How to wean kittens: when to start, what to feed them and how long it takes
Weaning is a gradual process that starts at around four weeks and isn’t finished until seven or eight. The mother runs most of it, and your part is to offer the right food at the right time, without rushing. Weaning done well gives you kittens that eat well, use the litter tray and learn from their mother everything she has to teach them.
When it starts
At about three and a half to four weeks, kittens already have their first teeth, walk confidently and start nosing around their mother’s bowl. That is the signal to begin offering solid food. At the same time, the mother starts spending less time in the nest and letting them suckle less, especially once their teeth hurt her. Nothing needs forcing: weaning is a gradual process in which mother’s milk slowly gives way to food, and kittens normally carry on suckling a little until seven or eight weeks. Kittens that stay with their mother also learn to eat by copying her.
The first mush
Start with a flat, shallow-rimmed plate and a very soft mush: mousse-style wet kitten food mixed with kitten milk replacer or lukewarm water until it is like a thick purée. Never cow’s milk: most kittens can’t digest lactose well and it gives them diarrhoea. Serve it lukewarm, at body temperature, when it smells stronger and tempts them more. At first they will step in the plate, get their faces messy and eat very little; that is normal. You can put a little mush on your finger and let them lick it, then bring your finger down to the plate. Remove whatever is left after half an hour, because wet food spoils quickly.
How many times a day
In the fourth and fifth weeks, offer the mush four or five times a day in small portions while they are still suckling. As they eat more, thicken the mix, using less milk and more food. Around the fifth or sixth week you can start adding dry kitten food soaked in lukewarm water until soft, then soak it less and less. By seven or eight weeks most kittens are eating dry or wet kitten food without trouble, spread over four meals a day. Always leave out a bowl of fresh water, shallow so they don’t fall in, and change it often: many learn to drink at this stage.
Which food to choose
Choose a food made specifically for kittens, dry or wet, of good quality and labelled as complete for growth. Kittens need more protein, more fat and a specific ratio of calcium to phosphorus than an adult, and adult food doesn’t provide it. It is better for them to get to know both wet and dry food from a young age, because cats tend to settle their texture preferences at this stage, and an adult that will only accept one type can be a problem the day it needs a special diet. In Spain, a tin of wet kitten food costs around 1 to 2 €, and a 2 kg (4.4 lb) bag of mid-range dry kitten food between 15 and 30 €.
The litter tray
Learning to use the litter tray goes hand in hand with weaning. At around four weeks, put a tray with a very low rim near the nest so they can climb in easily. A non-clumping litter is best, such as plant-based pellets or paper, because small kittens sometimes taste it and clumping litter can form balls in the stomach. After each meal or when they wake up, place them gently in the tray; many learn on their own by watching their mother, and the instinct to dig and cover does the rest. If one goes outside the tray, clean it up without scolding and put a little in the tray so the kitten links the smell. By eight weeks most are using it normally.
Diarrhoea and other problems
With the change of diet it is common for stools to soften a little for a few days. If it is mild and the kitten is active, eating and gaining weight, just go more slowly and don’t switch brands halfway through. But watery diarrhoea that lasts more than a day, with blood or mucus, or that comes with vomiting, listlessness or weight loss, needs a vet: in kittens this young dehydration sets in fast, and intestinal parasites such as giardia or coccidia are very common at this age. Keep weighing them once a week: a kitten that stops gaining weight during weaning is telling you something.
What the mother teaches
During weaning the mother does more than provide milk. She teaches the kittens to eat, to use the litter tray, to hunt through chasing games, to judge how hard to bite and to calm down, and they learn from one another how to get on with other cats. When the mother starts to rebuff them, moving away or giving a little growl if they keep trying to suckle, she is doing her job. Don’t step in unless there is real aggression. That is why kittens shouldn’t be separated before eight weeks, and ideally you should wait until ten or twelve: those extra weeks with their mother and littermates show in the adult cat’s character.
The mother during and after weaning
As the kittens eat more solid food and suckle less, the mother’s milk production drops of its own accord. You can gradually bring her portion back towards an adult’s, but without cutting it suddenly. Keep an eye on her mammary glands: if one becomes hard, hot or painful, see the vet, because it may be mastitis. Remember too that she can come back into season at this stage and fall pregnant again, so until she is spayed she must have no access to unneutered toms. Spaying is usually scheduled once nursing has finished, and now is the time to book it if you haven’t already.
Weaning a kitten without a mother
If you are bottle-feeding an orphan kitten, weaning follows the same timings, but you have to stand in for the mother. From four weeks, gradually offer mush on a plate while it is still having bottles, and cut down the bottle feeds as it eats more. At first it often tries to suckle from the plate or gets frustrated; be patient. If it is a lone kitten, introduce it as soon as possible to another kitten or a calm adult cat: without littermates, it will find it harder to learn not to bite hard. And always play with toys, never with your hands.
Before the new home
At about eight weeks it is time for the kittens’ first full vet visit: a check-up, worming on schedule and the first vaccination. Before handing them over to their families they must be microchipped, and it is a good idea for each to go with a small bag of the food it is eating, so the move doesn’t coincide with a change of diet. Tell the adopters what it eats, how many times a day and what litter it uses. A properly weaned kitten that eats on its own, uses the litter tray, has had its first vaccination and has spent at least eight weeks with its mother is ready to make the leap.
Weaning begins at around four weeks with a mush of wet kitten food and kitten milk replacer (never cow’s milk), moves on to soaked kitten food around the fifth or sixth week and finishes at seven or eight. Alongside that, a low-rimmed litter tray with non-clumping litter. No rushing, and no separating from the mother before eight weeks.
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.