how old do kittens have to be to be able to eat soft food?

Question

I have four kitten and they'll be 5 weks old august 22.

Answer 1

They should be ready right about now. Put a little soft food on your finger, and force a tiny bit into the kitten's mouth. It isn't being mean, often kittens need to be shown what to do with solid food, before they "get it"! Once they taste it, they will practically take your finger off to get more, so lead them down to their food dish with your finger. Once you show them the first time, they will come running, everytime you pop open a can of food.

Answer 2

You can spoon feed them baby rice cereal once or twice at about 3 weeks old; 23 days according to the "Cat Owners's Home Veterinary Handbook". You spoon it in, and they'll spit most of it out, but they love this stuff and will begin to start eating sooner. Then wet either soft kitten food or dry with water to make it fairly runny - and begin to spoon that in. Gradually introduce the same food in a very shallow bowl or plate & stick their little faces in it (avoid their nose!) Once they realize what's up, they'll be gobbling up in no time!

Your kittens are a little older so they should catch on quickly. This will help not only them, but their Mom as well. Kittens are a drain on poor Mama. :-)

Answer 3

You should be able to start them on a good canned food for kittens about now. The mother isn't around? She would have set an example for them about now.

Kittens love the meat so it should be no problem. They may just start on their own or you can feed it from your finger. You can also smear a little bit inside and around the outside of their mouths. Once they taste they will be "sold" on it, believe me.

I am so glad you have the sense not to start with dry food, even with making a mush of it it is not an appropriate food for a kitten.

Answer 4

Kittens will generally start eating whatever their mother eats around six weeks. They'll still nurse but that's when the transition from mother's milk to cat food occurs. When I was growing up the kittens always found the dog food first and seemed to prefer over cat food. Good luck!

Answer 5

5-6 weeks, thats why you tend to see people starting to set up "Free Kittens" signs at that time. It means they are old enough to leave the mother cat and be out on their own and eat other foods. Although if they are left with the mother cat, they will continue to feed from her, but thats only because its available and less work than having to chew haha.

Answer 6

They should be eating already!Soak dry cat foof in water till soft.They'll go crazy for it.Mine stared eating around the bigining of the fourth week. Don't over feed. Just introduce solid foods slowly. It's just like starting a baby from formula to cereal.

Answer 7

around 4 to 6 weeks

Answer 8

You shouldn't feed pets soft canned food.It's bad for their teeth.Put a little water on dry food to start out.They should be able to tolerate dry food very quickly.Also,don't skimp on quality.Feed your cats a high end pet food like IIAMS or Science Diet.

Answer 9

start soon. mix a little canned food with enough water to make it a little soupy. if you do this for a couple of feedings they will get the idea quickly.

Answer 10

8 weeks.