require extra nutrition.
How Can You Create Your Own Kitten Formula?
There are numerous homemade kitten formula recipes, but it’s better if you can get a kitten milk alternative from a pet supply store. If store-bought milk replacement is not an option, find a recipe that you have all the ingredients for until you can buy some milk replacement formula. Using a homemade kitten replacement formula for more than 24 hours is not advised.
The Cornell Book of Cats by the Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine includes the following formulas:
A substitute kitten for Formula No.
- One quart of whole goat milk and one teaspoon of light Karo syrup
- Best made with goat milk, one spoonful of nonfat plain yogurt
- 1 egg yolk
- Unpalatable gelatin
- Infant to one week, gelatin package
- Gelatin packages, 1.5–2, during the second week.
- 3 to 3 gelatin containers on the third week.
- Week 4: 4 gelatin packages
Goat milk in a pot with the correct amount of gelatin for the kitten’s age. Take the mixture off the heat as soon as all of the gelatin has dissolved. Combine the remaining ingredients and then refrigerate. In the refrigerator, it will stay fresh for up to a week.
Kitten Replacement Formula #2
- 8 ounces of whole milk were blended.
- One drop of liquid pediatric vitamins per teaspoon of salad oil, two egg yolks (optional)
- Stir thoroughly, then place in the refrigerator.
Kitten Replacement Formula #3
- 1 part boiling water to 5 parts evaporated milk
- Sixteen fluid ounces and one-half teaspoon of bone meal
- Stir thoroughly, then place in the refrigerator.
Kittens’ Replacement Formula
- 1 can of evaporated milk
- Two tablespoons of corn syrup and one egg yolk
- 1 liquid drop of human pediatric vitamins (optional)
Before storing the mixture in the fridge, properly combine the milk, egg yolk, and syrup in a jar with a tight fitting lid. When it’s time to feed, combine half of the anticipated feeding amount with an equivalent amount of boiling water. One drop of the liquid human newborn vitamins should be administered to each kitten’s formula once each day.
How Should You Feed a Newborn Kitten?
If you need to bottle-feed a kitten, use particular baby bottles. Kittens can purchase tiny baby bottles with tiny nipples online or at pet stores. An automobile or an outside animal could kill the mother cat if she is an outside or indoor/outdoor cat. These bottles often hold only a tiny amount of formula, making them manageable and large enough to hold a small kitten. You can also try using a syringe without a needle if a tiny baby bottle is not available, especially if the kitten is reluctant to take the bottle. Oral syringes are frequently sold by pharmacists for this purpose.
If the formula is homemade or store-bought, reheat it and test a few milk droplets on your wrist first. In normal circumstances, this is not a problem because their mothers take care of and feed them. It is not advisable to use a microwave. The majority of people pour the formula into the bottle or syringe and then heat it in a sink of hot water. Once the formula passes the skin temperature test, you are ready to feed the kitten. Keep the kitten in a natural feeding position on its belly and give it warm formula every three to four hours until it begins to wean off of liquid food. Kittens should drink about eight milliliters of formula per ounce of body weight every day. If the kitten weighs four ounces and needs to take around 32 milliliters of formula everyday, you can feed it eight milliliters of formula every four hours.
If constipation occurs, add one drop of vegetable oil to each kitten’s formula no more than once daily until the problem is resolved.
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