How Often and How Much Should You Feed Your Kitten? It's important to feed your tiny newcomer small portions at regular intervals, up to 6 times a day. Some veterinarians prefer free-feeding, meaning providing unlimited kitten food all day long, tapering off to meal eating at around four to six months of age.
Most kittens under six weeks old will drink 2-22 ml of formula or cat milk per day. Most kittens over six weeks old should eat ¼ to 1 and ¾ cups of dry food per day.
Kitten Feeding
By the time you bring her home, she should be eating solid canned food or kibble - about 4 times a day. a high-quality kitten formulation like BLUE Life Protection Formula® is optimal for proper nourishment during these rapid growth spurts.
Feed meals every 6-8 hours. Your veterinarian will figure out the total daily calories that your kitten needs, and you can divide that between the number of meals per day.
In general, a kitten between 8 weeks to 4 months can be left alone for about 4 hours. After 6 months, they can spend close to 8 hours on their own. Leaving your cat alone all day is not ideal which is why you might want to consider adopting two pets so they can keep each other company while you are not home.
From a kitten's first few weeks of life up until they reach four months, their metabolism is at its all-time high as they are constantly growing and using larger amounts of nutrients. It's almost impossible to overfeed your kitten during this time.
Take care not to overfeed or underfeed your kitten. Your vet will be able to weigh your kitten, assess your kitten's body condition score and provide advice. Please ensure clean fresh drinking water is available at all times but do not provide milk as this can cause gastrointestinal upsets.
Your kitten is still small.
Or he could be hurt if you or your spouse roll over on him accidentally. Wait until he's of a size to make that an unlikely risk. My main rule of thumb is to wait until the kitten is old enough to get up on the bed on his own — typically around his 6-month birthday.
Fortunately, cats instinctively like to bury their waste, so there's actually very little training involved getting a kitten to use a litter box. Many kittens may already know how to use one when you adopt them, but if they're younger than 8 weeks old, they may still need some assistance.
At 8 weeks, a rapidly growing kitten will need 3-5 pouches of wet food per day which means you will be feeding them every 2-3 hours. By the time your kitten reaches 6 months of age, their growth rate will have slowed down and meals will reduce to between 2-4 per day.
Young kittens have very small stomachs and are best started on 4 small meals a day – if that's not possible, leave out some dry food so they can nibble. At 4 months old, this can be dropped to 3 meals daily. At 6 months old, this can be dropped to 2 meals daily.
Unfortunately, overfeeding can also lead to health problems in kittens and cats. The good news is, there are some pretty simple rules when it comes to how often to feed newborn kittens. The amount you need to feed your kitten depends on its age and weight.
Your kitten will sleep best if they have a cosy, snug bed or blanket, placed somewhere they can sleep undisturbed while life goes on around them. Although adult cats like to climb and sleep on high perches, such as on top of furniture, it's safest for young kittens if their beds are low down to begin with.
As tempting as it may be, avoid letting your kitten sleep on your bed or with the kids. As well as being dangerous for your kitten, cats carry some diseases that can be transmitted to humans. To avoid injury, it's best to keep your kitten in a secure space while you're both sleeping.
Kittens younger than four months of age should not be left alone for more than a couple of hours. Over four months, they can handle up to five hours. When they turn six months, they should be able to handle your 8-hour workday. Keep in mind that each cat is unique.
Kittens & Young Cats
Kittens under 4 months old should not be left on their own for more than 4 hours at a time. If because of your lifestyle, your cat will need to get used to time alone, begin training your kitten by gradually increasing the amount of time you are out of the house.
Refrain from responding to your cat's night-time meowing.
If your cat is meowing from disability, dementia, pain, or unrequited romance, a vet can help. But if your pet just wants attention while you're catching up on sleep, you might try ignoring the behavior.
Kitten-Proof Your Home
Kittens between two and four months of age should only be left alone four to six hours at a time, not a full workday. When they're a little older, around six months, you can be gone all day. But they'll certainly be happier if you can check in on them at lunchtime or ask a friend to stop by.
At three weeks, they generally try to climb out of their box. At four weeks, all of the kittens should be able to walk, run, and play. Kittens should begin eating solid food about 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 weeks of age.
When should you start giving kittens water? Kittens will generally begin to wean around three to four weeks of age, at which point it's time to start giving them a little solid food. At the same time, you should provide them with fresh, clean drinking water in a shallow bowl.
For example, Blue Buffalo Wilderness Kitten Chicken Grain-Free Canned Cat Food advises that you feed your kitten as much as they'll eat in three or four daily feedings until they're 20 weeks old. After that, ½ can of food per pound of body weight every day is appropriate until 30 weeks.
“When a kitten is full, it will stop eating,” she says. “A newborn kitten will turn its head when it has had enough.” Kittens who are 2 to 4 weeks of age should be bottle fed every 3 to 4 hours. For more details about when to feed a kitten formula, check out this feeding schedule chart.
To pick up the kitten, people should gently pick them up with one hand supporting the front/chest area, and the other under his back feet/bottom. “Bring them close to your body – they're fragile and you don't want to drop them or have them jump out of your arms if they're scared by a noise.”