What kittens need to be hand reared?
Normal kittens have their environmental and nutritional requirements met by their mother. However, a number of different situations may lead to kittens requiring extra care, e.g. death of the queen (female cat), rejection of the kittens by the queen, ill health in the queen, or the production of too large a litter for the queen to care for. When the queen is only temporarily ill, the kittens may only need to be hand fed for a few days, while in other situations the kittens may need to be fed by hand until they are weaned. In the case of a very large litter where the kittens are gaining some milk from their mother, they will only need supplemental feeding. Should any kittens not be hand reared? In some circumstances the breeder may be faced with a decision to have kittens euthanased at birth. Apart from agonising decisions over sheer numbers, or where the queen is unwell or unwilling to look after the kittens, there are some cases where a kitten needs to be euthanased to prevent a cripp
