What Milk Can Baby Kittens Drink
Cow s milk can cause tummy upset and diarrhea and contains too much lactose and not enough protein fat and energy.
What milk can baby kittens drink. Cow s milk can upset a kitten s stomach and should be used as a last resort. The following nutrients are found in regular cow s milk. You can find these formulas in pet supply stores along with the other items necessary to feed your little one such as nursing bottles and nipples. The aspca states that this milk provides all of a kitten s required nourishment.
Kittens drink milk from their mothers but adult cats do not need any form of milk to thrive. All young kittens must have milk in order to survive. Goat milk for kittens is a little more salutary than cow s milk but the difference between them is. The weaning process begins around 4 5 weeks of age but prior to that their only source of nutrition is milk.
It is extremely important that you do not give a young kitten cow s milk. The only type of milk that is suitable for managing the specific nutritional demands of kittens is milk from lactating cats period. These formulas come in either canned liquid or powdered form. The only milk that is healthy for kittens to drink is either their mother s or they will need a kitten milk replacer which can also be called kmr or kitten milk formula.
However you may feed orphan kittens goat s milk available at many large grocery stores or supermarkets. Milk does contain some beneficial ingredients but it s not necessary to give your cat milk. A newborn kitten can only digest milk and more specifically the milk from a female cat. No other sustenance not even water is yet required.
Kitten milk replacement kittens orphaned prior to 4 weeks old need to drink a kitten milk replacement formula. For instance people increasingly ask whether goat milk for cats is an acceptable treat. Water makes up 70 of a cat s body and is vital for survival. Kittens should be drinking water by the time they are 4 to 6 weeks of age.
Feeding the wrong sort of milk such as cow s milk can have short term and long term effects including diarrhea dehydration nutritional deficiencies and long term health problems due to poor growth. The best possible milk is from the kitten s mother. Young kittens need milk either from their mother or if orphaned rejected a milk supplement if a foster mother can t be found.