Expert: Jessica - 11/14/2011

Question
I have adopted a kitten that was found in a  at approximate 2 weeks old.  She will be 5 weeks tomorrow and is now eating small amounts of wet kitten food and drinking KMR Milk replacement from a bowl. When is it appropriate to wean her from the milk and introduce her to water?  Thank you

Answer
Hi Rosi,

She can be introduced to water in a shallow saucer or by syringe at any time. If she wants to drink it, allow her to do so, but as she is eating wet food and having formula, she will not have much of a need for it right now. At this time, it will be mostly for introductory purposes.

At five weeks, I generally start to give my kittens one or two solid meals (wet food), and then follow with formula (by bottle, personally) if they desire it. The rest of the meals for the day, I give them only formula. The next week, I will replace another formula feeding with a solid meal (again, followed by the bottle, if they desire it). By 8 weeks of age, they are eating solid foods for all meals and are, for all practical purposes, weaned. But I still feed them formula by bottle after 2 or 3 meals so that they're able to slowly let go of their suckling reflex. During week 12, they will have one bottle a day, after a meal, and the next week, they are completely off formula. This is a lot more extended than the schedule that a lot of people use when bottle raising kittens, but it's closer to the natural weaning that a kitten would receive from mom if allowed to grow up without intervention.

But the bottom line is that definitely for nutritional purposes, she should be on SOME milk until she is about 8 weeks old. You can start reducing the amount of milk she's receiving week by week, as she naturally consumes more wet food. It's okay to introduce her to water now. She will not have much need for it, though, since she's on wet food and formula. Once she's off the formula, you will notice more water intake, although cats on an all wet food diet still get around 90% of their required water from their food.

Best wishes!

Jessica