Newborn kitten care advice, including bottle-feeding your virtually helpless feline as well as precautions to take and other helpful tips to care for your kitten.

Newborn kittens must have all their needs met by their mother or their owner. Caring for the newborn kitten includes correct feeding and nutrition and knowledge of normal development.

From Birth

Newborn kittens are are born blind and helpless and require their mothers care.

The normal size of a newborn kitten is four to six inches long and can weigh 2 1/2 - 4 3/4 ounces. The eyes of kittens are shut when they are born and their ears are folded back so they are not able to see or hear.

A healthy kitten is firm, plump, and vigorous. Kittens nurse about every one to two hours. If they nurse until their stomachs appear round and they sleep quietly, they are eating enough.

If they are crying and moving a lot, they are not eating enough. They may be swallowing air which makes the stomach appear larger. As they become weaker, they will lay still and not cry.

Kittens develop a preference for which teat they nurse from within days of birth.

The umbilical cord normally falls off in two to three days. Some kittens will take a day to open their eyes while others will take three to four days. The ears open at about 14 days of age.

Kittens will twitch and jerk while they sleep. This helps develop the nervous system and muscles. Kittens crawl well by seven to 14 days of age and walk at 16 days.

Kittens are born without teeth. The deciduous (baby) teeth start to grow at two to four weeks of age and should hear clearly by 4 weeks.

Nursing

A mother cat also called a queen will care and protect her newborn kittens but in some cases you may have to step in and help out.

Several options are available for young kittens. Newborn kittens can be fed with premature baby bottles, a simple eye dropper, a hypodermic syringe, or a special curved kitten bottle.