When to start weaning kittens
How to Wean Kittens
hey everyone I'm in my kitten dress
today I'm going to teach you guys all
about weaning kittens weaning is the
process of transitioning from the
nursing stage to eating independently so
if you're raising work and kittens
you've been bottle feeding them but
eventually once they're old enough and
healthy enough you're going to want to
start the weaning process for most
orphans the weaning process starts
around four to four and a half weeks of
age but this is going to vary depending
on their weight their behavior and their
health in this video I'm going to show
you guys my 3-step weaning process to
take kittens from bottle feeding to
eating independently in one week in step
one I'm going to show you guys how to
start introducing slurry in a bottle so
the supplies you're going to need for
weaning are going to be first the
formula that you've already had the
kittens on and then you're going to want
the food that you're going to transition
them on to which should be a wet kitten
food make sure that it's a can and make
sure it says kitten on it so what I'm
going to do to lean them is I'm going to
start to create what I call a slurry
slurry is just a mix of what they were
on and what they're going to so what I
have started to do is actually mix their
slurry in a blender bottle and then feed
it to them in a way that they recognize
which is a bottle this method is going
to help introduce to them the new food
and the new proteins without it being a
confusing and messy process for them
first just make formula like you usually
would but make it in a blender bottle a
blender bottle is a smoothy bottle that
has a little metal ball in it and it
helps shake up everything and keep it
clump free so I'm going to get some warm
water going make sure that you make the
formula to the specifications on your
products so this is one part formula and
two parts warm water okay so I've got my
formula in my water in the blender
bottle and now I'm going to add my wet
kitten food so I'm going to introduce
about half a can
make sure the top is on tight and then
shake it so now we've got our smarmy I'm
going to pour this into their bottle and
you can see it made a very very smooth
consistency it's almost like a naked
juice but kind of gross full of getting
food and formula all right so we're
going to start with the printer and
fritter is about four and a half weeks
old so you would want to win them at the
right age of course you can wean way too
early and it can be really dangerous for
them so I always start around four to
four and a half weeks old he's been on
the bottle since he was about two weeks
old so he's really comfortable like this
but this is helping him learn about meet
the Blender Bottle is so awesome because
it helps reduce any chokes the really
smooth slurry for them and a really nice
transition was that good refill jelly is
the smallest of the litter
she is also about four and a half weeks
old and she is a really good bottle
feeder I love the weaning phase of
kittens because they kind of have this
moment of realization once they eat meat
where they go wait a minute I am a tiny
predator and they totally become crazy
jellies a little sloppy but I promise
you it's much sloppier if you try to do
this in a dish the first time that you
meet bottle me bottle meat bottle me
bottle are you a predator yeah that's
good stuff that's the big kid stuff
last but not least big boy bear claw so
you only want to wean kittens when you
know that they're in good health if they
are showing signs that they're already
having a hard time eating just keep them
on what they're on if they're healthy
between four and four and a half weeks
is a great time to start mr. perfect oh
I just want to eat you so with a slurry
bottle you can gradually change the
ratio of the meat and formula so that
they become more and more accustomed to
eating the new food I usually give
kittens a slurry bottle for about two to
three days when I'm winning them looks
they're totally comfortable with that I
move on to step two teaching them how to
eat slurry out of a dish for Phase two
of weaning we're going to teach them how
to eat out of a dish I recommend that
you get a very very shallow dish
something that is really really short
like an inch short almost like a plate
with a lip another thing I recommend is
puppy pads they don't always understand
what you're trying to do when you show
them a dish of food for the first time
so a lot of the time they can end up
walking through it causing a huge mess
so now we're going to make our slurry
we're going to do a mixture again of the
formula they've been eating and a wet
food that says kitten on it so I don't
recommend making your slurry too liquidy
I recommend making it a little bit
chunky a little bit thick almost more
like the texture of homemade hummus or
something like that so that they have
something they can really wrap their
teeth around don't forget that they
might not understand this the first time
so you also want to prepare a standard
bottle like you've been doing just to
supplement so kids get so used to
associating your hands with food that
when you show that I'm a bowl they often
still go for your hands thinking that
that's where the food is of course that
makes sense because for an orphan they
think of your hands kind of as their mom
so they probably will understand that
there's food in there I just
not understand fully how to get Wow
so this is awesome bear claw and fritter
are understanding it right away
well fritter is standing in it with his
two front paws which is why they got the
pee pads jelly do you understand it so
you can see jellies very hungry but she
doesn't understand what they're doing
she is the smallest of the litter and
this is more typical to what I would see
is them just really not getting it so if
you have a kitten that's not
understanding you can actually feed them
some on your finger because they're much
more likely to understand it if it's on
your hand so jellies eating it off my
finger this is how I get them into the
dish is actually to show it to them on
my finger and then just gradually put my
finger into the dish so look at that now
she's in there she's still eating it off
my hand and not out of the dish but if I
keep scooping it and then slowly move my
finger away voila this is a beautiful
sight this means you're so close to
being done bottle feeding now if you're
not sure that they got full meals worth
you can also supplement with the bottle
still so I did make them a bottle just
in case jelly did you get enough
so remember you want them to still get a
full meal if they didn't totally
understand it still supplement with the
bottle until you're sure that they're
getting as much food as they need I love
you guys they're so smart
whoa the last step is to seal the deal
and give them just wet food in a dish
you only want to do this when they're
totally ready and they're confidently
eating slurry at this point you can also
introduce water to them hi babies
are you guys hungry alright so this is
phase 3 I'm going to put them on their
new diet which is just a can of wet
kitten food with a little bit of water
mixed into it let's see if you guys can
do this are you ready I think they're
ready
yeah yeah we did it they might still
step in it a little bit that's okay this
is why we have the pee pads it's a
little messy but look at this progress
so in just one week we got them from
being on a bottle to being on a slurry
bottle to eating slurry out of a dish
and now they are fully transitioned to
their wet food diet this is so awesome
because once they're fully accustomed to
this they are going to be on their way
to getting adopted remember that this
can be a messy and slow process but
don't lose hope so don't take an
attitude like if you don't eat this you
don't eat anything there's no such thing
as tough love for kittens so meet them
where they are don't forget you can
learn so much more at kitten lady org
happy weaning
you
