Bottle Feeding Basics
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| Chance is making his case for cutest kitten ever |
First step, make sure the kitten(s) are warm. NEVER FEED A COLD KITTEN! Kittens will not be able to process any food unless they are warm first. Trying to feed a kitten while they are still cold can be incredibly dangerous.
Once a kitten is warm and able to eat, you can set them out on a blanket or towel, belly down, to begin feeding. A kitten must always be fed belly down, never on their back. This is the natural feeding position for a kitten while nursing from their mothers. Attempting to feed a kitten on their back could potentially force formula into their lungs, and could lead to a blocked airway, or fluid in their lungs that may lead to respiratory illness.
The best way to learn how to feed a kitten is by having someone else there with you to show you how. Lacking that, the second best way is to watch a video showing how it's done. Hannah Shaw, aka The Kitten Lady, has an amazing series of videos on how to care for kittens and I highly encourage you to watch every one of them. This is her video on how to bottle feed a kitten.
Keep track of your kitten's food consumption, how many ounces they ate, and what their weight is both before and after they eat. This helps you keep track of how well each kitten is eating, and make sure they're progressing over time. Maddie's Fund has created a convenient chart for how much to expect kitten's to be eating over time.
Some kittens are picky eaters. You can play with the formula a bit to accommodate a picky eater. Try mixing some home formula in with the formula. Always make sure to use mostly kitten milk replacer when feeding kittens in order to ensure they are getting the vitamins and minerals they need to grow up healthy. Use evaporate milk to mix up your homemade formulas (or in some cases goat's millk). Never feed the kitten regular cows milk (the kind you probably have in your fridge for you to drink). https://kittenrescue.org/2017/03/recipes-emergency-kitten-formula/
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| Post feeding milk face |
I have found that the pre-mixed KMR in the cans tends to give kittens diarrhea, and the formula can tend to have the opposite effect. Many kittens have no issues with either, but I like to use either a combination of the pre-mix and formula, until the kitten's gut regulates, or use 1/3 home formula and 2/3 formula. This tends to help with any constipation or diarrhea issues. However, every kitten is different, and their gut issues will be different.
Syringe Feeding
Kittens that are very young, feeble, or kittens dealing with medical issues may need help with eating. This is where syringe feeding comes in. This is the process by which you fill a 10cc (or smaller) syringe with formula, and use one of the nipples on the end to very carefully, just a few drops at a time, dropper food into the kitten's mouth. If a kitten isn't eating from a bottle on their own, but they can swallow, this method can be used to help administer food. You have to control the amount going in when doing syringe feeding to not squirt the formula into the kitten's mouth and have them aspirate.
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