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Kittens’ bodies and brains are very fragile at this stage of their life; as such, they must be taken care of properly and given the right conditions to thrive.
Step 1: Make A Designated Place for Your Kittens
Kittens need a warm and soft environment when they’re young to stay safe and healthy; this will also aid in keeping the mom calm enough to continue caring for her kittens if you have her. A large cardboard box covered in blankets and small pillows should do well, but if you need a larger area you can use a closet and do the same padding process. Ensure the closet is kept at a warm temperature so as not to freeze the kittens.
“You should care for a kitten very carefully and constantly,” said sophomore Flynn Thurrman. “They can’t get too cold or be left alone for too long, and they have to be fed every few hours. If your kitten doesn’t have a mother, then you should bottle-feed them.”
Step 2: Feed Your Kittens
If your kittens have been orphaned, you will have to use kitten milk replacer (or KMR) to feed them: this can come in liquid or powdered form. To properly check how much to feed the kittens, you must weigh them every day to calculate the amount of formula they need. Kittens of different ages need to be fed at different times as well; the older a kitten is, the less often you need to feed them. For example, kittens only a week old need to be fed every two or so hours, but you can just not feed three-week-old kittens for up to eight hours until you wean them off the bottle and introduce them to solid foods.
If the kittens still have their mother then you can allow the mom to decide when they nurse, but she will need occasional breaks from her kittens so that she doesn’t start actively hating them. You will still need to wean the kittens off of her if she doesn’t do it herself over time.
“It’s important to pay attention to the kittens’ needs,” said junior Lily Simmons, “like how much food they need, if they need wet or dry food, and whether or not their food is causing problems.”
Step 3: Keep Your Kittens From Getting Any Parasites
Kittens are often hosts to many parasites that cause them pain and might even affect you, especially if the kittens are strays. Turmeric baths are effective in killing fleas and sometimes even ringworms but will dye your cat yellow temporarily; using flea combs during these baths will let you remove the remaining fleas in their fur.
Keep in mind that no matter what kind of bath you are giving to a kitten, do not put their head under the water or faucet. The only way you should be using water on their head is with a damp washcloth; dunking the kitten will only distress them further.
Step 4: Litter Box Training
Generally, you should start potty training your kittens around four weeks old, giving them litter boxes with low sides so that they can climb in easily is important so that they can actually get in to use the litter box. Cats instinctively bury their waste and have sensitive noses so having litter that is unscented and clumping, the clumping litter will also make it easier for you when it comes time to scoop the litter box out.
Introduce your kittens to the litter box one by one and let them explore on their own, after the introduction do not move the litter box. Keeping it in one place will help them go back if they want to familiarize themselves with it some more.
Once the kittens are familiar with the litter box, place them into it every time it seems they are about to go to the bathroom on the floor or anywhere else. Eventually, the kittens will get used to this and begin to use the litter box on their own.
Step 5: Playing With Your Kittens
Using your hands to play with your kittens will encourage them to be biters and play with you in a similar rough way even after they finish maturing, which will cause significant damage to you. Getting toys that they can play with on their own will let them be more independent and develop skills like chasing and how to properly pounce. If you do have toys, you can play with your kittens as well. Play for short sessions, only one or two a day, and let them catch the toy at the end of your playtime together.
“I didn’t really take care of her,” said senior Salma Perez, “but I know that my brother would play with her a lot, maybe three or four times a day.”
Specific toys to get would be, scratching posts, cat towers if you have the space and money (a small is fine), lasers, stuffed mice with small amounts of catnip, balls with feathers or bells, and cat teasers are all lovely options. Picking just one isn’t enough however, cats are very intelligent, and as such they need more stimulation than the average pet.
