Taking care of a kitten can be a difficult thing to do sometimes, especially when you don’t know what you should do. Some people might pet kitten that is a month old while other people might taking care of a kitten since newborn. If you want to know about how to care newborn kitten, there are several things that you should notice. This article will give you a quick guide about newborn kitten care so that you can care your newborn kitten in more effective and efficient way.
Newborn Kitten Care Week By Week
When you lookout of a kitten, especially a newborn, you would like to note your kitten’s development week by week. Basically, the kittens will develop in different rate. However, there are some basic things that you can do to take care of your newborn kitten in more optimal way. Below are the developments of kitten week by week and what type of care that you should give to your newborn kitten.
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Week 1. Kitten is basically born deaf and blind. Kitten eyes are closed and the ears will be folded down. In the first week, kitten will basically just eat and sleep. So, the most important thing that you should do in this first week is making sure that the mother is providing enough foods for your kitten. When the kitten is awake, the kitten will stay close to the mother. Newborn kitten is still unable to regulate body temperatures.
So you need to make sure that the newborn kitten is kept warm. You also need to keep the environment at constant temperature as well to prevent hyperthermia or hypothermia. In this first week, the kitten will be depended on the mother. So you better not separate the kitten from the mother.
Week 2, kitten eyes will start to open. However, their vision remains not excellent at this age. Never force to open kitten eyes since you would possibly damage your kitten eyes. The kitten eyes are still susceptible to infection. concentrate to any sign of sty like yellow secretions or crustiness. the perfect weight gain at this age is about seven to 10 grams per day. Kitten sense of smell is additionally developing also .
Week 3. In week three, kitten sense of smell continues to develop. Your kitten might also start to shakily move. Some kittens might even try to explore and walk at this age. The kitten ears will be erect and the baby teeth will begin to appear. At this age, kitten will start to purr.
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Week 4. The sense of smell will fully mature at this age. The kitten will be more active and will be interact more with the littermates. The kitten may additionally attempt to explore the surface world of the kittening box. The eyesight remains improving albeit it’s still not fully developed.. At this age the mother will start to leave the kitten for short period of time. You can start to provide small bowl of water for your kitten so that your kitten can drink.
Week 5. The sight is fully developed at this age. You can start the weaning process. Weaning process is considered as one of the most essential parts of newborn kitten care. You can start by mixing dry or canned cat food with some formula for kitten to create baby food. The kitten might not eat the food immediately so you need to be patient. Kitten at this age will explore more often. The kitten might also start to use kitten litter tray as well. Make sure that the kitten bedding is made of material that can be cleaned easily.
Week 6 to 8. You need to give first vaccination to your kitten at age 6 weeks. The kitten will be extremely active at this age. At the age of 6 to 8 weeks, your role is quite important in socialization process. Take time to play with your kitten and offer your kitten planet of cuddles. You also need to touch your kitten mouth, ears, and paws quite frequently. You also need to perform basic health inspections such as claw trimming and medicating if it’s necessary. At the age of 6 to 8 weeks, your kitten should eat four small meals per day.
Those are several basic steps about newborn kitten care
Foods for Newborn Kitten
newborn kitten careOther important thing that you should consider in newborn kitten care is what types of food that you should give to your newborn kitten. Basically, there are several types of food that you can feed to your newborn kitten based on the kitten’s age. From week first to week 4, you can feed your kitten using kitten formula. At the age of five weeks, you can start to feed your kitten a baby food that is made of the combination between dry or canned cat food and kitten formula. At the game of six weeks and above, you can start giving your kitten solid cat food.
How Often the Newborn Kitten Eats
The frequency of newborn kitten eats the food is also a very important thing that you need to notice in taking care the newborn kitten. Basically, the newborn kitten will eat based on the kitten’s age. Newborn kitten need to be fed frequently about every 2 to 3 hours. When your kitten reaches 3 ounces weight, you need to feed the kitten using kitten formula every 24 hours. You can contact your veterinarian to get some advices about how often you should feed your newborn kitten.
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When Newborn Kitten Eyes Will Open
As mentioned above, kitten is basically born deaf and blind. The newborn kitten eyes will start to open when the kitten is 2 weeks old. It’s very important for you to not to force open your kitten eyes since it might cause damage to your kitten eyes. Even though the kitten eyes are opened at the age of two weeks, the kitten vision is still not very good. You also need to pay attention to the symptoms of eyes infection that might appear. Paying attention to the eyes infection is considered as one of the most important parts in newborn kitten care.