Table of contents:
- Feeding is the most critical process
- Feeding schedule for newborn kittens
- It is preferable to feed kittens more often, but in smaller portions
Video: Nursing Father's Advice
2024 Author: Molly Page | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:30
This information is necessary for those who have had the misfortune to bring up kittens left from birth without a mother-cat, as well as a warning to everyone whose cats are going to get kittens - it does not matter whether they are purebred cats or not.
Shortly before giving birth, it is worth undergoing an ultrasound examination (ultrasound) with the cat, the equipment for which is already available in many clinics. During the examination, you will at least be told the number of embryos.
Most cats give birth on their own, however, the best thing is to agree with the veterinarian, or at least with the one who independently delivered the birth to cats. And to agree so that such a person could come at any time of the day or night.
You must have a veterinary first aid kit in the house; from the equipment it is worth keeping a thermometer, blunt tweezers, scissors with blunt ends (it is also good to have special scissors with rounded blades, which are very convenient for shearing hair, for example, near the nipples of a cat), a pipette, gauze, cotton wool, bandage, plaster (preferably wide), several disposable syringes of small volume, a pair of syringes with a volume of 10-20 ml. Of the preparations - iodine tincture (5-10%), 3% hydrogen peroxide (store in a loosely closed container of dark glass!), Potassium permanganate, boric acid in the form of a 2-3% solution, liquid paraffin, castor oil, activated carbon, analgin, diphenhydramine, sulfadimezin, furacilin, phthalazole. If you are preparing to add the offspring of a cat, you should additionally keep ampicillin, ampoules with distilled water for injection, ampoules with saline, chlorhexidine,glucose for subcutaneous injection (in case the cat does not eat for a long time after giving birth and its body is exhausted).
Before giving birth, it is worth keeping in mind a nursing cat, which could, if necessary, become a donor for your kittens - after all, there are often cases when a cat, especially an inexperienced one, refuses to feed its own newborns. Usually, lactating cats are more likely to accept other people's kittens than reject them.
In the first two days of life, kittens receive from the mother-cat not only particularly nutritious colostrum, but also primary immunity. Be sure to keep this in mind, if you are raising kittens artificially from birth, treat the possibility of kittens getting sick with increased attention!
If the kittens were born healthy, then caring for them is not very difficult and accessible to everyone, but for at least three weeks you will not be able to leave them for more than 3-4 hours - neither day nor night. You, apparently, should correctly assess your strength.
Feeding is the most critical process
Feeding schedule for newborn kittens
1-13 days - every 2-3 hours day and night;
14-24 days - every 2-3 hours during the day and once at night;
Day 25-35 - every 3-4 hours during the day and once at night.
In reality, the feeding schedule may look like this:
up to day 5 inclusive - 11 times a day: 08:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00, 22:00, 24: 00, 03:00, 06:00;
from 6 days - 8 times a day: 08:00, 11:00, 14:00, 17:00, 20:00, 23:00, 01:00, 05:00;
from the 25th day - 6 times a day: 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, 20:00, 24:00, 05:00.
It is preferable to feed kittens more often, but in smaller portions
Related article Kittens and Colostrum
In the very first days, kittens are fed from a conventional medical pipette. Try not to help the kitten very much. For the development of his sucking reflex, it is necessary for the kitten to suck the contents of the pipette itself. Unfortunately, the pipette holds little liquid and a lot of air, so give the kitten time to regurgitate air.
On the fifth or sixth day, you can switch to feeding from a plastic disposable syringe (10-20 ml for hypodermic injection) with a spout located at the edge of the syringe. Such syringes have a rather tight plunger, so that by adjusting the pressure on the plunger, you can only help the kitten to suck milk on its own. Remember that if a kitten's sucking reflex is lost, then it is practically impossible to restore, even if after a while you manage to find a nursing cat.
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