Rescued Kitten Feeding Advice

[shorttooth]

Hello all - first time poster here. If this has been posted in the wrong place please do let me know but my partner and I are looking for some kitten feeding advice.

To give you a little background, on Boxing Day my girlfriend and I drove for an hour to the coast. When we arrived, we heard what was obviously a small animal and distress and upon inspection discovered a beautiful black kitten which had been trapped under the bonnet of our car! Amazingly he was unharmed, we took him to a vet who confirmed there were no injuries and was very healthy. So we have of course adopted the little man, as we could trace no owner and he wasn't microchipped. He has been with us in our London flat since we found him!

Now, at the time the vet suspected he was about 8 weeks old but we actually think (based on a second opinion) that he was slightly younger than that at the time. So we suspect he is now 9 weeks old. His weight is 820 grams.

We want an opinion on the right quantities to feed him as he is slightly underweight for his age. At the moment we have Applaws dry kitten food and Natures Menu kitten wet food. We have decided that we will try this feeding schedule:

Morning - 25g wet, 15g dry
Afternoon - 25g wet
Evening - 25g wet, 15g dry

Any opinions on the quantity (or the kitten food choices) would be very much appreciated as we want to ensure he is getting the right amounts at the right times!

[booktigger]

If possible, I'd give him 4 meals a day. When I foster kittens,I give them a pouch and then adjust to suit, I've never weighed biscuits out for kittens. I assume the vet flead and wormed him?

[alanc]

Hi and well done for taking this little chap on. It is a very long time (37 years) since I last had a stray kitten - an 8 week old stray black female. The only rule I had with Sally was shovel as much in as she would eat! For a small kitten (and she was smaller than your lad) she ate a lot for the first few weeks. Looking at what you are feeding, and considering he is underweight, I think I would feed a bit more if he will eat it.

[Janey]

I haven’t had a kitten since we adopted our very first cat, and I remember asking Cats Protection (who we adopted our from) and she said feed what she wants as cats rarely overeat. I’ve always freely fed my cats pouches a few times a day as they seem to prefer to graze, and always some dry food down, and they’ve been fine, I’ve never weighed food. If your kitten is underweight especially, I personally would always leave something down for him to eat.

[fjm]

I agree - I would free feed him if you can, and let him eat as much as he likes whenever he likes. Cats are much better at managing their intake than dogs, and are designed to eat many mouse sized meals a day. Many years ago I included mince beef and raw egg yolk in my rescue kitten's diet; now I feed my cats on complete frozen meats (defrosted, either raw or cooked). Both your choices look to be good quality - my only other suggestion would be to feed a range of flavours, varieties and brands, and to offer the occasional meal of easily available alternatives like sardines and scrambled eggs. That way you avoid the problem of a cat who will only eat one food which is discontinued or otherwise unavailable...!

[Sniper1]

My very experienced advice is don't limit his feeding over all but limit his dry food to a daily snack dry food is not the best option for cats whatever the quality,add fresh food to his diet such as fish,chicken,mince etc,and don't worry about how much he eats while he is still young let him eat as much as he likes and enjoy and treasure him your very lucky

[HarryAzhar]

For very young kittens, you will need to acquire kitten milk replacer and some feeding devices. Many veterinarians will use an ordinary eye dropper or a small syringe as a means of dispensing the milk replacer to the kitten.

Most pet stores or veterinary clinics have nursing bottles, too, but be alert to the fact that some kittens cannot suck the contents through the small nipple. You may need to actually squeeze the milk out for the kitten while having the nipple in the kitty's mouth. Warm it up a little, too, under the hot water faucet.

If it is after hours at your local animal hospital, your short-term solution will be to mix an egg yolk with a can of evaporated milk (make sure it is not the sweetened condensed milk). This is only a temporary "solution" and should only be used for a couple of feedings.

[Lilith]

Another alternative (for newborns) was told to me by my vet; I had 3, whose mother was knocked out by a caesarean. This vet said, weak saline-glucose (as I remember half a tsp salt and 2 tsp glucose powder to a pint cooled boiled water but if anyone's in this situation please check with the vet to be safe.) I'd phoned up in the middle of the night as the little things needed some nourishment. Again, as Harry says, this is VERY short-term. Also, if feeding newborns/tinies, if their mother can't wash them, remember to massage under their tails with damp cotton wool after feeding to stimulate them ... ah, Niagara!

I was very lucky with my girl and her three waifs; a friend had offered a nursing queen as wet-nurse but the following day poor Annie woke up and demanded her kittens (who were on a heated pad) and I was able to ring my friend with the news that she 'was replete with milk and motherhood!'

Omg I was worried though.

How's your guy going on, Shorttooth? He'll be beginning to grow up and make his presence felt by now - what a thing to do, stowaway like that! So glad you took him in