How Best to Bottle-Feed Kittens

Ideally, newborn kittens will have a mother cat to feed them. Sometimes, though, there are situations in which a mother cat is unable to feed her babies, or may not be present to care for them. In such cases, you can ensure that the kittens get the nutrition they need by bottle-feeding them kitten formula until they're old enough to eat solid food. Bottle-feeding kittens requires patience but the results are well worth the time and effort you will put into caring for them.

Things You'll Need

  • Kitten nursing bottle or eye dropper
  • Dry kitten formula or prepared formula
  • Water
  • Dry cat food
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Instructions

    • 1

      Mix dry kitten formula with water (following the product's directions) in a kitten nursing bottle. Many formulas call for a ratio of two parts of formula to three parts of water. If the kittens are not able to use the bottle, use an eye dropper filled with prepared formula instead. Warm up the formula by placing the bottle or eye dropper under running hot water.

    • 2

      Give each kitten the nipple of the bottle, holding it just above the kitten's mouth. If a kitten refuses to suck on the bottle, use the eye dropper to drip formula into its mouth. As they get stronger, the kittens may begin sucking on the bottle instead.

    • 3

      Stop feeding the formula when the kitten begins to slow down its pace or seems to stop caring about the bottle. In the first days, kittens may need small, frequent feedings -- up to 12 per day. This number will decrease as they grow -- to about four to six feedings per day.

    • 4

      Begin adding watered-down cat food to the kittens' diet at about four weeks. Use dry cat food mixed with water as a supplement while continuing to use the formula. As the kittens become better able to eat solid food, you can taper off the bottle-feeding and eventually just provide dry kitten food without water mixed in. At this point, the kittens are weaned and no longer require formula.