Feeding Kittens

This picture shows one of the kittens being fed. Jo, the nurse who is hand rearing them, is using a good quality kitten milk replacer, called Cimicat. It is very important that a proper cat milk replacer is used and not just a generic ´baby animal´ one. Also, you must NEVER use cows milk, as this would likely kill the kittens as they would be unable to digest it.

We are feeding the kittens using a syringe with a teat attached. It took them a day or so to get used to it, it is quite different from mum! At first they were weak as they hadn´t been fed for a while but they are very good now. They are fed every few hours and are now taking 5-10mls per feed.

See how Jo is ensuring the kitten is sitting upright when she feeds, this makes it easier for the kitten to swallow. She is using the plunger of the syringe to push the milk into the kittens mouth, but only when it suckles. This way she knows the kitten is swallowing and the milk will go into the stomach. If she pushed the milk in when he wasn´t suckling, it is possible the milk would trickle into the lungs and this could be fatal.