cow milk for kitties?

[bkterry]

Is it safe to supplement with cow milk for kittens? I have some kittens that turned up in our garage and I have no idea who or where the mommy is. Our neighbor across the street has many cats but I have no idea which cat had these and they won't claim them anyway. I found these kittens in our bag of dogfood (scared the crap outta me I might add), and they are pretty skinny so I'd say they haven't been nursing in a while. They look to be about 7 or 8 weeks old. They are eating dry catfood semi well but I was wondering if it would be safe to give them a little whole milk too to fatten them up...

 

[LinckHillPoultry]

Read my lower post

 

[d.k]

* We had one of our kittens die after we gave them cow's milk-- Just the one, and it was a long time ago (like more than 26 years) but, it was a horrible experience and I've never forgotten it. We felt so guilty and heartbroken. . . .

 

[Knight Hawk Ranch]

If they are 6-7 weeks old, a good quality kitten food should be enough.
Cows milk shouldn't hurt them but the kitten food will have everything in it they need at this point.
A good worming will help as well, make sure the wormer is safe for kittens.

 

[WriterofWords]

My vet said absolutely not when I asked previously. If you have evaporated milk use a little of that until you get to Wal Mart or a feedstore and get Kittylac or another form of kitty milk substitute. I've bottle fed a lot of babies. If they were old enough to get in the sack though, you might mix a little kitty lack with canned cat food and see if they can eat that. Check their teeth and see how prominent they are and if they might be weened already. Sounds like momma was moving them though and thought she found a safe place, keep an eye for her. If it's a safe area, put the babies in a box near the feedbag so momma can get to them if she comes back.

 

[LinckHillPoultry]

read this


It should be helpful

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

NO. Cows milk will cause diahreah, and kill the kittens. Go to the store and get KMR. If you cant take care of them, and the mother doesnt come around, take them to your local shelter, or cat rescue.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

NO!!

No cows milk for substitute milk. This goes for many critters from dogs and kittens to squirrels and rabbits. You can buy the substitute milk powder if these guys are too young to eat solids.

Sometimes young kittens can be taught to eat the canned cat food, if they do not have their teeth yet.

I think it's aweful that someone dropped them off. I think that is the case too, I don't think they found there own way into the dog food.

We would have people drop boxes of kittens off at the Vet's office, it would just piss me off. Because most of the time, the same people would call later that day and try to feed us some BS story of "I was driving to work and saw a box at the door. Was there something in that box?"

Like we couldn't figure out what happened..

Sorry, for the rant.

You need to buy replacement milk or soft canned food, if they do not have teeth. You can get any of this at a Walmart or Tractor Supply Company.

-Kim

 

[bkterry]

Thanks for the advice! I'm glad I asked first. The kittens have been eating hard food for a couple days now, so I'm hoping they will start putting some weight on. They do have teeth so I guess they probably have been weaned but so far no sign of a momma cat. We have two tomcats and a boxer so they may have scared her off if she tried to bring the kittens up to our house or in the garage.

 

[Bec]

If they have teeth they should be eating fine. Iams dry kitten food is nice because it is soft enough that you can crush it with your fingers. Another thing you can do to make them want to eat a little more is to get Gerber baby chicken and turkey, stage 1. My mom and I ran a kitten rescue for 10 years and that is how we weaned them. We would start by teaching them how to drink the KMR off of a plate or bowl. Them we would mix in some of the Gerber baby food. Next step is mixing gerber with dry food, then they would be totally on dry food. This took about 2 weeks to complete, but was always successful. Dry food is really good for their teeth throughout their whole lives.