I am not a vet, nor am I any kind of animal expert. I'm just a softy for little needy creatures, and this time, it happened to be abandoned kittens. Since I had such a hard time finding information on what to do, I created this blog in the hopes it can help someone else who rescues newborn kittens really too young to be away from mama.On Easter Sunday, we got a call from friends saying they'd found a pair of kittens in their back yard when their dog frightened away the mother cat, which, incidentally, is called a queen. She hadn't been back in hours and they feared she'd given up on them. I got there with my 15 year-old son to find two tiny infant kittens with their eyes still closed. I figured they were maybe 2 or 3 days old.
Since this was 8 pm on a Sunday night, no pet stores were open so I warmed up some cow's milk and fed it to them, even knowing cow's milk is insufficient for kittens, but I feared it had been hours since they'd been fed and I was desperate to get anything inside them. Using a syringe, we fed the kittens who didn't care much for the whole thing. They eventually caught on when we squirted milk in their mouths.
After cleaning up the mess they made all over themselves, I got on-line and researched newborn kittens. I found an appalling lack of information for rescued newborns but eventually found a few that applied to my situation.
Here's one that I liked but unfortunately didn't find it until days later:
http://www.valleycatsinc.org/bottlebabies/bottlebabies.htm
Part of the problem in my internet search for caring for newborn kittens without a mother was that I didn't know to use the term rescued kitten or abandoned kitten, so that complicated the whole thing. I was using words like found kitten, lost kitten, newborn kitten, and so forth so once I stumbled on the right terms, I had better luck. Eventually, I found my way to a vet's website that had recipe for emergency kitten formula using supplies I already had on hand--most of the other recipes had oddball ingredients that would have been hard to track down. At least for me.
Here it is:
1 can evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed)
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons of Karo syrup
Most of the info said to feed kittens every 3 to 4 hours, a few said every 2. So I settled for every 3 and I fed them round the clock for the first three days after we got them,which meant I was always waking them up to feed because they never woke up to eat. I wish my own babies had slept that well!
Then someone who'd bottle fed newborn kittens told me she let them wake her up at night to feed. Though I worried they might sleep too much and miss too many feedings I tried it. They slept about 5 1/2 hours at a stretch that first night. I think it was good I fed them round the clock at first though
Anyway, back to feeding. The next day I bought a can of KMR kitten formula and a kitten bottle and began feeding. Getting a newborn kitten to take a bottle is as hard as getting a breast-fed human baby to switch to a bottle. There was a lot of crying, a lot of mess, and a lot of frustration, and the kittens didn't care for it, either ;-)
Newborn rescued kittens don't eat well the first few days you bottle feed them!
They claw, climb, meow, claw, fight, chew, claw, and climb! The best way I was able to feed is to wrap them up tightly with a small towel or washcloth, hold them against my chest with my thumb and index finger firmly holding them by the shoulders. And by way, the KMR doesn't dissolve well so I had to keep unclogging the nipples.
They hated that at first!
The nice thing is when they open their mouths to cry, I could stick the bottle nipple into their mouths. I had to squeeze the nipple to squirt the milk into their mouth to get them started. I also had to continuously squeeze the bottle to keep the milk squirting, and to keep putt
ing the nipple into their mouths. It takes lots and lots of patience, so take your time. They chew on the sides, they turn away, and then they cry for more. One of mine really likes to snack so when he starts meowing loud, I give him more. I don't know if that's normal, but that how he does it at least as of day 5, he still is.Another major part of caring for an abandoned newborn kitten is keeping them warm. I had the advantage of having two kittens, so they could keep each other warm but I still took precautions
I took a small cardboard box, placed a folded towel inside, and laid another towel over the top of the box to keep out drafts. They always sleep nestled against each other or against me.
One of my rescued kittens--we call him Little Bear because he's so fluffy and likes to climb--didn't eat well, and didn't appear to be digesting or eliminating, even when I stimulated him by rubbing a warm, wet washcloth on his bottom. I feared he might not make it. I called a vet who told me I was doing everything right and warned that newborn kittens who lose their mother only have a 50% survival rate. I wasn't willing to accept that.
I doubled my efforts. I tried extra hard to feed, bathe and love them both. Newborn kittens need lots of cuddling and cry if I didn't hold them enough after feedings so I let them lay on me a lot more and didn't limit my children from holding them (carefully). By day 3, they began sucking better, often just chewed on the nipple.
On day 3, the one who most worried me, Little Bear proved his kidneys and plumbing worked just fine. He
also finally had a good feeding too. Then, both of the kittens started purring after a feeding. I took that as a very good sign.Day 4, Blaze opened his eyes. At first, it was just a little opening at the inner corner, but by the end of the day, he had his eyes wide opened. They're both eating better today, but still need me to wake them every 3 hours during the day. They don't struggle and fight when I feed them anymore --now they latch on really well and suck hard. Sometimes they let go and act full, but then cry for more a few minutes later. So I feed them again. I pretty much know they're done when they let go of the nipple, then close their eyes and purr. I also clean their faces and wipe their bot
toms with a warm wet washcloth to keep things working.Day 5, Blaze's eyes are wide open and he's very alert. Little Bear's eyes are a little open today. They're both eating much better and don't have to be wrapped up in a towel to get them to settle down to eat. They seldom wake up on their own to eat; I usually wake them up to feed them. Blaze still likes to snack but Bear just settles in and slurps and fast as possible, with the occasional chewing on the side of nipple. They like to gum everything and use whatever they can as a pacifier. Good thing they don't have teeth! They're getting more and more playful; after I feed them, they love to roll around on my lap and play with my fingers. Then they crawl up to my neck and go to sleep.
When they were about 4 week old, we taught them to drink their kitten milk from a bowls. Little Bear hated it. For two days, the best I could do was hold him on my lap and force my fingers between his jaws, which would eventually get him to lick the milk from my fingers. Blaze caught on by the second time, but Bear fought it. Finally, they both would drink from a bowl but it took almost a week for them to stop stepping in it. It was actually really cute watching them try to climb in. Once I had them both drinking for the bowl, I added baby rice cereal--just enough to thicken it but still leave it pretty liquid.
Now they are 6 weeks old. We started giving them dry kitten chow mixed with their formula. I tried pouring the milk over the dry food, but they just licked it off and left the dry food. Warming it all together so the dry got soft helped. After about 3 days, they started eating it better. I give them their formula in the morning and left a bowl of dry kitten food out all day.
6 weeks of age is so fun! They charge all over, attacking each other and tussling. They can climb the stairs and their cat condo. They aren't super graceful or coordinated yet but they're sure fearless and try so hard to be fierce. They love the paper butterfly we made for them and they'll chase anything that moves, and even things that don't, like shoes.
