How do you get a kitten to eat stop drinking from the mother and start eating real food?

Answer 1

seperate rhem for while

Answer 2

Begin to offer food when they are 3-4 weeks old. According to the "Cat Owner's Veterinary Handbook", it's 23 days.

Moisten a high quality dry kitten food, such as Eukanuba or Royal Canin with KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) or sterile water. At first they will mainly *wear* it! LOL. But they will gradually begin to eat it. Kinda like teaching a baby to eat. They also have a product called Second Step, designed especially for introducing solid foods to kittens.

I totally disagree with those who suggest that Mama knows best, and to let her wean them. I have a kitten right now that is almost 6 months old and is STILL trying to nurse. I get a sqirt bottle (don't actually have to use it anymore because they know the sound). The only way to totally wean the kitten is to separate Mom and the kittens.

I was always reluctant to do that too, until the vet (who also shows and raises pedigree cats) explained that kittens can and do become milk intolerant at about 7-8 weeks of age.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

First, don't let the mom tell the kittens when it is time to quit. She will let them suck her dry. You have to seperate them completely. Make sure the momma cat can't have any contact with the kittens. I know it sounds mean, but thats just how it works. It will also make it alot easier when you decide tosell the kittens because the mother won't be so upset. Get them good dry food, like Iams Kitten (I believe the kitten formula is the one in the purple bag). Also, they will have lactose free milk in the pet isle, buy a fewboxes of that and mix the milk and the kitten food together until the kittenfood is soggy (they can't chew it unless you do this). Put a little less milk in it every other day until there is no milk at all. Once this happens, you canput them back with the momma.

Answer 4

At about a month, give the kitten a taste of "people" food - mashed potatoes, tiny bits of chicken or tuna. Then get dry kitten food, and mix a little bit at a time with water so it softens up (they don't eat much at a time, and you have to do this a while ahead of time so it gets soft), and introduce the kitten to it on a small saucer. Sometimes you need to push a little bit in her mouth, and alternatively, gently put her nose down in the food. Believe me, once they get a taste for real food, they will be weaned fairly quickly.

Answer 5

once the kitten is old enough to they will on their own because the milk will stop coming. If the kitten is still drinking milk it apparently still needs to nutrients that comes from the milk. I would recommend leaving some kitten food and water out. Place the kitten near it a few times to make sure it knows it their and when its ready it will eat.

Answer 6

after 4 weeks, a kitten is able to start eating dry food. You can make a puree of dry food with kitten milk & offer it. The smell will normally attract them & they'll start weaning. Mama knows when the best time is though. She'll start pushing the baby away when she's ready.

Answer 7

When they are about 4 weeks old start putting out dry kitten food. And let them start sampling. Mom will let them nurse less and less often. By the age of 7 weeks they should be weaned and eating only kitten food. Canned food can make them have diarrhea.

Answer 8

When the kitten starts to nurse you need to remove the kitten from the momma and take the kitten to where the food and water are. A momma will nurse for a long time. We had to take the kittens off the momma for a while. Sometimes you will need to seperate them to. Good Luck.

Answer 9

i think the mother will push it away when the kitten is ready to be weaned. it's all part of the natural instinct of the mother cat. no sense in rushing it.

this process should happen naturally between 7 and 8 weeks of age. if you try to rush the weaning process, the kitten may behave badly or strangely for the rest of its adult life - it can be aggressive, slow, or even have an oral fixation.

you can put out kitten food for the kitten and even try putting a drop of food on its tongue to see if the kitten will start eating it.

for more info, see site below.

Answer 10

They'll stop naturally. The mother cat will not allow her kittens to suck milk anymore when she feels that they're big enough. My mummy cat stop feeding after about 2mths.

Btw, you'll have to let the kitten suck milk from the mother, or else, the left over milk left in the mother's cat body might cause swelling and you'll have to bring her to a vet to ease the swells.

Answer 11

Let nature take its course and don't rush. The kitten will eventally stop nursing and/or the mama cat will start pushing the kitten away. DO NOT give cow milk to cats, they will slowly starve to death on it because it is not nutritious enough and it will give them diarrhea. Get hard cat food that is formulated for kittens (I like Royal Canin Babycat) because adult food may be too hard to digest.