How to wean a kitten Scientific weaning strategy

Jun 23,2024
5Min

To wean a kitten, you need to prepare alternative milk powder. You can buy milk powder specifically for kittens or goat milk powder. You can try to let the kitten learn from the mother cat to eat from the food bowl by itself. If this is not possible, you will need artificial milk. Feed for weaning, use a special feeding bottle or dropper for cats, and let the kitten get used to eating alternative milk powder to complete weaning.

How to wean a kitten 1. Prepare alternative milk powder

The weaning period for kittens begins at 4 weeks of age, and for most kittens, weaning is completed at 8 to 10 weeks. In terms of nutrition, you need to prepare goat milk powder or kitten-specific milk powder and kitten food. It should be noted that milk cannot be used as a milk substitute for cats, because the digestive function of young cats is not perfect yet and is not enough to digest and absorb milk. The cat may suffer from diarrhea or even death. Each kitten also needs to be equipped with their own water basin and litter box. Kitten water basins should be very shallow so that the kitten can easily reach the bottom of the basin.

How to wean a kitten 2. Let the kitten imitate its mother cat

Kittens observe mother cats just like children observe adults. How the mother cat eats, the kittens can also learn to do it. If you can keep the mother cat and kittens together, keep them together as long as possible - or at least 10 weeks. (Leaving the mother cat within 6 weeks will have adverse physiological reactions on the kitten.) After that, the kitten will gradually begin to learn to live independently, and even choose to stay away from the mother cat.

How to wean a kitten 3. Artificial feeding

Kittens need to eat four to five meals a day. You can use a syringe or dropper or a small bottle to suck the cat's milk and feed it to it, supplemented by some kitten food. Some people will also dip their fingers into cat milk and let the kitten lick their fingers. This sounds more fun, so please wash your hands! During the night, they can just sleep without eating, but if you hear them barking loudly, they need to get up to feed. It is a difficult process to get cats accustomed to using a water bowl or food bowl, because they think they feel safer sucking the mother cat's milk. At this time, you need to show the water basin to it first, and then dip your hands into the water in the water basin and give it to the kitten to lick. The kitten will gradually become familiar with the smell of the water and start to explore the use of the water basin. Under no circumstances should you use brute force to push the kitten's head into the water basin. This will make the kitten fear the water basin and expose you as a retard.

How to wean a kitten 4. Gradually transition to cat food

For solid cat food, you also need to let the kitten have an adaptation process. In the beginning (around 5 to 6 weeks), you can put your babyCrush the cat food and soak it in milk replacer or water (how to eat milk cake for kittens). Then gradually reduce the amount of liquid added so that there are more solid ingredients in the cat food. After about 10 weeks, cats can adapt to solid cat food.

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