Mary Allen
Do you find a helpless, abandoned kitten and want to help immediately? Here’s what you can do now!
First, you have to be aware that a bottle kitten needs a lot of time and attention. Depending on how old the kitten is, it needs its bottle every two to six hours – and of course at night too.
The “Bottle Plan”
How often you have to feed the kitten depends on the age of the little ball of fur:
- The first 14 days: every 2 hours
- 15-25 days: every 3 hours
- 25 – 35 days: every 4 hours, no more at night
- From the 5th week, milk is given alternately with wet food
- From the 6th week, there is only wet food
To feed a bottle-fed child, you need a bottle and breast-replacement milk, which you can find at Fressnapf, Dehner, or even Amazon.
We have had good experiences with the “Royal Canin substitute milk”. The starter box contains a bottle, three milk powder packets, and spare teats.
Royal Canin milk substitute is an immediately soluble milk powder that is mixed with lukewarm water. It supports the development of vital functions with a nutrient complex (taurine, essential amino acids, and vitamins) and at the same time contains high-quality milk proteins and fructooligosaccharides for optimal digestion.
This is how you should hold the kitten
Place the kitten on your lap, facing away from you. Now place your hand on the kitten’s stomach and gently try to open its mouth with your thumb and forefinger. Now put the bottle in your mouth with your other hand.
At first, the kitten will resist a bit, but the following applies: don’t give up and be patient!
From the fifth week of life, the kitten is given milk and wet food alternately. Good wet food is always slightly more expensive than inferior products. But the “cheap” ones tend to be high in sugar, which is generally not good for the kitten.
This is how the toilet works
Besides feeding, there are other things to consider with a kitten. One of the most important is regular “emptying”.
Since the kitten is not yet having a bowel movement or urinating on its own, you should gently massage the tummy with a moistened, lukewarm cloth after giving milk.
Also later, when the kitten gets wet food, please make sure that the kitten has regular bowel movements.
If you decide to keep the kitten, remember to get the kitten vaccinated and wormed, and deflead. At some point in its development, you can train your cat to use the litter box. You can find out how to do this here: Get your cat used to the litter box.
Provide company
A kitten doesn’t like to be alone, so you should bring a second kitten of the same age with you soon, they will then learn a lot from each other.
Most importantly, everyone would like to help a helpless little kitten, but if you don’t know what to do or don’t have the time, it’s better to take the little creature to an animal shelter or sanctuary.