The first weeks of a kitten’s life, it is completely and totally dependent on its mother. If the kitten is taken from the mother, or if you find orphaned kittens, then they will need to be taken care of by humans to survive. With proper care, orphaned kittens have a good chance of survival.

Raising newborn kittens without a mother requires feeding the kittens, keeping the kittens warm, and helping the kitten eliminate.

Try to Locate a Foster Mom

Ideally, orphaned kittens can go to a foster mom. Many times, when a cat is nursing her own kittens, she will be able to help an orphaned kitten. The surrogate mother will be able to nurse the newborn kitten and the baby kitten will grow up with the rest of the litter.

If a no mother is not available, then a human can take on the difficult job or raising a baby kitten.

Newborn Kittens Require Warmth

You will need:

• Heating Pad
• Towel
• Kitten Sleeping Area

Newborn kittens are completely dependent of their mother to keep warm. Therefore, when you are raising abandoned kittens, you have to make sure that the kittens stay warm at all times.

Wrap a heating pad around a towel and place it in the kittens’ sleeping area. With no mother, the abandoned or orphan kittens will need the heat to stay warm and to regulate the body temperature.

It is very important you monitor the heat generated from the heating pad. It should be warm but not hot. Additionally, the kittens should be able to walk away from the heat if they get too hot.

Feeding Newborn Kittens

You will need:

• Kitten replacement formula
• Small feeding bottle
• Towel

Kittens grow at a fast rate and will need plenty of nourishment during this time. Kittens will require bottle feeding until they are around 8 weeks of age. It is important never to give the newborn kitten cow’s milk because they cannot digest it properly. Therefore, a suitable kitten replacement formula is required.

Take the kitten by the scruff of the neck. When you have a good grip, attempt to feed the kitten the formula by either squirting the formula in the mouth or allowing the kitten to suck from the bottle.

If the kitten paws and scratches at you when feeding, wrap the kitten in a towel. Not only will the towel keep the kitten warm, it will prevent the baby kitten from scratching you as you feed it.

Newborn kittens will eat every 1 to 2 hours for the first three weeks.

Help the Kitten Eliminate Waste

You will need:

• Gauze
• Warm Water

Newborn kittens cannot eliminate without the help of the mother. In most cases, the mother licks the anal area of her litter to promote elimination. As surrogate, you will have to mimic this action. Of course, you will not need to lick the area. That is why you need gauze.

It is best to use gauze since it mimics the roughness of the mother’s tongue. Kittens should be wiped after every feeding to stimulate the elimination process. You will need to do this until the kittens are 4 weeks of age.

At 4 weeks, you can begin introducing a litter box. The litter box will need low sides so the kitten can climb in and out with ease.

Begin Weaning the Kitten at 4 Weeks

You will need:

• Kitten replacement formula
• Canned Kitten Food
• Shallow Feeding Bowl

A mother kitten will begin weaning her newborn kittens around 4 weeks of age and so should you. At 4 weeks, the kittens are able to smell and can start eating solid food. Many kittens will take to this naturally and it should not be a problem

Begin by putting the formula in a shallow bowl with the canned kitten food. As time passes, you will want to increase the kitten food while decreasing the formula. Keep in mind, your kitten still does not need cow’s milk.

By the time the kitten is 12 weeks old, it should be completely off kitten formula and solely on kitten food. Around 7 weeks, you will want to introduce dry cat food as well. At this point, the teeth should be in and the kitten should be able to chew kitten food with ease.

Handling a Newborn Kitten

Kittens require lots of love to grow up social. This means gently petting and holding the kitten so it can begin to trust humans. If there are small children in the house, make sure the kids do not handle the baby kittens. The kittens are extremely fragile and young children are not suitable playmates for newborn kittens.

Children can begin holding the kittens around 12-16 weeks.

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