HOW OFTEN AND HOW MUCH TO FEED A BABY CAT
Tiny baby cats grow pretty quickly! They start off the size of a mouse and are independent little catties just a month later. That also means that their feeding regimen changes quickly as they grow. Here are some general guidelines and tips so that you know what to give, when, and in what quantities. Hooray for kittenz! DON'T FORGET that kittens need to be fed on the same schedule round-the-clock...not fun for you, but 100% necessary for their survival. Don't sleep through or skip a feeding!!! Don't worry...by week 4 you'll only be waking up once a night. Formula needs to be fed warm; cold formula cannot be digested.
**Also note that a baby needs to be stimulated to pee and/or poop before every single feeding! Pee happens every time; poo can be much less frequent, even every few days. Until about the start of week 4, they can’t eliminate on their own and need you to help them. If this step is neglected, well…the baby will fill up with toxic waste, and you can guess what that means.
Wet a little piece of cotton or paper towel and rub the backside until everythinggggg comes out. Never rub in the direction of butt-to-genitals. This can spread some pretty nasty bacteria to the urinary tract.**
No idea how old your kitten is? Click here to get some idea.
WEEK 1: Tiny poopoos might still have their umbilical cords attached. This will fall off by itself. They are the size of a thumb and have closed eyes and ears. In their first week of life, kittens need to eat from a bottle or syringe (no needle...duh) every 2 hours max, and will be happy with 2-5 mL/cc per feeding. Make sure they eat at least 2 mL/cc! At this stage, they’ll need to finish off about 32 mL/cc per day, total. A kitten in poor condition will need more frequent feedings.
Formula needs to be specifically formulated for cats--human baby formula won't sustain them. Each commercial formula has its own mixing ratios, so follow the instructions on the container. I have another post in the rescue section of my blog with a link to some good emergency kitten formula recipes that you can follow if you have no access to commercial stuff.
WEEK 2: You can move to a 3-hour feeding schedule. Woo-hoo! Kittens will eat up to 10 mL/cc per feeding by this stage, for a total of about 55 mL/cc per day. Little fatties! If your baby is eating less than 4-5 mL/cc per feeding, there is reason to worry.
WEEK 3: I usually move to a 3-4 hour feeding schedule during Week 3. Three and a half hours is average—4 is only occasional. Typical meal size is 11-15 mL/cc. By now, the kitten should be consuming about 80 mL/cc of formula per day.
WEEK 4: Hooray! You can wake up only once now :) A 4-5 hour schedule works (again, 5 hour intervals should be the exception and not the norm) and a baby in its 4th week will eat 100 mL/cc/day. Real fatties will eat up to 20 mL/cc per sitting…much more than that is excessive, and the bottle should be taken away if overeating becomes a habit.
WEEK 5: If your baby isn’t weaning yet, stay on the same 4-5 hour schedule and feed about 125cc/day. If he is weaning, give as many bottles as he needs to make sure his fluid and caloric intake is sufficient. Not many babies will quit the bottle cold-turkey. Even after a baby is finally weaned, I give a few bottles a day for the first few days, just to be sure.
WEANED!!! You made it! A kitten won’t drink from a dish until it is about 6 weeks old. That means that its fluids are ingested with its food. Feed your baby either canned food with added water or kibble that is soaked through and then served in a little puddle of water or formula. Until you see that the baby is drinking on its own, it can’t eat food without lots of added fluids!
A kitten who is eating solids should have fresh food available 24/7. Make sure he is eating what’s in the dish: if the food is “too old”, your baby won’t touch it. I refill the dish every few hours.
**REMEMBER** Never wait for a kitten to tell you he is hungry. Wake him up on time, according to the feeding schedule. Make him eat a full meal every time. If a baby gets hungry enough to tell you about it, it’s already in trouble!!!