Until What Age Should Kittens Drink Milk

Fresh clean water is the only drink a cat over 8 weeks of age requires.

Until what age should kittens drink milk. No other sustenance not even water is yet required. If you really want to give them milk then you can purchase special cat kitten milk which is lactose free from your pet food store vets or supermarket but they really don t need it. The only time in a cat s life when their body has enough of the enzyme lactase to properly digest lactose is at birth and during the first 12. The aspca states that this milk provides all of a kitten s required nourishment.

Though kittens have lactase in their system there s just not enough of it to tackle the lactose overload found in cow s milk. Breastfeeding a kitten lasts about 9 weeks and when their teeth begin to come in after about four weeks they can begin to eat food. Once weaning is complete and cats move on to more adult foods and water dishes. Up until kitties reach approximately 1 month in age anything other than their mother s milk is totally unnecessary.

Cats feed on their mother s milk after they are born. Kittens derive far more than simple nutrition from their mother in the eight to 10 weeks that they spend nursing. The milk that the kittens take both by natural breastfeeding and artificial feeding is rich in fatty acids colostrum antibodies and vitamins. However this isn t a hard and fast rule.

Most kittens need to be nursed by their mother or fed kitten formula from a bottle until 4 5 weeks of age. When do kittens start eating solid food. Kittens will drink their mother s milk for the first few weeks of life or a specially designed kitten formula milk if necessary. However they will be fully weaned by around 8 9 weeks of age.

Leave water out at all times. Water is all they will ever need. But lactose isn t the only problem. Cats and kittens do not need to drink milk and can live their entire lives without having one lap of milk.

Kittens don t need cow s milk. Despite those charming storybook illustrations cow s milk is completely inadequate for kittens wynn says. If you choose to give your cat milk it is still important to provide him with fresh water in addition to the milk and only give milk as an occasional treat. In general kittens need their mother s milk until they are a minimum of 4 weeks old.

The complete weaning process generally takes about a month meaning that the wee kittens are usually fully weaned when they are between 8 and 10 weeks in age.