Feeding newborn kitten

Question
my 3 day old kitten wakes up about every hour, sometimes less. i try to make 1 hour the minimum. When he wakes sooner like a half hour wanting to be fed, what should i do? i dont want to overfeed him. And i dont know what else to do when he's crying. Thanks a ton.

Answer
Wade,

The kitten probably is not getting enough to eat.  Are you bottle feeding or tube feeding?

The kitten should get .3 ounces (8-10 ml) for every 4 ounces (100g) of body weight.  So you should at least have a digital scale for that little weight (like a postal scale).  The kitten should be fed 4 times a day (7:00 AM, 1:00 PM, 7:00 PM, midnight, is a good schedule).

The kitten should get about a quarter of its daily need at each feeding.

Once the kitten is fed, you need to potty the kitten.  This can be done by using a soft cloth or tissue and gently massaging its private parts.  You then need to burp the kitten.

We use Newborn cut 50% with unflavored pedialyte (although you can use KMR kitten milk replacer diluted the same amount).  

At this age it is also important the kitten be kept warm (but not hot) as it cannot maintain its own internal body temperature yet.  Something like a mattress warmer on a very slight heat will work.  Be careful of heating pads as they often generate too much heat.

You can get this and other good titbits from "Hand-Raising the Orphaned Kitten" by Milton Papurt, DVM; Barrons Educational Series; Hauppage, NY; 1999.

Please come back to me with may further questions.

Best regards... Norm.