How and when to teach a kitten to a bowl

Those who are just about to have a pet do not need to worry in advance. If the kitten stays with its mother for up to two months, then usually the cat herself teaches him to lap from a bowl. In a simple way, common in all living nature – by example. This problem occurs in two cases:

• if the kitten turned out to be too small without a mother and has not yet had time to learn to lap;
• if the cat was fed only dry food, and in the bowl she had water that does not smell like food. Then the baby received the liquid he needed only from mother’s milk.

A small fluffy lump that happens to be in your home immediately becomes an object of attention and care. I really want him to grow up cheerful and healthy. But if the kitten does not know how to eat from the saucer, then you should not panic either. There are some simple ways to help you deal with this problem:

• bring a bowl of lukewarm milk to the kitten’s face, dip your finger in it and let the baby lick it. Repeat this several times. Then put your finger in the bowl, the kitten will reach for it and start lapping;
• you can just poke his nose in a saucer of milk or liquid porridge. Having licked the muzzle, the baby will reach for the bowl himself. Perhaps he will not figure out the first time – here you need to show patience and perseverance. Although, of course, this method is less humane;
• if you want your pet to not only lap up water or milk, but also eat thicker food from the bowl, then you can lay out the pieces of food with a path to the saucer. The kid, collecting them, will go to the source of food and figure out where there is more of it.

In order for the training to be successful, you need to find the right bowl. It should not be very deep, but wide and stable enough that the kitten cannot turn it over.

Cat breeders are advised to do this as early as possible. Because the older the kitten gets, the harder it is to get him to do what he doesn’t want. Cats can be very stubborn and independent. If the baby, while still with his mother, begins to receive only special dry food, then after 3-4 months the need to teach him to lap from a bowl can become a problem. And it will take a lot of time and patience to solve it.

However, before the kitten is one month old, you should not teach him to eat from a bowl: he is too weak and helpless. If for some reason such a baby is left without a mother, then you need to feed him first from a pipette, and then from a bottle with a nipple. And you also need to remember that the smaller the kitten, the more often it should receive food.

Raising a pet is always a responsibility and concern. But how much joy and positive emotions these tender, playful fidgets give us! Make sure that the kitten grows up healthy, and you will have your own fluffy, selflessly loving psychotherapist at home.