HELP: Bottle Feeding Kittens
Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2021 5:16 am
I have a question & if anyone is able to assist me, I would greatly appreciate it!
I am bottle feeding 5 young kittens. I'm not sure what happened to the mother. She disappeared a few days ago and I haven't seen her since. The kitten's eyes are mostly open, some of their ears are still folded, and some of them already have their incisors coming through, so I assume they're approximately 2-3 weeks old.
The kittens are eating approximately 1 - 1.5 tablespoons of Kitten Milk Replacer per feeding. They are ALL really bad about chewing the side of the bottle, squirming and meowing like crazy while they're eating though. I tried swaddling them in tea towels to keep them warm and somewhat still while they're feeding, but they squirm right out of them. Feeding them while they're on their heated blanket helps some and they will drink (from the center of their mouths like they normally should) a little bit, but they quickly go back to squirming, meowing, and chewing on the bottle. I normally have to feed them a little, put them down for a few minutes, feed them a little more, and repeat until they've all had their fill. Does anyone have any other tips that might help me? I would REALLY appreciate it. I just want want to help them stay well fed and healthy!
I also help them use the bathroom after each feeding, I bathed them to remove any fleas that were on them when I first brought them inside, and I make a new bottle for each kitten so the milk stays warm and fresh for each one.
They are absolutely BEAUTIFUL, btw. There are 2 calico ones (F), a white one with grey spots (F), a solid black one (M), and a solid grey one (M). <3
I am bottle feeding 5 young kittens. I'm not sure what happened to the mother. She disappeared a few days ago and I haven't seen her since. The kitten's eyes are mostly open, some of their ears are still folded, and some of them already have their incisors coming through, so I assume they're approximately 2-3 weeks old.
The kittens are eating approximately 1 - 1.5 tablespoons of Kitten Milk Replacer per feeding. They are ALL really bad about chewing the side of the bottle, squirming and meowing like crazy while they're eating though. I tried swaddling them in tea towels to keep them warm and somewhat still while they're feeding, but they squirm right out of them. Feeding them while they're on their heated blanket helps some and they will drink (from the center of their mouths like they normally should) a little bit, but they quickly go back to squirming, meowing, and chewing on the bottle. I normally have to feed them a little, put them down for a few minutes, feed them a little more, and repeat until they've all had their fill. Does anyone have any other tips that might help me? I would REALLY appreciate it. I just want want to help them stay well fed and healthy!
I also help them use the bathroom after each feeding, I bathed them to remove any fleas that were on them when I first brought them inside, and I make a new bottle for each kitten so the milk stays warm and fresh for each one.
They are absolutely BEAUTIFUL, btw. There are 2 calico ones (F), a white one with grey spots (F), a solid black one (M), and a solid grey one (M). <3