How often should i feed my 6 week old kitten?

Question

I have a 6 week old kity and I know nothing about them I am allergic to cats but I Found this in a bad living inviorment she had lots of flea and really dirty. But i took her in and bought her food and Even a little pink bed with bows on it! I really love her even though i itch alittle bit and get watery eyes. I have no carpet and an air purifire so i think i am good.
She acts like she wants to eat allday I feed her 4 times aday can food but she wants more and i dont want to over feed her being a baby i know how that can be! thanks

Answer 1

I would check with your vet. But it's good to stick with a kitten formula, dry food. Since she is only 6 weeks old, she has just started to wean so she will need to be fed a lot, but I'd stick with 2-3 times a day so she won't gain too much weight.

Answer 2

4 times a day is reasonable for a six week old kitty. She should really be having kitten replacement formula up until she's 8 weeks old.

Make sure it's kitten food you're giving her, not adult food - at that young age, she really needs the extra calories or she will be hungry and not grow well.

It's also important to worm her - having worms can cause excess eating and a pot belly, and eventual serious problems. Also diarrhoea. If she came from a bad environment it's doubly important to worm her regularly - every two weeks until she's 12 weeks old, then monthly until she's 6 months old and 3 monthly thereafter. This is a standard worming regime for kittens and puppies.

Go into a vets and get some stuff for her - they can give you proper flea and worming treatment. Don't use anything from a pet store - you won't find anything there suitable for such a young cat, and even their stuff for adult cats doesn't work and it often dangerous.

I think it's really nice of you to give the kitty a pink bed even though you're allergic by the way!!

Chalice

Answer 3

First, you can't overfeed a kitten. They stop when they are full but may go back to it after a little while and eat more. That's OK. Just don't leave it out for more than a couple hours as bacteria grows rapidly at room temperature, especially chicken and turkey foods.

Feeding her four to five times a day is about normal for kittens that age. Give her about a third of a 3oz can at at time and you'll soon figure out how much she can eat within an hour or so period. Kittens NEED wet (canned) food! Dry food is not enough.
Read about it:
http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canned_food.htm

But get a dry kitten food too and leave it out all day. Purina Kitten Chow is OK to start with. Kittens like to graze and will nibble at it between meals.

Make sure she has fresh water available at all times. If you think she is not drinking enough you can add a tablespoon of water to the canned food and mix it in real good. I do that anyway just to make sure that they get plenty of water.

You're not going to make her fat, you're not over feeding and you're not spoiling her. You are one of the few people who write in here who is actually doing it right! She won't over eat. The only possible bad thing that could happen is that if a kitten is really, really hungry they could eat too fast and then immediately throw it up. That doesn't sound like it will happen with yours.

Kittens with fleas will also usually have worms. Almost all kittens have worms. Take her to the vet and have her checked out. Sometimes kittens with worms eat ravenously. But in general kittens are always hungry. The bigger worry is when they won't eat.
http://www.catchow.com/KittenCareCenterArticle.aspx?category=Health&combinedID=20797

Hope this helps.
Write back with any other questions as they come up.

Note: You need to get rid of the fleas.

Answer 4

you are doing a really good job for someone that is allergic to cats and you are doing exactly the right thing..feed your kittens four times a day soft food..
although most cats like the soft food it only has 8% protein in it and very little nutrition value.. the main bulk of nutrition is obtained from a good dry complete kitten food .I use Royal Canin kitten 34 but hills and iams are just as good. leave the dry food down all day and night with plenty of fresh water.. this will bulk your kitten up and then you can reduce the number of times that you feed her soft food.

have you wormed her? Could be that is why she is constantly hungry.. they say where there is fleas there is worms...kittens should be wormed at 2/ 5 and 8 weeks old.. use panacure 5%liquid obtainable from your vet. its easy to use .. you give three does on three consecutive days .. the amount that you give would depend on the weight of your kitten..


good luck.

you do not need to stimulate a 6 week old kitten to defaecate they may not be litter training but at 6 weeks old they should be fully independent in that department...
Frontline spray for antiflea treatment can be used on a kitten as young as 2 days without any ill effect.. the kittens coat should be fully dry before they are put back with the queen.

Answer 5

The advice you are getting for the food is good. You can wash your kitten when they are young. I am severely allergic to them too and have had cats for 28 years. Wash your kitten every other week and lint roll your furniture a lot. It cuts down on the dander. Also vacuum your floors often to get loose hairs up. All of this helps. Also might try wearing rubber/latex gloves while washing them or else take a benadryl or allergy pillas soon as your done. Good luck! We have a new 6 week old baby full of fleas too from being outdoors all her 6 weeks of life. She is an indoor baby now for the rest of her life.

Answer 6

Six weeks is young to be away from mommy cat.

Feed the kitten according to the directions on the bag or can you are offering. Different brands/types will recommend different portions. Feed her at least three times a day now and ensure you are feeding kitten food.

Has she been dewormed?

Answer 7

That's so sweet of you to take this little girl into your home. I think 4 times a day is good for her. In a few weeks you could start giving her kitten dry food. Don't give it to her now, as I am afraid she would choke on it. In a few more weeks her teeth will get bigger. She could chew the dry food better. Just make sure she always has fresh water down too. I bet her bed is really pretty too!

Answer 8

four or more times a day is right. Your kitten needs
about twice protein an adult cat would need.
At about 12 week cut down to three feedings per day.
Also consider feeding the cat human grade kitten
food. Felidae is the best food you can get for
a kitten. This food is at pet stores.
http://www.canidae.com/cats/cat_and_kitten/canned.html
http://www.canidae.com/cats/cat_and_kitten/dry.html
There will be less waste & smell in the litter box b/c
human grade food dosent have any of the by products
& leftover junk in it other kitten/cat foods do.
Also, consider getting a cat water fountain.
Drinkwell is a good brand & costs about $15.
http://www.nextag.com/cat-water-fountain/search-html
So whats your kittens name ?

Answer 9

You brought up a lot of issues that need to be addressed.
At six weeks you should consider a mixture of formula(which can be found at stores like PetCo & PetSmart) along with wet food.

You shoud also know that you need to stimulate the kitten (rub on its genitals with a warm rag) to help them relieve themselves.

As far as the fleas go I hope you have not used flea soap of some sort on the kitten. It's very dangerous to put that kind of chemical on sucha little animal when it is this young.
Initially wash the kitten with Dawn dish soap(ver little dime size piece at most) with warm water, and make sure to completely dry the kitten so it doesn't get cold and develop a respiratory infection.

There are a ton of websites you can find to help you with all of your questions.
Please see the source I have below to help you take care of this little critter!
http://www.feralcat.com/raising.html

Answer 10

You could try feeding her a bit more food or a little big of dry food watered down a bit it might keep her full a bit longer say if your feeding her for the last time at night or something. hope this helps!