Important Basics In Taking Care Of New Born Kittens

Even if you’ve had years of experience with adult cats, taking care of newborn kittens is a whole new world.

Newborn Kittens eat differently, sleep differently, and need time to adjust to changes both inside their bodies and in the outside world.

Learn about newborn kittens basic needs.

Make Your Home Kitten-Proof

What, exactly, does kitten-proofing entail? Particularly if you already have older cats, what more do you need to do?

For one thing, newborn kittens are much more active and curious than older cats. Like human babies, they often satisfy your curiosity by chewing everything in site. For this reason, you should purchase all-natural cat litter—not the clumping clay variety that is commonly used with older cats.

Another element of kitten-proofing your home is giving the newborn kittens a safe place to be. This need not be an entire room, but it does need to be quiet and closed off from other animals.

After a few days, give the newborn kittens and the other animals some closely supervised time to get acquainted. If your newborn kittens have not been to the vet, keep it quarantined from other animals until you can be certain he doesn’t have any infectious diseases.

Give the animals a few weeks to get used to each other and don’t push too hard; before you know it, the safe room will be a thing of the past!

The First Visit to the Vet

The first visit to the vet should take place shortly after you’ve gotten your newborn kittens, particularly if it was a stray and you do not know its medical history.

This is particularly important if you have other household pets that could be infected if the newborn kittens have any communicable diseases. Until you take the new kitten to the vet, you will need to keep him away from the other pets.

At the veterinarian’s office, your newborn kittens will undergo a detailed physical exam. This will include looking at baby teeth to determine age, measuring temperature, palpating organs, listening to the heart, brushing fur for signs of fleas, and checking eyes and ears.

After the physical exam is complete, the vet will perform several lab tests, such as:

Fecal float checks for worms

Blood Tests check for FeLV and FIV viruses

Depending on your newborn kittens age when you first take her to the vet, she may be vaccinated. Vaccinations take place at 9 to 10 weeks of age. Newborn Kittens are given a booster shot at 12–14 weeks and possibly a Rabies vaccine, depending on local laws or if your cat is considered at risk.

Two procedures that may be taken care of at different times are spaying/neutering and declawing. Some vets prefer to spay/neuter at a younger age, as it may be better for the cat. You need to make a separate appointment for this.

Unlike spaying and neutering, declawing is a more debatable procedure. Learn more about the benefits and disadvantages of this procedure before you make a final decision.

Social Growth

In his first month and a half of growth, a newborn kittens experiences tremendous changes. Typically, new cat owners will not bring home newborn kittens until week 6, when it has been weaned off its mother’s milk.

For this reason, typically newborn kittens owners will be more involved in the social growth than physical growth.

If the mother was comfortable with humans, the kittens will usually learn that behavior and learn to socialize easily with people.

However, if your newborn kittens have not become accustomed to being handled by humans by the age of six weeks, it will be difficult to train this behavior later, and the cat may always be somewhat more skittish than others.

Be sure to teach your newborn kittens at a young age that hands are not toys—they feed, pet and hold the newborn kittens.

Introducing Canned Food

Newborn kittens need many more nutrients than adult cats. However; with smaller stomachs they must each more regularly.

A six-week-old kitten should have four daily feedings until he reaches 12 weeks of age. From 12 weeks to six months, she can take three daily feedings. After that point, feed your kitten once daily, like other adult cats.

When choosing food, keep your kitten’s health top priority. Do not feed your kitten:

Table scraps or milk

Dog food

Adult cat food

All of these may be easy options for you, the pet owner, but the kitten will not receive the nutrients she needs.

Instead, feed her a well-balanced diet of food made specifically for developing newborn kittens. Begin with canned food, which is more calorie-laden for energetic kittens. Later on, you can start supplementing with dry food.

Now that you’ve learned the basics of kitten care, bring home your new born kittens and enjoy the time you spend together. She’ll be an adult cat before you know it!