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Weaning

Cat WalnutWedge

Weaning Kittens
Weaning of kittens should generally start around 3 weeks of age, at which time they should be encouraged to eat solid food.

 


Weaning the kittens
Weaning should begin when the kittens are about 3.5 weeks old. The first step is to place a 50:50 mixture of water and cow's milk in a flat saucer.

Weaning: Kittens learn to eat food, not depending on the milk of their mother.
Wedge: Head type that has triangular shaped dimensions.
White: Cat color that lacks pigmentation.

Nutrition and weaning
If at all possible, get the kittens to nurse from the mother in the first 12 hours to allow for ingestion of colostrum. Kittens are only able to absorb the antibodies from the colostrum for the first 24 hours of life.

Then, at weaning time, just as they were learning to use the litter box, they began to vomit a yellow frothy substance and to pass yellow diarrhea; the diarrhea looked and smelled like clay. They also had nasal and eye discharge.

So, where possible choose a kitten that has been well handled before weaning, and then ensure that you provide a loving and interesting home, spending plenty of ‘quality time' with your new feline friend.

The meat can be scraped steak or fine-grained plaice. The milky meals could include some finely textured cereal, egg yolk and milks, a complete liquid food or one of the weaning milks developed specifically for hand-rearing and weaning young kittens.

Mother brings live prey to kittens. The beginning of the weaning process.
7 - 8 weeks
Kittens change play and show changes in "locomotor patterns". At 7 weeks adult movement is achieved.

Kittens under 2 weeks old require feeding every 2-3 hours (every 4-6 hours is sufficient after 2 weeks of age, and every 6-8 hours after 3 weeks, until weaning). General guidelines for bottle feeding young kittens are as follows:
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If a kitten cries it is because it's hungry. Kitten care requires avoiding overfeeding kittens. Follow the guidelines on the formula box. Once the kitten reaches three to four weeks, you can start weaning the kitten with canned food or baby food.

During weaning, a kitten's sense of smell enables her to find different food and to make a clear distinction between the edible and the inedible. If she doesn't like the smell of something, she just won't eat it.

boys do not spray; therefore they live inside and are always curled up together or with the other resident cats.
The females are wonderful mothers, (two to four kittens are an average sized litter.) often nursing their kittens well past the weaning ...

See also: Veterinarian, Behavior, Queen, Neuter, Adult cat