All kittens must eat 5% of their body weight at each feeding. All kittens must be weighed before and after feeding!

Feeding instructions:

• Gather kittens’ feeding charts and some warm towels. 

• Warm formula up in the microwave until it is warmer than body temperature but not hot; test by dropping a few drops on the inside of your wrist. Stir or shake to eliminate any hot spots. Kitten must be kept warm during feeding -- wrap in towel or blanket, preferably on heating pad set to Low.

• Feed kitten upright or on belly in a prone position, NOT on its back like a human infant!

• Try the bottle first. Some kittens take awhile to latch on, so be patient! If kitten does not gain its 5% via the bottle, proceed w/ syringe feeding. Only use 1mL syringe.

• Watch for formula coming out of kitten’s nose or a rasping “wet” cough. This is called aspiration – it means the kitten has ingested formula into its lungs and is in danger of “drowning”. If one of your kittens is aspirating, you need to do two things:

  1. Immediately email bbfostermentor@austinpetsalive.org and bbrxtech@austinpetsalive.org. 

  2. Wait for about an hour to make sure all of the formula has come out of the kitten’s nose and then continue feeding. 

• Weigh kitten periodically throughout feeding process – the kitten is only done eating when it has gained its 5%.

• Thoroughly clean off any formula on kitten’s fur and dry kitten off. (Formula will stick and is very hard to remove if it dries and is also painful for the kitten!) 

• Weigh and record after-food weight!

­ After each meal, stimulate kitten w/ cotton ball or ­alcohol-free baby wipe to help with urine/stool bowel movement. The kitten will not always have to go, but it is crucial that this step is performed after every feeding. Failure to stimulate orphan kittens can lead to serious illness and/or death. 

Bottle babies should be switched to syringe gruel when they reach 3.5-4 weeks old (when all 4 canine teeth begin to grow in). Instead of KMR, kittens will now eat premium (only available at pet stores) canned kitten food mixed w/ water and blended to a smooth paste. 

It is important to note that the syringe gruel phase is, essentially, nothing more than a layover between nursing (formula or mama’s milk), and weaning (eating independently).  So, at this stage, you should make sure your kittens always have access to kibble, gruel, (canned food w/ water), and a bowl of water, as eventually they will decide to try it on their own!

Until that magical day, though, you will need to step in! Remember that just because you see your kittens eating on their own, this does not mean that they’re eating enough on their own to maintain their health. Too often, fosters assume that because they’ve witnessed their kittens eating kibble or gruel from a bowl, those kittens don’t need to be syringe fed anymore. This is not the case – and failure to follow the steps outlined above can lead to serious illness and/or death of kittens.

Again, kittens must eat 5% of their body weight at each feeding. Kittens must be weighed before and after feeding.

How to make syringe gruel:

You will need a blender! Blend approximately one can of food with 1/3 to 1/2 can water (double, triple, etc as needed). Your syringe gruel should be about the consistency of a milkshake, and you should be able to easily draw it up into a syringe. 

Feeding instructions: 

• ­ First, give your kitten the opportunity to eat independently! Offer kitten warmed up gruel and kibble in separate plates or shallow bowls. If the kitten shows no interest after a while, proceed with syringe feeding.

• With a syringe in your dominant hand, use your non-dominant index finger and thumb to grip the kitten’s head at their temples. Tilt kitten’s head back at about a 45-degree angle, using your palm to gently guide the kitten into a seated position.

• Draw warmed syringe gruel (microwave to a bit above lukewarm temp -- no more than a few seconds at a time) into 10mL syringe.

• Insert syringe into side of kitten’s mouth. Do not put syringe directly in front of kitten’s mouth (even if they try to position themselves this way!) as kitten could very easily choke.

• ­ Slowly plunge syringe gruel into kitten’s mouth, removing the syringe every few seconds to allow them to swallow.

• Weigh kitten periodically throughout feeding process – the kitten is only done eating when they have gained their 5%!

• ­ Always thoroughly clean off any gruel on the kitten’s fur. Dry kitten off well.

Not sure if you should be supplementing with syringe gruel? Check out our handy guide: To Syringe Feed or Not To Syringe Feed!

This is the last stage of kitten rearing – rejoice! 

The switch from needing to make sure kittens gain 5% at each meal to giving them more independence is not a magical “aha!” moment on your kitten’s part. It’s a process you’ll both need to work through very thoughtfully. When your kittens begin eating enough gruel (and potentially also kibble) on their own to gain weight consistently over 24 hours for three days in a row, you’re well on your way to setting your syringes aside!  

When kittens eat 5% of their body weight from the plate on their own, and/or they're gaining between meals on their own, you do not need to syringe feed to 5% at every meal. At this point, once the kitten has gained weight over three 24-hour periods (i.e. three days) in a row, your kitten is considered a gruelie! This means you no longer need to ensure 5% gains at any of their feedings, unless they lose weight for three meals in a row. Kittens can and do regress to needing to be syringe fed again, especially if they get sick, so you MUST still weigh kittens before each feeding (every 5-6 hours) to make sure they continue to gain weight from eating on their own. Weight loss is the number one reason kittens pass away in foster care! 

Remember when we mentioned that this transition is a process? If you notice that a kitten loses weight at three weigh-ins in a row, you’ll need to go back to making sure the kitten eats 5% of its body weight at each meal on that third loss. The transition process starts over at this point, and you’ll treat the kitten like a syringe gruel kitten, i.e. make sure it eats 5% of its body weight at each meal, until it gains three days in a row again. It’s relatively common for kittens to revert to needing to eat 5% at each meal and potentially be syringe fed, especially with kittens who are on the younger side. It can be an early indicator of a medical issue, so let your mentor know and keep an eye out for any symptoms, such as diarrhea or upper respiratory symptoms.

If you're not sure whether your kittens are ready to make the transition to more independence, please reach out to your mentor and send them your weight charts. They can help! 

Usually the easiest group of them all! Mom does most of the work, most of the time, but fosters with kitty families still need to be prepared to supplement the kittens if the kittens are not adequately gaining weight by nursing/eating on their own. We expect fosters with nursing families to be willing and able to supplement the kittens up to 2x/day, whether with a bottle or with syringe gruel. If your kittens are struggling, please reach out so that we can train you to supplement!

Read our full kitten-supplementing protocol here, and our handy presentation: To Supplement or Not To Supplement!