Feeding Schedule For New Born Kittens From Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook by:  Delbert G. Giffin, M.D. copyright 1983 by Howell Book House Inc. pg 319 Calculation the Amount to Feed: age in     Average           Calories                 CC of                CC of                  No. of       CC Weeks     Weight         Needed Per lb     KMR Per Day     Emergency           Feedings                                                                                        Formula/Day          Per Day   1                 4 oz                 190                     32cc                    48                        6           5cc   2                 7 oz                 175                     56cc                    77                        4          14cc   3                10 oz                150                     80cc                    90                        3          24cc   4                13 oz                125                    104cc                   104                       3         34cc   5                 1 lb                  100                    128cc                   128                      3          34cc To calculate th amount of formula to give at each feeding, weigh the kitten to determine how much formula to give per day and divide by the number of KMR (milk subsitute) per day (i.e., 4 ounces x 8 cc/ ounce).  Divide by the number of feedings (6), which gives 5 to 6 per feeding. Small, young kittens should be fed every four hours.  Older, larger kittens can manage on three meals a day.  However, if a kitten cannot take the required amount at each feeding, then the number of feedings should be increased. When a kitten has received an adequate supply of milk, his abdomen will feel full--but not tense or distened.  Milk may bubble out around his lips, particularly if you are using a nursing bottle.  It is important to avoid overfeeding, which produces diarrhea. HOW TO GIVE THE FORMULA Tube feeding has several advantages.  It takes about two minutes to complete each feeding.  No air is swallowed (no burping required).  It insures that a proper amount of formula is admisistered to each kitten.  It is the only satisfactory metod of feeding immature or sick kittens too weak to nurse. If Too much formula is injected, or if given too rapidly, it can be regurgitated.  This can lead to aspiration of formula and pneumonia.  The complication can be avoided if care is taken to monitor the weight of the kitten and compute the correct amount.  Kittens fed by tube do not get a chance to suckle and must be kept in separate incubator compartments. Tube feeding is not difficult and can be mastered in a few minutes.  It requires a soft rubber catheter (size 5 French for smaller kittens - size 8 for larger kittens - which can be bought at a drugstore), a 10 or 20 cc plastic or glass syringe, and a gram scale to calculate the weight of each kitten and monitor his progress. A kitten's stomach is located at the level of his last rib.  Measure the tube from the mouth to the last rib and then mark the tube with a piece of tape.  Draw the formula into the syringe and warm it to body temperature by placing it in hot water.  Moisten the tube with formula, and then open the kitten's mouth and pass the tube slowly over his tongue and into his throat.  The tube will be too large to enter the smaller passage of the windpipe, so there is little danger of passing it the wrong way.  With steady pressure then kitten will begin to swallow the tube.  Pass it to the level of the mark.  Connect the syringe to the tube and slowly inject the formula down the tube and into the kitten's stomach. At about 14 days of age the windpipe of many kittens will become large enough to accommodate the smaller tube.  If the tube goes down the wrong way the kitten will begin to cough and choke.  Change to a larger tube (size 8 or 10 French); or by now the kitten may be strong enough to suckle from a bottle. COMMON FEEDING PROBLEMS Common feeding problems are overfeeding (which causes diarrhea) and underfeeding (causing failure to gain weight).  A steady weight gain at the rate of 10 grams or 1/3 ounce a day, and a normal stool (firm, yellowish), are good indications that you are feeding the right amount. Experience indicates that owners are much more likely to overfeed than underfeed orphan kittens. The best way to tell if this is happening is to look at the stools.  If a kitten is fed four times a day you can expect four to five stools, or about one stool after each feeding. A loose yellow stool indicates a mild degree of overfeeding.  Usually it responds to reducing the amount of formula by diluting it one-third with water.  As the stool returns to normal you can grdually restore the formula to full strength. With moderate overfeeding, there is more rapid movement of food through the intestinal tract, indicated by a greenish stool.  The color green is due to unabsorbed bile.  Two or three drops of kaopectate every four hours, along with a cutback in the strength of the formula, usually corrects this problem.   Unchecked overfeeding leads to a  depletion of digestive enzymes and causes a grayish diarrhea stool.  Eventually, when there is little or no digestion of formula, the stool looks like curdled mil,.  At this point the kitten is getting no nutrition and is becoming rapidly dehydrated.  Treat this diarrhea by diluting the formula 1/3 using water;  and give Kaopectate three drops per ounce body weight every three hours until the diarrhea is checked.

This page was last updated on: May 12, 2002