First, be sure the kittens really are orphans. A mother cat can be away for hours, and kittens do far better with her than with any of us. Our guide to found kittens shows how to check.
If she isn’t coming back, the kittens need someone to do everything she did: keep them warm, feed them, and help them go to the toilet. It’s hard work, but it’s simple, and the routine below is what vets and rescues use.
The short version
- Warm the kitten first. Never feed a cold kitten.
- Kitten milk replacer only. Never cow’s or goat’s milk.
- Feed on its belly, never on its back.
- Help it pee and poo before and after every feed.
- Weigh it every day. It should gain 10–15 g a day.
- Not feeding, cold or weak: call a vet the same day.
Warmth comes first
Newborn kittens can’t keep themselves warm. In the nest they pile together against their mother. Without her, they chill fast, and a cold kitten can’t digest milk.
PDSA, the UK vet charity, says to keep newborns at 29–32 °C for the first week to ten days, then lower it slowly to about 21 °C by four to six weeks. A box with soft towels and a heat pad or hot water bottle wrapped in a towel works well. Cats Protection says the heat should be around body temperature, not hotter, and the kittens must have room to crawl away from it.
If a kitten feels cool to the touch, warm it slowly before you offer any milk. Best Friends Animal Society puts it plainly: never attempt to feed a cold kitten. If it doesn’t respond within 20 to 30 minutes of warming, it needs a vet.
The right milk
Buy kitten milk replacer, a powder or liquid made for kittens, from a vet or pet shop. Cow’s and goat’s milk are hard for kittens to digest and cause diarrhoea, which is dangerous at this size. The “cat milk” sold in supermarkets as a treat isn’t suitable either.
Mix it exactly as the packet says. Cats Protection warns that overfeeding can be as dangerous as underfeeding. Warm it to about 35 °C and test a drop on your wrist: you shouldn’t really feel it. Use a small kitten feeding bottle, and wash it well after every feed.
How often to feed
Roughly, going by PDSA’s guide:
- Birth to 2 weeks. Every 2 hours, through the night too.
- 3 weeks. You can usually stretch to every 3 hours.
- 4 weeks. Every 3 hours, and start offering wet kitten food.
- 5 weeks. Milk from a saucer, with a bottle only if needed.
- 6–7 weeks. Wet kitten food and fresh water. Weaned.
The amount is on the milk packet, by weight. Tiny or weak kittens may need smaller feeds more often. Not sure how old yours is? Try our kitten age guesser or the kitten age chart.
How to give a feed
- Belly down. Put the kitten on its tummy on a towel, the way it would lie to suckle from its mother. PDSA says never to feed a kitten on its back, because it can breathe the milk in.
- Let it suck. Offer the teat and let the kitten pull. Don’t squeeze the bottle to squirt milk in.
- Watch the nose. Milk bubbling from the nose means it’s going the wrong way. Stop, wipe the kitten clean, make sure it’s breathing normally, then try again more slowly.
- Burp it. Like a baby. Hold it on its tummy against your shoulder or in your lap and pat its back gently. Best Friends says you may need to burp it a couple of times each feed.
Helping it pee and poo
Young kittens can’t go to the toilet on their own. Their mother licks them to make them go. You do it with warm, damp cotton wool: gently rub the area under the tail, before and after each feed, until the kitten passes something. Then dry it.
Kittens need this help until about three weeks old. From about four weeks, Cats Protection says, putting them in a shallow litter tray encourages them to go on their own. A kitten should pee after every feed. If it hasn’t pooed for a day, speak to your vet.
Weigh it every day
Kitchen scales that show grams are the best tool you have. Weigh each kitten at the same time each day and write it down. Newborns weigh roughly 90 to 110 g. Cats Protection says they should gain about 10 to 15 g a day and double their birth weight by two weeks.
A kitten that stops gaining, or loses weight, is telling you something is wrong before it shows any other sign. Call the vet.
Weaning
Weaning starts at about three to four weeks. Offer a little wet kitten food mashed with some of the warm milk on a flat saucer. Most of it will end up on their faces at first. That’s fine. Keep up the bottle feeds while they learn, then slowly cut them back. PDSA says kittens should be fully weaned by six to seven weeks.
When to call a vet
Kittens go downhill fast. Ring a vet the same day if a kitten:
- Refuses to feed. Cats Protection says to speak to your vet urgently.
- Feels cold, or is quiet, floppy or weak.
- Has diarrhoea, or hasn’t pooed for a day.
- Isn’t peeing.
- Is twitching or having fits.
- Isn’t gaining weight, or is losing it.
It’s worth a vet visit soon after you take orphans on anyway. The vet can check them over, show you how to feed, and tell you when to start worming. A local cat rescue may also have experienced foster carers who can help, or take over.
Questions people ask
Can kittens drink cow’s milk?
No. Cow’s and goat’s milk are hard for kittens to digest and can cause diarrhoea. Use kitten milk replacer from a vet or pet shop.
How often do newborn kittens need feeding?
About every two hours, day and night, for the first two weeks. From three to four weeks you can usually stretch to every three hours.
When can kittens eat solid food?
Start offering wet kitten food at about four weeks. Most kittens are fully weaned by six to seven weeks.
This guide is general information, not veterinary advice. Orphan kittens are fragile, so ask a vet to check them as soon as you can.
Snap your bottle babies as they grow. One day they’ll be the cats you see on your street.
