How to raise an orphan kitten on the bottle: warmth, milk and care
Raising a kitten just a few days old is possible, but it is demanding work: feeds every few hours, through the night too, constant warmth and daily monitoring. The order matters a great deal: warmth first, then the vet and the right milk, and after that a routine that mimics what its mother would do. This guide is no substitute for a vet, but it will help you avoid the mistakes that kill the most kittens.
First, make sure it really is an orphan
Many “abandoned” kittens aren’t: their mother has gone to eat or is moving the litter one by one. If you find them clean, together and calm, watch from a distance for two or three hours before touching them. No bottle can match their mother, and a feral cat may not come back if she sees you nearby. Only step in if they are cold, dirty, crying non-stop or in immediate danger, or if the mother hasn’t appeared for several hours or you know she has died. If the mother is around but is a colony cat, a rescue can help you take in the whole family, which is always the best option for the kittens.
Warmth before food
A kitten under three or four weeks old cannot regulate its temperature, and cold kills it sooner than hunger. If it feels cold to the touch, especially in the mouth and paw pads, warm it up gradually against your body, under your clothes, or wrapped in a towel next to a hot water bottle. Never feed it while it is cold: its gut is not working and the milk can do it serious harm. For the nest, use a box with a blanket and a gentle heat source under one half only, such as a wrapped hot water bottle or a heat mat on a low setting, so it can move away if it gets too warm. As a guide, 30 to 32 °C (86 to 90 °F) in the first week, about 29 °C (84 °F) in the second, 27 °C (81 °F) in the third and 24 °C (75 °F) from the fourth onwards.
To the vet, as soon as possible
Take it to the vet that same day or first thing the next. They will tell you roughly how old it is, whether it is dehydrated or has parasites, an infection or a problem such as a cleft palate, which stops it suckling, and will show you how to bottle-feed and stimulate it. In Spain, a first consultation costs around 30 to 60 €. To estimate its age yourself: if it still has the stump of the umbilical cord, it is under a week old; if its eyes are closed, under ten to fourteen days; with its eyes open and its ears still folded, about two weeks; if it walks clumsily, about three; if it already has teeth and walks well, four or more. Its weight helps too: about 100 g (3.5 oz) at birth and roughly another 100 g for each week.
Which milk, and which never
Only kitten milk replacer, powdered or liquid, sold at vet clinics and pet shops; in Spain a tin costs around 15 to 30 € and a bottle kit with teats 5 to 10 €. Never cow’s milk: it contains lactose, which most kittens can’t digest well, and its make-up is very different from a cat’s milk; it causes diarrhoea that is extremely dangerous in such a small kitten. Nor goat’s milk on its own, human baby formula, sugar water or homemade recipes from the internet. If it is night-time and you have no milk replacer, prioritise warmth: a warm kitten copes better for a few hours than one with a stomach full of the wrong milk. Some 24-hour emergency clinics stock it.
How to prepare and give the bottle
Make up the milk following the instructions on the pack, with the exact proportions, and give it lukewarm, at around 37 or 38 °C (99 or 100 °F): test a few drops on the inside of your wrist, as you would for a baby. Make each feed fresh and throw away any leftovers. The kitten should be on its tummy, standing on all four legs on a towel or your lap, with its head tilted slightly up, as it would feed from its mother. Never on its back like a human baby: that way milk can go into the lungs. Offer it the teat, let it find it and suck on its own, and don’t squeeze the bottle. The hole in the teat should let a drop fall when you turn the bottle upside down, not a stream.
How often and how much
As a guide, in the first week it needs feeding every two to three hours, through the night too. In the second, every three to four hours. In the third, every four to five, and night feeds can be spaced out a little more. From the fourth week, every five to six hours, while you start on mush. The amount depends on its weight and the milk you use: follow the chart on the pack and your vet’s advice. A kitten that has fed well has a rounded but not tight belly, lets go of the teat and falls asleep. Don’t force it to carry on. If after each feed you hold it against your shoulder and pat its back gently, you will help it bring up the air.
Stimulating it to wee and poo
Kittens can’t urinate or defecate on their own until three or four weeks: their mother stimulates them by licking. You will do it after every feed with a cotton pad or gauze dampened in lukewarm water, gently rubbing the genital and anal area with short strokes until it wees. It should wee at every feed; normal urine is pale yellow, and if it is dark or scanty the kitten may be dehydrated. Poo usually comes once or several times a day, or every day and a half, pasty in texture and yellowish or light brown. If it goes more than two days without a poo, or has diarrhoea, see the vet. Clean it well afterwards with a damp cloth and dry it, so the skin doesn’t get sore.
Weigh it every day
Weigh the kitten every day at the same time, before a feed, on kitchen scales, and write it down. A kitten that is doing well gains 10 to 15 g (about half an ounce) a day, around 100 g (3.5 oz) a week. It is the best sign that you are getting it right, and also the first alarm: a kitten that doesn’t gain weight for a day deserves attention, and one that loses weight two days running needs a vet even if it seems fine. Look at its skin as well: if, when you gently pinch the scruff, it is slow to fall back into place, it may be dehydrated. And at its behaviour: a healthy kitten sleeps between feeds and sucks eagerly; one that cries all the time or is limp is not well.
When to go to the vet without waiting
Go the same day if the kitten is cold and doesn’t pick up with warmth, if it won’t suck or lets go straight away, if milk comes out of its nose or it coughs while feeding, if it breathes noisily or with its mouth open, if it cries inconsolably or is listless, if it has diarrhoea, if it loses weight, if it doesn’t wee over several feeds or its urine is very dark, if its belly is swollen and hard, or if its eyes are swollen with discharge or pus. Milk from the nose is especially serious: it can mean milk has gone into the lungs, and aspiration pneumonia moves very fast in a kitten. In these cases, one vet visit too many is better than one too few.
Don’t do it alone
Raising a kitten a few days old, with feeds every two hours day and night for weeks, wears anyone out. Many rescues have foster homes that specialise in bottle babies and can take it on, help you with milk and supplies or share the shifts with you. Ask your vet too: sometimes they know of a cat nursing a litter who might accept an orphan as a foster mother, which is the best thing that could happen to it. If you keep it, share the night feeds with someone else. And prepare yourself emotionally: even if you do everything right, very young kittens without a mother are fragile and some don’t make it. It is not your fault.
Growing up without a mother or littermates
From four weeks, start weaning with mush on a plate and a low-rimmed litter tray, and cut down the bottles gradually. A kitten raised only with people doesn’t learn from littermates to control the strength of its bites and tends to play rougher. So always play with toys, never with your hands, and if possible let it live early on with another kitten or a calm, vaccinated adult cat. Vaccinations start at around eight weeks, and worming earlier, as your vet advises. With patience, a bottle-raised orphan can grow into an adult cat as balanced and affectionate as any other.
Warmth first, and never food while the kitten is cold. Then the vet and kitten milk replacer, never cow’s milk. Bottle on its tummy every 2 to 3 hours in the first week, stimulate it to wee after every feed and weigh it daily: it should gain 10 to 15 g a day. Milk from the nose, cold that won’t lift, diarrhoea or weight loss: vet that day.
Educational content from Michipedia, translated from the Spanish original. It does not replace the advice of a vet or a feline behaviour specialist. Every cat is an individual.