Weaning is the change from a milk diet to a solid diet.
Weaning is a physiological necessity, for both the kitten and the mother. The kitten's nutritional requirements increase steadily, while lactation begins to decline around five or six weeks after birth. A milk diet thus becomes insufficient to fulfill the litter's dietary requirements. At the same time the kitten develops, its digestive capacities increase, and its body becomes ready for a solid diet.
By four to five weeks old
The kitten may start to show interest in its mother's food, at first licking the food around its mother's mouth. So as to be accessible to kittens, the food dish must be wide and have fairly low edges. In addition, in the case of dry food, the pieces must be small enough for kittens to pick up. With a specially adapted diet, it is best if the food given to the mother during lactation is the same as the food the kittens will be given after weaning. This helps prevent adding the stress of dietary change to that of weaning.
The time of weaning is based on a number of criteria, some of which are contradictory: For the mother, especially in the case of large litters, weaning fairly early prevents too many of her dietary reserves from being depleted. For kittens, weaning is highly stressful (change in type of diet, separation from the mother's nest) and need not be early, to the extent that a sufficient quantity of milk is available.
In practice, weaning can begin when the kittens' growth rate decreases. The kittens' consumption of solid food must be monitored and should increase steadily starting when they are four weeks old. Kittens can be weaned when they consume approximately 20 g of dry matter per day, or approximately 25 g of dry food or 70 g of canned food, generally when they are around six to seven weeks old.
For kittens raised on a bottle with a milk substitute, the number of daily feedings should be reduced in the week preceding the chosen weaning period (for example, going from four to three bottles per day) and, after each feeding, the kittens should be offered a bowl of solid food moistened with the substitute mother's milk. During the week chosen for weaning (when the kittens are around five weeks old), the kittens should be offered the solid food before bottle feeding. One or two bottles per day may still be necessary, depending on the kitten. The kitten's weight is the golden rule and it must increase steadily. The kittens must be weighed in the morning, prior to the first meal. Gradually, the amount of food made available between meals should be increased, first as a soupy mixture, then as solid food soaked with less and less milk, then with the milk gradually being replaced by water. By the end of the week, the solid food should be moistened with water alone.
Weaning
Even though weaning should occur gradually, the weaning period must not be too long. The kittens should be prepared for weaning starting at four to five weeks old, and weaning should be complete by the time they are seven weeks old. This will allow the mother to recover from this period of great stress on her body.
Very early weaning (at four to five weeks old) is necessary under some circumstances (orphaned kittens, feline infectious peritonitis, etc.). If early weaning is done properly and the kittens are fed carefully, the stronger kittens will be affected very little. However, morbidity (the number of sick kittens) may increase in the weaker kittens, especially in the case of underfeeding.
Weaning is a necessary evil in the lifecycle. It is a required step toward independence but also a highly stressful period for kittens. Weaning must therefore be carried out with utmost care.
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