Kitten Weaning Schedule: 4 to 8 Weeks, Meal by Meal

Start offering solid food at 4 weeks, not 6. By 6 weeks a kitten should be eating 3 meals a day, and by 8 weeks it should be on dry food with 4 fixed feeding times, while gaining 5 to 10 g per day. Litters that skip the 4 week start usually reach 8 weeks still on milk replacer and 100 g behind their littermates.

Why 4 weeks is the start line

Milk teeth break through between day 21 and day 28, the stomach capacity is about 20 to 30 ml, and the gut can handle starch from roughly 4 weeks. A 4 week old kitten weighs 350 to 450 g and needs 30 to 40 kcal per 100 g of body weight per day, which is 105 to 180 kcal, far more than a 4 week old stomach can hold in 2 feeds. That single number explains the whole schedule: small meals, spaced 4 to 5 hours apart.

The schedule in numbers

Weigh the kitten before you plan meals. The table is built for a kitten gaining 5 g a day, so a kitten at 500 g eats one step up from the row it is on.

Age	Meals per day	Per meal	Texture
4 weeks	4	15 to 20 g	gruel, 1 part food to 3 parts milk
5 weeks	4	25 to 30 g	1 part food to 2 parts milk
6 weeks	3	35 to 45 g	soft mash, 1 to 1
7 weeks	3	45 to 55 g	moistened kibble
8 weeks	4	20 to 25 g dry	dry food plus water bowl

The 8 week row looks lighter because dry food carries 6 to 10 percent moisture against 75 to 80 percent in gruel. Total daily intake stays at 55 to 75 g of food, roughly 200 to 250 kcal.

How to move from 3 parts milk to dry food

Change the ratio on a 2 day cycle: 3 to 1, then 2 to 1, then 1 to 1, then 1 to 2, with each step held for 2 to 3 days. Warm the gruel to 38 C, the temperature of mother's milk, and serve it on a flat saucer 1 cm deep: a deep bowl puts the nose under the surface and the kitten quits after 2 tries. Offer 10 to 15 minutes, then take the plate away. Expect the first 3 to 4 attempts to end with 1 to 2 g actually swallowed and the rest on the chin.

Litters do not wean at the same speed

In a litter of 4, the heaviest kitten often starts solids 3 to 5 days before the smallest, and that gap is normal. Weigh each kitten separately, feed the small ones first on a separate saucer, and give them 5 extra minutes at the plate. Do not hold the litter back for the slowest kitten: the ones already eating 35 g a meal need the schedule to keep moving. A kitten that is 20 percent under its littermates at 6 weeks, or that has not started solids by day 42, needs a vet check rather than more patience.

Bowls, bottles and the 10 minute window

Use a saucer 12 to 15 cm across and 1 to 2 cm deep, and give each kitten its own: 4 kittens sharing 1 dish means the bold one eats 60 percent of the food. A shallow dish also lets you see the actual intake. Offer food for 10 to 15 minutes, 4 times a day at 4 weeks, and take the dish away after that, because gruel left out at 24 C grows bacteria within 2 hours. Wash dishes in hot water after every meal, and never reuse a saucer that a kitten with diarrhea has used.

The 5 g a day rule

Weigh daily at the same time, before the first meal. A kitten should gain 5 to 10 g per day from week 4 to week 8, which is about 35 to 70 g per week and 100 g by 8 weeks over its 4 week weight. Two flat days are a signal to check temperature, stool and how much the kitten actually eats; 3 flat days or any loss is a clinic call. A kitchen scale at 1 g resolution costs less than 2 bags of food and is the only reliable check on weaning.

Water, milk and the things not to feed

Cow's milk is 4.5 to 5 percent lactose and most kittens run loose stool on it within 12 to 24 hours; use a kitten milk replacer mixed per the tin, never a 1 to 1 dilution. Put a shallow 2 cm water bowl out from week 4 and refresh it twice a day. Never feed onion, garlic, chocolate, grapes or xylitol, and keep adult cat food away until week 10: the protein and calcium levels are wrong for a 500 g kitten. Raw meat carries a real risk at this age, when the immune system is still 4 to 6 weeks from adult competence.

Loose stool at week 5 and what it means

Soft stool for 24 hours after a texture change is common; watery stool 3 or more times in 12 hours is not. Pull back 1 ratio step, keep the kitten warm at 26 C, and offer the same food for 48 hours. Blood, mucus, vomiting more than 2 times, or a kitten that stops gaining for 48 hours means a vet visit the same day, because a 500 g kitten has roughly 1 day of reserves.

Week 8: the dry food handover

Leave dry kibble down for 20 to 30 minutes at each of 4 meals rather than free feeding all day, and stop moistening by day 56 to 60 so the teeth get work. Keep 4 meals until 12 weeks, then 3 meals until 6 months, then 2. A kitten eating 4 x 20 to 25 g of dry food at 8 weeks is eating 80 to 100 g, which is on the high side of normal for a 900 g kitten and fine while it is gaining 60 to 70 g a week.

When weaning goes wrong

Call the clinic for weight loss of 10 g or more in 24 hours, no solid food taken by 6 weeks, drooling or pawing at the mouth (possible gingivitis or a retained tooth), or diarrhea lasting 48 hours in a kitten under 700 g. Hypoglycemia is the emergency to know: a kitten that goes weak, wobbles or stares at 6 to 8 weeks is usually 2 to 3 hours past its last meal, and needs food and a vet, not a nap.

Five steps for this week

Start gruel at day 28, 15 to 20 g per meal, 4 times a day.
Hold each milk ratio step for 2 to 3 days.
Weigh daily; target 5 to 10 g per day.
At week 6 move to 3 meals of 35 to 45 g.
At week 8 switch to dry food, 4 meals of 20 to 25 g.

The first 4 weeks of milk feeding are covered in the first month feeding schedule, and the texture detail sits in weaning and solid food.

Frequently asked

My kitten is 6 weeks old and still refuses solids. Is that normal?

A few days of refusal at 6 weeks is common, a full week is not. Warm the gruel to 38 C, spread it 1 cm deep on a flat saucer, and put a dab on the nose so the kitten licks it off. Offer 4 short sessions a day of 10 to 15 minutes rather than one long one, and never starve a kitten into eating: at 500 g it has about 1 day of reserves.

How many grams should a kitten eat at each meal?

At 4 weeks, 15 to 20 g of gruel 4 times a day; at 6 weeks, 35 to 45 g of mash 3 times a day; at 8 weeks, 20 to 25 g of dry food 4 times a day. Total daily intake stays near 55 to 75 g because dry food is only 6 to 10 percent moisture while gruel is 75 to 80 percent water.

Do I need to add water to dry food at 8 weeks?

No, as long as a shallow water bowl sits within 1 m of the food and is refreshed twice a day. Stop moistening between day 56 and 60 so the teeth get work, and keep 4 meals of 20 to 25 g until 12 weeks. If the kitten eats under 55 g a day or stops gaining 5 g a day, moisten again for 3 to 4 days and recheck weight.