3 week old kittens and bottle feeding?

Question

I recently took in 2 orphaned kittens a week ago.I've been bottle-feeding both and they are doing great.I've noticed that their teeth are coming in,milk teeth I guess.I'm wondering at what age should I wean them off the bottle and onto milk in a saucer? They are drinking about 2-2 1/2 tablespoons per feeding about 3-4 hours apart now.Any advice? I've never had kittens this young before.

Answer 1

Once they can see it they can start learning to lap it out of a saucer. You should be getting ready to feed them mush and slowly getting closer to hard food.

Answer 2

I recently had the same case. I kept feeding them from teh bottle, not the saucer. But when they reached 4 weeks old, I started putting some soft canned food for kittens on a dish there before giving them any milk. First time they just smelled it and left, so I fed them milk. The next day they licked some food, but wanted a bit of milk afterwards. After a few days they ate the food, and only wanted one or two of the fouur feedings to be with milk. When they were 5 weeks old they were weaned and ate canned food only, at 6 weeks they started eating very small kibble(Royal Canin baby). But the age alone doesn't matter, each had its own pace, have patience.

Answer 3

We had a litter of puppies and if kittens are similar at all, this might help...
At 3-4 weeks would be a good time to start letting them drink from a saucer. Until they seem to get the hang of it though, keep bottle-feeding them. Within a couple days, they should be used to it. At about 6-8 weeks, try mixing milk with cat food so they get used to solid food.

Answer 4

My kitten is now 4 mo old,but i also got him at 3 weeks of age. He also was still bottle feeding.But after a couple days or so,i mixed in baby rice cereal.It lasted longer and it made the transition smoother.When he was about 3 1/2 weeks old,i started to put the cereal milk mix in with wet cat food.I started with mostly mild,then more and more wet food.At first i was worried about the water intake,but they will drink when they are thirsty.Good luck.And the above was right,take him to the vet,cause he needs a deworming and a distemper shot.

Answer 5

my kittens were also abandoned. i reckon they were about 2 weeks when they were given to me. i fed them on the bottle for about three weeks after that, then began putting the milk replacement in a shallow bowl, they took on to that straight away. then i got a teaspoon of friskeys soft canned cat food and smooshed it up in the milk replacement. Then as they got used to that i began to add more and more food gradually, and reducing the amount of milk replacement until there was none. (i did, however, feed them milk replacement in a bowl for about a week after just to make sure they got all the nutrition they needed) thank you for taking in the kittens! it's a very rewarding experience! and if you need any help feel free to email me, i'm always glad to help! Good Luck!

oh and ps. cats do not like change, so if they fuss a bit when you switch to the bowl, they will be fine, just give it some time and make sure they're eating

Answer 6

I got my cat at about 2-3 weeks of age and bottle fed for about 3 weeks. After that I still used kitten formula, I just made it thicker and put it in a saucer for her to lap up. Don't use a bowl because they hate that. Everyday I made it thicker and thicker until she seemed ready to eat normal food. We fed her wet food for a while, then moist kitten food, then just dry food.

Answer 7

when they are about 2 months old is they u should try giving them reg cat food maybe sooner atleast 1 month old try can food but if they arent eating the food then they still need the milk they will suck up all the joucies but all my cats giving them can food gave them the runns just try a can at a time to find out what one wont give them the shitts as bad cuz they will **** anyplace until they learn to use the box hope this helps

Answer 8

It's probably smarter to ask a vet or animal shelter a question like this. They'll also be able to take a look at the kittens to make sure they're healthy.