I have 6 kittens (mom was a stray who never left my house so i took her in). The mom cat is feeding them well. Just wondering when I am suppose to start feeding them kitten food? They are about 4 weeks old (just today). Also, i have to find good homes for them (keeping 1 - letting only people i know well take the rest) - will the mom cat be devastated when they leave? I wont let anyone take them until they are 8 weeks old. Partly because I cant bare to see them go and partly because i thought I read not to seperate them until that age.
Thanks!
Answers:
They can eat kitty food as soon as 6 weeks old. Hope this helps. Enjoy your new kitten.
Actually about between 5-7 weeks mom will start showing them how to look for cat food and showing them how to use a litter box. So if the kittens are inside I would start putting out more food around this time so mom can show them how to do everything.
You might notice them going to eat the food that you leave for their mom around 6 weeks. Just a tip: My kittens fared better on the wet cat food than the dry for the first little while. So to help with weaning them off the mom when it's time, you might want to offer them wet food.
The mom won't be devastated once you start adopting the kittens out. She'll hardly notice and she'll start to into heat soon after they're gone, so you might want to get her spayed once she's in the proper condition, when she's no longer producing milk.
I'd suggest waiting to adopt them out until they are 8-weeks-old, but some people will say 10 or 12-weeks-old. Try to keep them in pairs too, then they'll have playmates.
Kitens start eatign food at 3-4 weeks, so offer then some now! Good Luck finding homes for them! And wait at least till there 8-12 wks!!
At 6 weeks you can start to feed them kitten food. I would put kitten food by them and every now and then put the kittens by the food they might surprise you and start eating, putting them in the litter box as soon as you can, train them now to use the cat litter box. the mother well not be devastated when the are gone. Best of luck.
They have another few weeks to go...kittens are usually weaned between 8 and 10 weeks of age.
Talk to your vet.
EMT
I envy you! Kittens are so much fun when they are young. Ok, you can start feeding the mom kitten chow now (if you arent doing that already) The kittens at 4 weeks really dont have strong enough teeth to eat the food dry, but at 5-6 weeks, if you moisten the kitten chow with a little warm water and put a plate of it out when you feed mom, the kittens will start to nibble for a few days then start in on the dry. Kittens are like kids though, so dont expect them all to eat right away. They will decide when they are ready. Please dont feed them can food -- you will waste your money. Their sense of smell doesnt like the strong odor of it and they will just walk away (or maybe cover it and walk away, lol). As for whether the mom will be devastated -- she will probably look for the kittens you give away for a few days, and cry (but its just her way of calling them, not sadness) but after a few days she will be fine. It helps that you are keeping one, she will have company. She will also decide when to stop nursing, so let her do that -- dont force her to stop. Have fun!
my cat just had kittens about 12 or 13 weeks ago. they actually started to eat hard food when they was about four weeks old. they have stopped drinking milk now and i also give them some of the wet food. the seem to really like it.
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