Hi how much do i feed my 5 week old kitten?

Hi, 

So my kitten is 5 weeks old and i found him out side as a stray. He seems very small i had him weighed and he weighs 1.25 pounds and is under weight. He eats very little a day on its own but is willing to eat dry food  and wet food but  very small amounts at a time. since i feel hes not getting enough food/ nutrition i give him about  20ml of kitten formula out of a syringe a couple times a day and on top of that i combined wet food and formula and put it in a syringe and feed him 20ml of that a few times a day. Hes just so thin and im wondering if this is a good amount. 

Thanks, Sarah Z

BRANDS OF FOOD 

WET FOOD-ROYAL CANIN KITTEN

DRY FOOD-FROMM-SURF N TURF-KITTEN/ADULT

FORMULA-GNC KITTEN FORMULA 

                                     FLUFFY BUTT SLEEPING


                         FLUFFY BUTT AND PRECIOUS 

He's actually a very good weight for his age, even though I know they feel so small at five weeks. You're doing a good job feeding him but if at all possible he should have two wet food meals a day and then have dry out to graze on all day. For his size, about a fourth of a can of wet food at each meal (half a can total) would be good. As for type of food, the stuff that includes the most meat is the best. Try to avoid by-products and grains as much as possible.

Also as long as he's eating that's a good thing, his stomach is probably very small and the older he gets the more he will eat. You giving him some formula is also good since he probably wouldn't be completely weaned for another two to three weeks.
I would also get some dewormer for him since he was outside, chances are he's slightly wormy and after all the worms are gone it will help him to gain healthy weight.
(By the way, it's nearly impossible to overfeed a kitten, they're growing so fast they can eat as much food as they want really)

Ok thank you. Yup we leave dry food out at all times.We have a food dropper and a big bowl of water.What size can are you talkin about. Ive been using the smaller ones and the brand of food im buying is the best  advised by the vet tech. Thanks for responding so fast

If you're using the smaller sized cans then he can probably handle eating half a can at each meal. I feed my girl large cans so I forget the little ones exist lol!

Hi, thanks for replying... so i wanted to deworm him but the vet said it was to young at 5 weeks so i waited and iv been feeding him like we talked about and he seemed to be gaining weight ,well so i thought. Turned out most of it was because he was bloated with worms...poor thing. so i waited till he was 7 weeks old and just dewormed him for tape worms so im hoping that takes care of it. Iv never seen a cat bloat like that. i was taking him in once a week to get weighed  for 2 weeks and each week he was gaining .25 of a point so i was happy with that but his hips and spine still seemed so boney but his belly was fat and finally i realized ok this is not fat this is bloating. And the sad part was the vet said that he was to young to give the meds when i first brought him him but they said they just thought it would take some time for him to fill  in the boney areas and the belly weight was normal but now i know it was worms.I wonder how thin he will be when hes not bloated. UGH! Do u know how much a worms can make our cats gain in 2 weeks?

sarah zeleski

Kittens are never too young to be wormed with proper medications, especially when they really need it. Your vet is very conservative.

Did you worm your kitten with prescription worm meds? Those are best.

Your kitten will need to be wormed again 2 weeks from when you first dosed him. This is done because worm meds only kill live worms, so the next dose kills worms that were not yet developed the first time.

Once your kitten is not sharing nutrients, he will gain weight faster. Feed him as much kitten chow and wet food as he wants around the clock.