Unfortunately, in life it can happen that newborn kittens are left without their mother. In this case, a huge responsibility for the initial care of the kitten and for its further upbringing falls on the shoulders of a person.
A newborn kitten is a small living happiness
It is important to know that kittens are born deaf and blind, but from the very first days they have a fairly strong sense of touch and smell. A kitten in its first hours of life is looking for cat's nipples, and on the fourth day it can independently stimulate the flow of mother's milk into its mouth with its paws. This is where the complexity of the initial care of a newborn kitten lies!
The fact is that there is no substitute for breast milk, the best way out of this situation is to replace the foster-cat. But even here you can face difficulties: many cats refuse to feed other people's kittens, starting to bite them. In this case, a person has to, by all means, feed a small and defenseless creature on his own.
How to feed a newborn kitten?
Since cats are mammals, in the first days of its life a newborn creature needs exclusively milk. In principle, in the absence of a nursing cat, ordinary packaged milk from the store will do for this. Just do not skimp on the price - the best choice would be milk of medium (2.5% -3.5) or high (6%) fat content. A pinch of sugar (or a drop of honey) must be added to this product.
Then the milk should be slightly warmed up (up to 30 ° C) and feeding the animal should be started. In the first days of a kitten's life, he should eat milk every 2-3 hours, i.e. day and night. On each new day, the milk portion should be increased by one teaspoon. After 10 days, a little porridge should be introduced into the kitten's diet. Their preparation is identical to the preparation of cereals for newborns. The kitten should be fed from a small bottle with a nipple. In no case should you try to feed the animal with a pipette or even a spoon!
Within a month, the kitten will be able to digest meat, but it needs to be fed only with dietary varieties. A pea-sized ball is rolled out of the meat, and then gently placed in the baby's mouth. It is worth noting that it is not necessary to greatly entice a small kitten with meat, since this can negatively affect the work of his digestive system. There is no need to rush the kitten to eat, you need to wait patiently while he chews the meat. At the end of 7 weeks, you can transfer the baby to complete food for kittens.
Caring for a newborn kitten
It is not enough to be able to feed newborn kittens. You need to know how to look after them. For example, a kitten needs to be washed. True, this should not be done in the same way as in the case of a child: it will be sufficient to simply wipe his fur with a damp cloth. No shampoos! The kitten must sleep somewhere. To do this, you need to make a special "nest".
A "nest" can be any box or box that allows you to maintain a warm temperature inside, because the kitten is still very small and weak, it needs additional warmth. One more point should be noted: usually kittens are warmed by their mother - they cuddle up to her warm body. Since mom is not there, you will need to use a heating pad wrapped in a towel. And one more thing: if possible, you do not need to take the kitten in your arms very often, since this is real stress for him.
