Well, now that we’ve figured out how old your kittens are we need to figure out what you’re going to feed them.

From birth to about 4 weeks of age, you’re going to be feeding them a milk replacer. The most popular/most used brand is KMR by PetAg and many vets and shelters recommend it. There are several other brands on the market that are comparable, but the most important thing is to select one and stick with it, otherwise kittens can suffer from digestive upset. In kittens, diarrhea can be a life-threatening situation so it’s important to keep their nutrition consistent.

If you must switch formulas, the best way to go about it is to mix half of the old formula with half of the new one and feed as usual. After a couple of days, mix 3/4 of the new formula with 1/4 of the old. Do this for another few days (for a total of at least 5 days) to make sure they are adjusting well, then switch completely to the new formula.

At 4 weeks, kittens usually begin to wean themselves. You’ll notice that they start chewing the nipple of the bottle, biting your fingers and hands while feeding and generally making a pest of themselves. Weaning formula can be purchased and used in a bottle if they’re growing and still on the bottle, as it has more calories and nutrition.

For solids, I try to start off with Babycat Instinctive by Royal Canin, because it’s a nice soft canned food formulated for kittens up to 16 weeks with tons of protein, calories and an aroma that seems to attract them to the bowl. Mixing it with a little formula is fine, or for stubborn kittens you can mix some into the formula in their bottle and get them used to the taste that way. I start calling them stubborn when they’re still on the bottle at 6-8 weeks, but most will start at least sucking on the canned food before that.

Once they’ve reached 10-12 weeks or so you can start them on dry kitten food. My fosters usually have been quarantined and integrated into what I call Gen Pop (I shouldn’t watch so much OZ) by this time so they want to do what the big cats are doing. Once again with the Royal Canin, I like Babycat 34. It’s got teeny-tiny kibbles that are easy on tiny teeth and easy to moisten with water or formula. They can then move up to Kitten 36 at 4 months. As much as I love RC, it’s kind of expensive so any quality kitten food such as Iams, Science Diet or Eukanuba is also fine.

Kittens should be allowed to eat as much as they want up until they are spayed or neutered, at which time the change in hormones will cause a change in their metabolism and they can be started on the road to adult cat food.

Now that you know what you’re going to be feeding, you need to know how to feed it. Next time we’ll talk about using the bottle. Any questions?

Well, looks like SOMEONE has been in the bushes again. Or under the house. In either case, you’ve now got yourself a tiny handful of “OH GOD SO HUNGRY” and may not know what to do with it.

First things first: you’re going to want to know how old it is. Are its eyes and/or ears open? Does it have any teeth? Is there still an umbilical cord attached? These are important questions to answer because they will tell you how to proceed with the kitten as far as nutrition.

Newborn kittens retain their umbilical cord for 3-5 days after birth. If you find one and the stump is still wet, it’s still fresh out of the uterus and there is a good chance if you leave it alone the queen will come back and take care of it. Go about your business and come back in several hours to check on it. Mother cats are fiercely protective and will often move their kittens if you mess with them, so don’t be shocked if you come back and there’s no kitten to be found.

The eyes open around a week to 10 days of age and they will be blue for the first 6-8 weeks of age. The ear canals open slightly sooner than the eyes. Kittens don’t see well until about 10 weeks, so don’t immediately assume that they’re blind until they’re 12 weeks or older. I’ve made that mistake and now we have Rufus.

Teeth don’t show up until about 3-4 weeks and by that time you’re looking at a kitten who will possibly be in the middle of weaning. These kittens may or may not need bottle supplementation, but it has been my experience that they’re harder to get onto a bottle because they’re used to their mother’s taste and smell.

Taking these things into consideration, you’ll probably have a good idea of how old the kitten is. Next time we’ll discuss formula and nutrition. Questions thus far?