Abandoned newborn kittens!

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Jenn

Jenn

ZooKeeper
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
6,056
Location
Washington State
One of the stray mommas gave birth to kittens last night, in a cat tree on my back deck. I was immediately concerned when I noticed she wasn't laying with the kittens afterward. There were 3 kittens who were still wet, crying out with no momma around. This is different then other mommas who don't leave the newborns at all for a couple of days. Last night was on the cool side so I placed a towel over them a bit to give them a little protection from the cold. I went out this morning to check on them and they were still without momma, still wet, and ice cold. Amazingly they were still alive. One of the kittens was still attached to its placenta. I brought the babies in, dried them off and have them in front of a heater now. I'm hoping they will make it but they are only hours old. Can they survive without momma? I can try and take over feeding them, I've done this with kittens about a month old, but never this young. Should I try to reintroduce them to momma, or step in and take over. I don't want these kittens to die without a fight. Any suggestions?
 
If she neglected to dry them and clean them then it sounds like she really rejected them. or something happened to her. Feeding kittens that young is the same as older kittens they do very well on a bottle, just every two hours around the clock. Also at each feeding you will need to stimulate them to go to the bathroom. There is a chance you could get another nursing female to take them.
 
I would have to agree with Starleomach. I bottle fed 2 kittens when they were 1 week old. Walmart has formula and bottles. A vet tech showed me how to feed them. She had to cut a little hole in the nipple. Good luck.
 
Yehp, 2 hours around the clock....Its gonna be a loooong few weeks :( Good luck with them and keep us updated on how they, and you lol, are getting on!

Fingers crossed over here!
 
Anyone have any suggestions for how much I should feed them at a feeding? I've gotten one feeding in them, although I have to go out and get a small bottle, I'm using a medicine syringe that I had on hand that I can squeeze bits of formula out slowly, and I fed them until they told me to stop(by fighting me) I know their tummies are quite small and I know they don't need much yet, but I don't want to underfeed them, as well as overfeed them.
 
I'm going to school to be a vet tech and in addition to that, I've raised kittens from birth to 8 weeks or for life...

You can either use a syringe, eye dropper, or you can use a kitten/puppy bottle...sometimes bottles are really hard to use, so make sure you cut a hole in the nipple to get a nice flow going when they suck on it.

Kittens have energy to get them crying for food and to grow...that's about it, so you have to keep them warm because they don't have much energy left over to generate heat. Get a heating pad and place it under a blanket for them. The temp should be around 88 - 92 F for them at all times. Until they are about 5 weeks they are going to need the room to be about 80F

Babies can get dehydrated really fast, so you have to make sure they are getting fluids around the clock.

To feed them you place them on their stomachs on a towel or blanket...something they can cling to. Open the mouth a little and get the nipple in their mouth. I like to make sure there is a little milk on the tip of it already to show them that its yummy. Hold to bottle at a 45 degree angle to keep bubbles out. They should start suckling (if they don't, let me know and I can talk you through a few other things to help out). If it chokes and sucks it into its lung you need to hold it upside down right away until it stops. When the baby is done eating it will either pull away or get little bubbles by its mouth. Also, a full kitten will have a nice little belly.

Make sure formula (go get some KMR at Walmart!!!) is warm, but not hot. You need to feed them every 3 - 4 hours (its actually not every 2 - BUT if they are crying for food, give it to them). The KMR will say how much to give them at a newborn age. But as a general rule, they need 8cc's of formula (mixed formula with water) per ounce of body weight.

When a kitten is done eating you MUST burp it. Just do what you would do with a baby. Also, get a damp cotton ball and wipe their little parts. They need to poop and pee for you often. Pee after every meal. Its messy, but it HAS to be done for weeks...they can't do it on their own yet.

By a week of age you can feed around 30cc (30 - 35) a day, 6 times.

Also, do you have a kitchen scale?? You NEED to watch their weights.

Keep us updated!!
 
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Thank you Tristanichole and everyone. I'm going to try and give them their second feeding now as I can hear them crying. They were near dead this morning...not active and ice cold. I put them in front of a heater until they got warm and active again. Now they are laying in a box wrapped in a towel in the warm sun. They feel good, they are meowing and active, and hopefully I can continue to help them thrive. My hubby took my car today but I'll make it to Wal-mart. Thanks for the advice!
 
That is a very good sign that they are active now. Just continue to keep them warm and full =) Some kittens will not take a bottle by the way...they hate it. So if you have to use a syringe then do it. Also, you can rub Karo syrup on their gum's if you feel like they are becoming inactive and wont eat. Karo syrup will enter their body really fast through the gum's. If they wont eat after giving Karo, they might need antibiotics. But right now it sounds like they are eating, yes?

Also, hold them many times in the day...they should be held for a minimum of 3 hours daily right now. They need that love and comfort that they can't get from the mom.

And please, don't do every 2 hours unless THEY want it every 2 hours...you could overfeed them, which could give them diarrhea and dehydrate them - don't give them more food though...give less food more often rather than more food less often. You can tell they are suckling really nicely if their ears are twitching and their mouth is nicely formed around the nipple.

If I think of anything else I think you should know I'll be sure to write. If you have any questions, YOU be sure to write! They are very vulnerable right now.
 
Ok, I just finished their feedings. One feeds really well, the other two fight it. If anything, I'm probably giving them less formula rather than too much. After going through the night without any food, I want to make sure they are getting a little in their tummies often. One is an orange kitten - after learning from you I'm assuming it's a male, and one is gray and white and the last is white, gray, and orange. The orange one is the loudmouth of the group! The tri colored one I had to cut the placenta off since it was still attached. After they had fed, I burped them for a bit, and then encouraged them to go potty. The orange one peed on me, the other two pooped! What a lot of poop for such small babies! It reminded me of my two sons first poops, very thick, hard to clean up poop. What a mess! But I would think if they are pooing and peeing that that would be a good sign that they are getting some food in them. So far so good. I haven't seen the momma at all today. I hope she is ok. She is such a friendly female and usually comes right away when I put out food. I'm hoping something didn't happen to her last night! She was so happy after she gave birth. She was purring and lovable. But she would plop down on the babies - I was concerned she might squish them accidently. She did attempt to clean the first two, so she did show some interest, but then with baby #3 she made no attempt to clean or cut away the placenta. I don't know what happened or where she is now...
 
That is really too bad about Mom. I'm going to say that the tri colored one is probably a calico and is female. Flip them over. Do you see little "bumpies"? If so, its a male! haha.
This picture might help, but sometimes its very hard to tell on something so young.
kitx1.jpg


Peeing and pooping is a great sign! YAY! Keep up the great work!
 
It is really hard to tell at this point, I can sex kittens when they're a bit older, but they appear to be all male. I will check again when they are a couple of weeks old. That is, if I can do the job as serogate mom and keep them alive. I had found a kitten a couple of years ago that was a few weeks old. The momma had brought it on our deck and it was October and about frozen to death when we got home. I brought him indoors and managed to warm him up and revive him. He lived for a week and then died. I was so sad that I had failed to keep him alive. I really hope that doesn't happen again!
 
Yay, I found my heating pad. It's gotten cooler as evening approaches and I can't warm them with the sun anymore. I have them in a small box with the heating pad inside, a towel over that, and then a towel over the kittens, like momma is sitting with them. I have it set on med. and it feels warm but not too hot. My hubby doesn't get home tonight until 1 a.m. and has to be back at work by 8 am so I guess I'll be up for nighttime feedings, for most of the night anyway. I've started keeping a log of who is pooping and peeing after feedings, and so far I've had them eliminate after every feeding. Still no sign of momma. I'm really starting to fear that something has happened to her. She is such a sweety...
 
Ok, sorry, I have one more question for you all. Momma has come back. I don't know whether or not I should give her a second chance with the kittens or not. They almost died last night and I don't know if I should risk that again. I think the kittens would do best with their momma, but not if she will abandon them again. Any thoughts?????
 
Can you put them all in large dog carrier? With the wild cats I try to keep the whole family in a large comfy box on the floor in the towel closet in my master bath
 
Momma came up to the deck and I brought the kittens to her. She sniffed them and walked away. I was thinking that she hadn't cared for them all night, never returned to where she birthed them all day, so my gut feeling tells me she is not going to care for these kittens. I don't know why, it is sad.

I have been caring for these kittens all day. Two of them are still active and feeding well. One of them has become very lethargic, despite my trying to rowdy him up, and didn't feed. I'm afraid he is not going to make it through the night. Poor baby.
 
Do you have Karo syrup to put on his gums?? If not, use warm sugar water and get it down his throat. It doesn't sound like Mom is going to care for these babies. Mom is always best, but if she is sniffing them and leaving, she's not going to do the job.
How is the little one? Did he make it??
 
The one I was concerned about died in the night. The other two still seem ok at this point. Tonight they will be 2 days old...I've had them on the heating pad through the night and I am going out to do some work and we have another nice day so I'll give them some sun now for warmth. I'm just taking it one day at a time. I'm trying not to get attached to these guys, as I usually do, so in case they don't make it I won't be heartbroken. But whatever happens, at least they didn't die freezing to death abandoned. I am giving them food, warmth, and love, so if they don't make it, at least they will have gotten to experience that.
 
Oh Jenn, I'm so sorry. That must have been rough. Just continue what you're doing - that's all you can do. Poor little guy.
 
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