How to feed a newly weaned kitten

Weaning a kitten can be a huge challenge, especially at first, but it gets easier over time. Kittens have been accustomed to drinking breast milk since they were young, and are reluctant to accept other foods. Weaning is a natural process that requires patience and motivation.
When to wean kittens?
When it’s time to wean the kittens, the mother cat will tell her owner in her own way. When a kitten approaches a mother cat for milk, she becomes resistant and sometimes hisses. During this period, the kittens should be fed cat food and meat in time to replace breast milk. The kittens will gradually realize that they can no longer rely on their mothers to fill their stomachs, and will instead rely on their owners.

Weaning challenges

The first challenge that kittens face is changing their eating posture—eating with their heads down. You can try putting some food on your finger, feed it to the kitten, and then slowly lower your finger to the height of the bowl. Finger feeding techniques can help kittens develop the habit of eating from a bowl.
Some kittens will be very resistant to being unable to continue feeding, and will moan or cry when it is time to eat cat food. The owner should guide slowly. It is recommended to start by mixing solid foods with warm water to bring the consistency closer to breast milk. As the kitten gets used to it, gradually reduce the water content in the food until it can eat dry food directly. Even stubborn cats will eventually accept solid food because they are carnivores by nature and need the protein in it.
Do not feed milk to kittens. Cats don’t have the enzymes to digest milk, which can cause stomach upset, which can also make the weaning process more difficult.

Kittens after weaning

Once kittens are successfully weaned, they need to eat a balanced diet high in protein, calories and vitamins. Most cat food brands have kitten food specifically suitable for kittens. Feeding a kitten requires a good balanced diet as the kitten is growing and needs more additional nutrients.
With the proper steps, it can take several weeks for a kitten to be completely weaned. It is very important for owners to be proactive during this process, as the kitten depends on you for its food and nutritional supply. Once you start weaning, you’ll find it gets easier over time.

When cats are not weaned, owners hardly need to worry about what they are going to eat. The mother cat directly assumes all the responsibilities. However, in some cases (the mother cat has insufficient milk, the kitten needs to be weaned, the kitten is abandoned and then adopted, etc.), the owner has to shoulder the burden of feeding the cat. If the owner has experience in raising kittens, then feeding the kittens is a trivial matter that is easy to grasp. However, if the owner has no experience in feeding kittens, this trivial matter seems to become relatively “big”. In the process of feeding kittens by novice owners, the most common problems include kittens not eating food, indigestion, vomiting and diarrhea, etc. So is there any way to effectively avoid the occurrence of these problems?

When can we wean kittens?

Under normal circumstances, cats can be completely weaned after 8 weeks of birth, but many cats are forced to wean when they are 1 month old or even younger. In order to ensure that the kittens receive sufficient nutrients, owners need to make appropriate changes according to the age of the cat. recipe. For cats under 1 month old, owners can buy cat-specific milk powder to brew for the cat. It is best not to feed the cat milk for the following reasons: milk contains lactose, and some cats are lactose intolerant. Lack of lactase may cause vomiting or diarrhea if you drink milk directly. Some owners may say that our cats drank milk without any problems! This is caused by individual differences in cats. In order to prevent accidents to kittens, it is best for owners not to give milk to such young cats. Some owners also asked that the lactose in yogurt is decomposed into galactose and glucose, which is suitable for people with lactose intolerance. So can cats also drink yogurt? For adult cats, owners can give them a little bit. Yogurt should be observed first. If the cat has any problems, the owner should immediately stop feeding it. If the cat is normal, it can only be provided in an appropriate amount. For kittens under 1 month old, owners should not feed them yogurt because At this time, the cat’s gastrointestinal function is weak, and drinking yogurt will also cause irritation.

Feeding for 1-month-old weaned cats

If the cat is four weeks old, the owner can give them some cat food or homemade cat food. Before giving cat food to cats, owners can soak the dry food in milk until soft. Owners need to pay attention to controlling the proportion of dry food. It is necessary to put less dry food at the beginning, otherwise the cat may suffer from diarrhea due to discomfort. Since some 1-month-old cats have not yet started using the litter box, they may defecate in various places. If their hair is soiled because of this, the owner can wipe their bodies clean with wet wipes. It is not recommended to bathe the cat at this time, because the cat’s body is weak at this time, and catching a cold in the bath may make the cat’s physical condition worse. For cats with persistent diarrhea, owners should take them to the pet hospital for treatment in time, because many diseases may also cause cats to have diarrhea.

Feeding for kittens over 1 month old and under 2 months old

When the cat gradually gets used to the cat food, the owner can intentionally increase the proportion of dry food and reduce the proportion of milk in the food. In the later stage, the owner does not need to completely soak the cat food before giving it to the cat.
Canned cats have high water content and good palatability, so are kittens also suitable for eating canned cats? For kittens under 2 months old, eating canned cats may cause indigestion, etc., so owners are best not to give them They eat canned cats and wait until the cats are four to five months old before giving them to them. When cats are less than 2 months old, owners cannot feed too much food at one time, because some kittens do not know how to control the amount of food like adult cats, so it is easy for the cat to overeat. In addition, since the stomach capacity of cats under 2 months old is still small, in order to ensure their body needs, owners need to feed them 4 times a day. In addition to the prescribed frequency of feeding, the feeding time must also be fixed. Irregular eating will cause greater harm to the cat’s gastrointestinal tract.

Feeding for cats over 2 months old

When cats are 2 months old, they can be completely weaned. For cats who completely eat cat food, because the nutrients in the cat food can meet the needs of the body, the cat will not be malnourished. On the contrary, owners who make homemade cat food for their cats need to pay attention to whether the food you prepare contains the nutrients that cats need. If cats lack nutrients, it may affect their growth and development. Owners who feed their cats homemade cat food need to know two things:
1. The teeth of cats who eat homemade cat food are usually not as good as those of cats who eat cat food, because cats who eat cat food can exercise their teeth through the friction of cat food during the eating process, preventing the formation of dental calculus, etc. , if you feed your cats homemade cat food for a long time, don’t forget to prepare a teeth cleaning stick for them in advance;
2. After some cats get used to homemade cat food, they will no longer eat cat food sold on the market. If you can’t feed your cats homemade cat food with every meal, then you need to get them used to eating cat food from the beginning. grain.