There are many proud feline owners who ask the question when to start weaning kittens from their mother. If you too are wondering about age for weaning kittens, then you can get all the information you need by going through the following article...
Cats, wonderful creatures with distinctive personalities. Those who are cat owners will agree, their feline pets are masters of their own self. A female cat can give birth to about 1 to 8 kittens at a time. If you have not spayed your cat, you can expect about 25 kittens born in a year. When kittens are born they are deaf, blind and weak. All they can do is crawl a few inches. They recognize their mother by her smell and are in constant need of her body's warmth. Mother cats or 'queens' as they are called produce milk for about 12 weeks. Cats may continue to nurse their kittens after 12 weeks. As a cat owner, you should begin weaning kittens at the right time. This will help you in putting up the kittens for adoption. Let us have a look at some information on weaning kittens from their mother in the following paragraphs. Learn more about taking care of newborn kittens.
Age for Weaning Kittens
Weaning kittens is a process that helps kittens wean away from their mother's milk and get ready to eat more of solid food. When you begin to wean a kitten, it will become more and more independent of its mother. Therefore, it is important that you handle the process of weaning kittens well. The right age for weaning kittens is around 4 weeks. Early weaning kittens should be avoided as it may harm the sensitive, underdeveloped digestive system of the kitten. You should wait till the kitten has opened its eyes and is able to focus. The little one should be able to stand on this feet steady, before you introduce any kind of solid food. Get more information on stages of kitten development.
How to Begin Weaning Kittens from their Mother
You should not abruptly pull away a kitten from its mother. A kitten learns a lot from the mother like how to use a litter box, hunt prey and even play. So, you should begin slowly when the kitten is about 4 weeks old. Place the kitten in a separate room away from its mother. Keep them here for a few hours about 3 to 4 hours. Then, when they look sufficiently hungry and thirsty, serve them with a bowl of cat food and water. Gradually, the kittens will begin to accept the solid food and become less and less dependent on the mother for food. Do you know how to train a kitten?
Weaning Kittens from Bottle or Their Mother
You need to begin holding a piece of kitten food near their lips. Allow the kitten to smell the food. Then slowly, very slowly push the kitten food into their mouths. Allow the kitten to take its time and swallow the food. Then repeat the process, till it begins to learn accept the solid food. Do not keep the kitten totally away from milk. Begin by feeding it just half a teaspoon of kitten food. Then, allow it to continue feeding milk from its mother or bottle. Do not feed a kitten cow's milk, in case you are bottle feeding kittens. It may cause diarrhea or stomach upset. Feed them half a teaspoon of food up to one week. Then serve food in a plate, not a bowl. The kitten will begin to eat from the plate and then leave some food in the plate. This will help the kitten eat it up, when ever it feels hungry. Gradually, it will begin to avoid nursing from the mother or drinking milk from bottle and will eat only solid food. You can know more about how to litter train a kitten.
A few kittens are very stubborn and will not eat anything, but want mother's milk. The best way to make them eat is place food on your finger and bring it over to their lips to eat. This finger feeding method will work as they will think they are sucking on their mother's nipple. So do not mind if your fingers get a nip or two. If you have an exceptionally stubborn kitten, then you need to begin feeding them semi-solid food. You need to mix some soft meaty foods with water. This will make the consistency of the food similar to mother's milk. Once it tastes meat, it will gradually forget milk.
A growing kitten needs specially formulated foods that are rich in proteins, vitamins and calories. Make sure you bring home cat food that is specially made for kittens and not for senior cats. Taking care of kittens will help them grow into healthy, happy cats. The process of weaning kittens will take about 4 to 6 weeks and most of the kittens will be weaned by the age of 8 to 10 weeks old. This is all about weaning kittens that you should try to take your little fur balls of mother's milk.
Age for Weaning Kittens
Weaning kittens is a process that helps kittens wean away from their mother's milk and get ready to eat more of solid food. When you begin to wean a kitten, it will become more and more independent of its mother. Therefore, it is important that you handle the process of weaning kittens well. The right age for weaning kittens is around 4 weeks. Early weaning kittens should be avoided as it may harm the sensitive, underdeveloped digestive system of the kitten. You should wait till the kitten has opened its eyes and is able to focus. The little one should be able to stand on this feet steady, before you introduce any kind of solid food. Get more information on stages of kitten development.
How to Begin Weaning Kittens from their Mother
You should not abruptly pull away a kitten from its mother. A kitten learns a lot from the mother like how to use a litter box, hunt prey and even play. So, you should begin slowly when the kitten is about 4 weeks old. Place the kitten in a separate room away from its mother. Keep them here for a few hours about 3 to 4 hours. Then, when they look sufficiently hungry and thirsty, serve them with a bowl of cat food and water. Gradually, the kittens will begin to accept the solid food and become less and less dependent on the mother for food. Do you know how to train a kitten?
Weaning Kittens from Bottle or Their Mother
You need to begin holding a piece of kitten food near their lips. Allow the kitten to smell the food. Then slowly, very slowly push the kitten food into their mouths. Allow the kitten to take its time and swallow the food. Then repeat the process, till it begins to learn accept the solid food. Do not keep the kitten totally away from milk. Begin by feeding it just half a teaspoon of kitten food. Then, allow it to continue feeding milk from its mother or bottle. Do not feed a kitten cow's milk, in case you are bottle feeding kittens. It may cause diarrhea or stomach upset. Feed them half a teaspoon of food up to one week. Then serve food in a plate, not a bowl. The kitten will begin to eat from the plate and then leave some food in the plate. This will help the kitten eat it up, when ever it feels hungry. Gradually, it will begin to avoid nursing from the mother or drinking milk from bottle and will eat only solid food. You can know more about how to litter train a kitten.
A few kittens are very stubborn and will not eat anything, but want mother's milk. The best way to make them eat is place food on your finger and bring it over to their lips to eat. This finger feeding method will work as they will think they are sucking on their mother's nipple. So do not mind if your fingers get a nip or two. If you have an exceptionally stubborn kitten, then you need to begin feeding them semi-solid food. You need to mix some soft meaty foods with water. This will make the consistency of the food similar to mother's milk. Once it tastes meat, it will gradually forget milk.
A growing kitten needs specially formulated foods that are rich in proteins, vitamins and calories. Make sure you bring home cat food that is specially made for kittens and not for senior cats. Taking care of kittens will help them grow into healthy, happy cats. The process of weaning kittens will take about 4 to 6 weeks and most of the kittens will be weaned by the age of 8 to 10 weeks old. This is all about weaning kittens that you should try to take your little fur balls of mother's milk.
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