How to Bottle Feed Kittens

Jukin Media

Expert cat foster Cheri teaches how to feed kittens in this episode of How To Foster Kittens Subscribe to The Pet Collective: http://bit.ly/tpcsub Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thepetcollective Twitter: https://twitter.com/petcollectiveTV Tumblr: http://thepetcollective.tumblr.com Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/petcollectivetv/ Google+: http://gplus.to/thepetcollective  Please Check out http://catsatthestudios.com/ and Cats at the Studios Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/catsatthestudios   Cheri Friedman, Ryan Kemp, Gabriel Evans

Transcript

00:00I'm a foster and rescuer, but I specialize in bottle babies.

00:09I've been doing it for about 12 years now.

00:12There's such a need for people to bottle feed the kittens.

00:15Oftentimes when they end up in the shelter, they don't have the manpower to feed them

00:20every three to four hours, so by the end of the night, if a foster hasn't been found,

00:25they believe it's more humane to put the kittens down.

00:28Before anything happens, they do make a few phone calls, they do send out a few emails.

00:33It's really helpful if a lot more people knew how to bottle feed.

00:38These kittens are about three weeks old, so they're eating approximately every three to

00:43four hours.

00:44Kittens will let you know when they're hungry.

00:46You'll hear shrieks, but if you think you're someone who wouldn't know, you could set an

00:51alarm for every three hours and wake yourself up.

00:53If they scream in the middle of the night, it's always three in the morning.

00:57You get up, you feed them.

00:59What you're going to need is formula, a baby bottle, blankets, a heating pad, towel, and

01:05kittens.

01:06It's really important that the babies are warm before you start to feed them, and that

01:12what you feed them is warm.

01:14Kittens can't really regulate their body temperature until about five to six weeks.

01:19One thing I always keep in the house is a heating pad, and I cover it with soft blankets.

01:24To safe it, I put the heating pad underneath that like a towel.

01:28Let's say you don't have a heating pad.

01:30You can take a water bottle, put hot water in it, and stick it underneath some blankets.

01:37First thing you do is you need your formula.

01:39I'm going to make a whole bottle, which is two scoops of the formula, five scoops of

01:46hot water.

01:47I stir it up so there's no lumps.

01:51Use warm water so that it has the temperature that the mother's milk would be.

01:55Pour it into the baby bottle, and now after you have your bottle done, you grab your baby.

02:02When they're first really little, sometimes they don't have the suction.

02:05They're coming off of having nursed off their mom, so they don't really understand the bottle.

02:10You want to kind of put your hands next to their mouth so they can get the suction.

02:18Once they get the suction, you can let go, and just let them continue to eat.

02:25When they're nursing on the mom, they're pushing at her nipples, so sometimes when they're

02:30on the bottle, they do the same.

02:33Some people call it making biscuits.

02:35You're hungry.

02:37Now that's a full belly.

02:41Are you happy?

02:43Yeah.

02:44Look at that face.

02:47He's content, and already at this age, he's purring.

02:51Can you hear it?

02:56This is a Russian Blue.

02:58They're really popular.

02:59He will tell me exactly how hungry he is.

03:02Yes.

03:03Are you hungry?

03:04Tell me.

03:05What?

03:06Yeah.

03:07You're a mess.

03:08You're getting milky everywhere.

03:12And see how he doesn't want it anymore?

03:14He's done.

03:15He's let me know he's done.

03:17So we wipe his little face.

03:22This one's really hungry, isn't going to wait to be positioned for the bottle.

03:26And they'll just suck until they're done.

03:37Now that he's chewing, I know he's done.

03:39Wipe him up a little.

03:41At this age, people think, oh my goodness, they have blue eyes, but they always have

03:47blue eyes at this age.

03:48About the five week mark, their eyes start to change.

03:51Look at those blue eyes.

03:55If you have any questions, let me know in the comments section.

03:58Be sure to check out my other videos on how to foster kittens.

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