How Long Should You Give Kittens Milk

Cat milk is essential for the kittens during the first weeks.

How long should you give kittens milk. Although kittens can drink their mother s milk many cats lose the ability to process it after being weaned. You can stop the feeding when the kitten begins to slow down the consumption or becomes disinterested. It s your own call as to what point. Kittens drink their mother s milk until the mother gradually weans them as early as 4 weeks old.

However this isn t a hard and fast rule. Kittens should be drinking water by the time they are 4 to 6 weeks of age. Weaning can take place later if a kitten is underweight or ill and it is important to use your best judgement when weaning. Cow s milk can upset a kitten s stomach and should be used as a last resort.

Milk is a food not a beverage. A 2 to 3 week old kitten will still need to be fed every 2 3 hours and it should consume at least 1 2 tablespoon of formula or milk during each meal. When the orphaned kittens reach about 3 weeks of age you can start providing watered down meat based kitten food for them to nibble on. Cats may live without ever drinking cow milk.

Most kittens need to be nursed by their mother or fed kitten formula from a bottle until 4 5 weeks of age. However if you get your pet when he is only a few days old and the mother is not present you may feed him special formula milk for kittens. Once weaning is complete and cats move on to more adult foods and water dishes. Kittens will drink their mother s milk for the first few weeks of life or a specially designed kitten formula milk if necessary.

Once they get the hang of it the kittens should consume the milk replacer greedily. However they will be fully weaned by around 8 9 weeks of age. You can also feed them kitten milk replacement formula. Typically kittens are eating solid foods by 8 to 10 weeks old.

Wean him as you are and simply top him up at night until it s all gone between 8 12 weeks you should look to ceasing hand feeding or milk replacers all together. If a kitten is nursing from its mother you ll have to depend on how much the kitten weighs to know whether or not it is consuming enough food.