How do you raise orphaned kittens?
A cat had kittens under my deck that are about 3-4 weeks old. She was killed today by a car when she was trying to cross the road. I feel sorry for the kittens and would like to try to raise them at least till they're old enough to be adopted.
How much trouble am I getting myself into here? Any websites would be appreciated.
Comments
Bless you, but you need to act quickly. Get them some place warm, but not hot. They will need Kitten Milk Replacer, probably bottle fed, which means you will need baby pet bottles. I've used toy bottles, but they don't work as well. I was cruising the internet while I started this response, but this article is well written and answers more issues than I thought of. How wild are these kittens? You might want to contact a vet or cat rescue to help you with them. purrs
http://www.feralcat.com/raising.html
You are a very nice person to save those orphaned kittens and I am sure you will be very glad yourself that you did. If you are not employed then you will have all the time in the world to feed them and teach them how to use the litterbox. My first recommendation would be to set up a vet appoinment to have the orphans checked over,wormed and possibly vaccinated this will ensure they get off to a healthy start now that momma cat is in kitty heaven. You will need to buy them a litterpan,cat litter (clumping is best), litter scooper, lots of purina kitten chow to feed them until you can find them all a good home. It is nice to know that you care and are willing to become their mother, with out you they will die of starvation because they are to young to hunt on their own.
Find a surogut cat to nurse the kittens if you can
If you can't
I use the nipples that are shaped like V not U they seem to take it better.
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ORPHAN KITTEN FORMULA
4 oz. evaporated milk
4 oz. water
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon corn syrup (or substitute pancake syrup)
1 capsule cod liver oil
*REFRIGERATE any unused formula and make fresh formula if all not used within 48 hours.
FEEDING:
Warm formula but make sure it’s not too hot ! Use a plastic feeding tube – a 3 cc size is best but you can use a 1 cc size and you can obtain a tube from a vet or pharmacy. Orphan kittens need to be fed every 2 – 3 hours until they are 4 weeks old. At 4 weeks old, you can introduce some canned cat food mixed with the baby kitten formula but supplement with the feeding tube until all kittens are fully able to eat enough on their own. They should be weighed on a kitchen scale each day and their weight recorded in order to make sure they are gaining. Consult a veterinarian if the kittens fail to gain weight, have diarrhea, continually vomit or sneeze.
ELIMINATION:
Orphan kittens need help to eliminate their bowels until they are 3 – 4 weeks old, after which time they will begin to eliminate on their own. Until that time, after EACH feeding, use a warm, soft cloth and gently tap or rub their anal area until they pee/poop. This action simulates the mother’s rough tongue washing which, in a natural situation, helps her kittens eliminate. Be careful not to rub too hard as the skin is very tender on their rear ends when they are tiny kittens.
SAFE CARE
All baby kittens should be kept warm and out of a draft in a cardboard box in a safe area away from small children, dogs or other animals. All interaction with small children should be supervised as tiny kittens are very vulnerable to stress and handling.
you can check with the local vets and shelters and see if any have a female cat that recently had a litter of kittens and is still lactating. Often times mother cats can adopt other kittens.
If not you will need to bottle feed the kittens ever few hours.
put a blanket on a heat mat then place the kittens on it but let them have an area with no heat so they can escape the heat, put a litter tray out, all this should be in a cage, you will need lactol kitten food and will need to feed them every 3 hours using a bottle, milk should be blood temperature so test it on your wrist or lip first, keep it refrigorated at all times, by now they should be starting to look at solid foods however give them a week or so to let them adjust then mash solid kitten food with lactol specialised kitten milk and see wat they think, you are a very good person for doing this there arnt meny like you left!!!, at between 8-12 weeks they are ready for vacination and adoption. goodluck!!!
She could desire to be ill. Take her to the vet to make certain if any actual issues are modern-day. If she is effective, then it particularly is purely a want for greater interest for the reason that she is orphaned and without muddle friends. If she is purely crying whilst eating or having a bowel stream, she could have some abdomen themes that could desire to be addressed.
i understand what your going through .i have a two week old orphaned kitten i am trying to raise. good luck.