How do you Wean Kittens?

Question

I have two 6 week old kittens, how do i teach them to eat kitten food?

Answer 1

Awh thats how old my little babies are. They've been eating food for a week now.

First off, if the mother is not with it then you might want to look into getting replacment kitten milk at the petstore. Its very cheap, so is the little bottle. Just follow the direction. Feed it about once a day then offer it hard food at other times. Get some high quality kitten food (anything but IAMS .. www.iamscruelty.com) and start putting it out for them about 3 times a day. IF you want you can mix it with a tad bit of water or milk ..
BUT i will say the vet told me not to do this even though so many people tell you to. Its not bad for them but they need to get used to eating hard food, its better for them then wet food.

IF the mother is with the kitten then everytime the kitten(s) go to nurse .. show them the hard food.

All i did was put the hard food on a paper plate next to the cookie sheet with litter in it. Now they use the litter box, eat hard food and drink out of the water bowl. They started eating the dogs food about a week ago lol thas when i realized they were ready for kitten food. I set it out for them and they eat it when they don't want moms milk.

What i've found out over the years of raising cats is they figure things out on their own. As long as you have the hard food out they will eat it when they're ready. If your kitten(s) isnt potty trained yet and you havent set out litter for it you might want to think about doing that now.

Like i said i have a little cookie sheet with litter on it. Every once in awhile they will poop next to it but they are just about 100%.

Good luck and if you need anything else email me ♥

Heres my babies:

Dorey -
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f234/jbledsoe86/100_7513.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f234/jbledsoe86/100_7564.jpg

Peanut -
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f234/jbledsoe86/100_7572.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f234/jbledsoe86/100_7597.jpg

Toffee -
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f234/jbledsoe86/100_7563.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f234/jbledsoe86/100_7584.jpg

Answer 2

Weaning is an important part of kitten care. Whether the kittens are being cared for by their feline mother or are being orphan raised, the method and timing of weaning can have lifelong effects on the babies. Learning how to wean can help the kitten develop emotionally and socially.

Timing is Everything

About 4 weeks after birth, the mother cat normally begins to evade the kittens and discourages nursing. At this time, the kittens also naturally begin to show a decline in the length of time they nurse. More of their time is spent exploring their new world.

At this point, it is time to start offering food for the kittens to sample. Even if the kittens are being orphan raised, begin offering food around 3 to 6 weeks of age, when the kittens weigh over 500 grams. At this point, increased gentle human handling can improve the kittens' physical and social development, and make them more accepting of people.

Feeding

At around 3 to 6 weeks of age, begin offering food to the kittens. Canned food, semi-moist or even dry kitten food moistened with water are all acceptable. Offer the kittens small amounts of soft food in a shallow dish. Up to this point, the kittens have been suckling to get their nourishment. Now, they need to learn to open their mouths and bite in order to get food into their mouths to be swallowed. Learning to do this results in some messy feeding times. Kittens will typically walk and fall in the food dish. They may even try to nurse on the food, resulting in some pretty messy kitties. Eventually, they learn normal eating behavior. Some people will place the food on a cookie sheet and place it in the bathtub and let the kittens learn. This allows for easy clean up.

Offer the food several times a day for about 30 minutes at a time. When the kittens no longer seem interested in the food, clean them up and put them back with their mother. During this time, allow the mother to stay away from the babies for longer periods of time. For some mothers, you may have to be persistent. Some mothers and some babies may not wean properly. Mothers that do not begin to push away their kittens by 4 weeks of age will need help. Weaning should progress slowly, to reduce the incidence of anxiety and mammary gland inflammation in the mother.
Several times a day, remove the babies for 1 to 2 hours at a time. Food should only be offered for short periods of time, but keeping the babies separate from the mother can encourage natural weaning. As the kittens age, more and more time should be spent away from the mother until finally, the kittens are on their own.

By the time the kittens are 8 to 12 weeks of age, they should be eating solid food and no longer nursing. For most kittens, separation from the mother should be delayed until the kittens are 12 weeks of age, to allow normal socialization and bonding.

Answer 3

The most important thing to do, is to provide fresh water at all times. Then, choose a quality kitten-formula dry cat food. Moisten the cat food with warm water. Show the kittens the food. I usually put their noses in it just a little, so they will lick it and taste it. You have to change the food several times a day. It is best to keep it available at all times. I always have a problem with my mama cat eating all the food before the kittens do, so I usually take the kittens in another room to feed them. When they have been eating solid food really well for five or six days, you can take them away from the mama. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

The best time to separate a kitten from its mother is between
seven and eight weeks of age. It is at this point that weaning
has been completed (the switch from nursing mother's milk to
eating solid food) and a kitten can best adjust to living in a
strange home with a new family. If taken away too early, kittens
may have to be bottle-fed by their new families and frequently
behave badly due to premature departure from the nest.

Kittens need milk feeding for the first four to five weeks of
life, so formula needs to be provided for a newborn kitten in
cases where the mother cat is unable to nurse it. If a kitten is
orphaned when it's two weeks old, for example, it needs to be
bottle-fed for at least another two weeks until it can be
introduced to solid food at four weeks.

Answer 5

they sould have been on kitten food already -
typically you keep bowl of food in the room with them and mom cat they learn to eat it by watching her.. they cannot switch off milk and onto kitten food all in same day - they need to have both for a while or it will hurt their tummies...

then spay your cat