Anyone can bottle-feed kittens if they have the time, patience, and love. It takes a lot of energy, and a lot of practice before it becomes manageable, and it might never become easy. However, the rewards are infinite.

How do I feed a kitten with a bottle?	Buy a bottle made specially for baby animals (found at most drug stores or grocery stores, and at your local vet's) and kitten formula that substitutes for mother's milk. Do not give the kittens cow's milk! They're much too young to handle it's richness and it doesn't provide the proper vitamins kittens need. Kitten formula, however, lacks only the antibodies passed naturally through the mother that guards against illness, and this can be found at the vet's office and at some grocery stores. You might need to poke a hole in the nipple of the bottle; you can do this with a pair of scissors or a large needle, and it might take some effort before they get the concept of sucking through a bottle's nipple. Make sure their four feet are on the ground (or something solid) to prevent the milk from sliding into their lungs and choking them. Supplemented kittens or "bottle babies" need to be fed about every four hours (that's right, set your alarm!) until they're about three weeks old, and then you can start mixing in a little canned food with the formula and keep it in their carrier or room until they catch on that the food comes in the dish now. Some kittens might get it right away while others can take a painstakingly long time---be patient and be glad that your mother was patient! When they've got the concept of eating from a dish, and when they're about 5 or 6 weeks old (by this time you should have slowly weaned the formula out of the canned food), you can start mixing dry food soaked in water in with their regular canned food. This will get them used to the taste, and when they're teeth and jaws are stronger they'll begin eating from a dish solely of dry food. The organisation I belong to recommends keeping dry food out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week starting from about 6 weeks old, but supplementing the kittens with canned food two or three times a day to make sure they gain enough weight.
What do I have to do to stimulate a kitten? Is it really necessary?	You'll also have to stimulate them to poop or urinate--they're not able to go on their own till they're about 2 to 3 weeks old. This is a job the mother usually does, and she does it by licking their backsides. If there isn't a mother, though, then you'll have to do it using a warm, wet paper towel or washcloth and carefully rubbing their genitals until they go. Do this every time you feed them, after they've eaten. If this isn't done, the kitten will get very sick and might die. At the very least, you'll have an even bigger mess to clean up if you don't take care of it first!
When will the kittens be ready for me to find homes for them?	By the time they're 8 weeks (or about two pounds), they should be ready for a new home, but not sooner. Adopting them out sooner would be like sending a toddler to high school--they have neither the strength nor the skills to cope with new things, and the stress of moving to a new place may make them sick and they could die. Kittens are very fragile creatures, much more so than human children.

Inga and Me.

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