How Long Can 2 Week Old Kittens Go Without Feeding

Neonatal kittens can t control their own body temperature until they are at least three weeks old and get cold easily which can be life threatening.

How long can 2 week old kittens go without feeding. 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. Feed weak kittens or ones not eating enough more frequently. Healthy cats can survive for a week or more without food and three days without water. Yes i know the idea of waking up every 3 4 hours to feed the kitten sounds exhausting but it is what they need in order to get the nutrients to grow.

Weeks two and three feeding schedules. However a sick cat s body is already weakened and the effect will be magnified further by starvation or dehydration. Encourage eating and hydration if your cat doesn t eat for 24 hours and or doesn t drink for 12 hours. If they are sleeping for longer periods during the night do not wake them to feed.

A newborn kitten can only digest milk and more specifically the milk from a female cat. Not only do they need the warmth that their mother provides they also need the nutrition and antibodies found in their mother s milk. A sick cat should never go without food for more than 48 hours or 24 hours without water. Kittens 2 to 4 weeks of age should eat every 3 4 hours.

If a kitten is nursing from its mother you ll have to depend on how much the kitten weighs to know whether or not it is consuming enough food. This is another reason why kittens are not allowed to be taken from their mother s care until they are at least six weeks old. By a week old our kittens were feeding roughly every 2 5 3hrs and mama started leaving the nest more often to have abit of time to herself but often near by by still. From the moment you find them keep the kittens warm and watch out for signs of chilling i e listlessness and cool to the touch and hold off on bottle feeding until the kittens have completely warmed up.

A 2 week old kitten needs to be fed at least 10 14 mls of formula and water combination every 3 4 hours even at night. For now you need to get used to actually feeding the kittens.