New to Cats, trying to save a life

[dan10101]

We're new to this forum, new to kittens and need some help.
We had a bit of a surprise the other day. Found a litter of newborn kittens in our shed. Most were already gone. One has lasted this long (3 days). We're guessing they were a day old when we found them. The mother is gone, we've seen her around before, but not since.

Please don't criticize, we're doing the best we can. But we think this one can be saved, but we're going to need some help to make it happen.

Let me describe the kitty and our current plan.
She's a grey and white. About 1 pound or less. She ( I know it's just a wild guess if it's a she or he but we had to pick one.) Anyway, she had her first bowel movement today. We were hoping she would eat more once that happened. She eats about 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon every 2-3 hours. Then she just wants to sleep. We try to keep her clean with a damp towel. We purchased a bottle and powered KMR. So far we've had better luck with just an eyedropper. She does take the bottle occasionally, but not often.
I have a can of premixed KMR but haven't needed to open it up yet.
For a bed we have heated bottled water in a box wrapped in a towel to avoid direct contact. She is somewhat active, moving around and occasionally vocal. Usually when she moves off the bottles and gets cold. Rarely it seems for food. We have to encourage her to eat.

I guess that's enough for starters.
Our biggest question is: Is this enough food? How can we get her to eat more? Other suggestions?

Thanks a bunch.
Dan

[Arlyn]

This site can probably answer a lot of your question
http://www.kitten-rescue.com/

[dan10101]

Thanks Arlyn,
I'll take a look at that site and see what I'm missing.

She woke up this morning when I turned on the light. Then made suckling noises until I got the formula ready. She downed about 3/4 of a dropper before saying "no more" and falling asleep.

[GoldyCat]

Do you have a postal scale that you can weigh her? If she's only a few days old she's probably just a few ounces, not anywhere near a pound. The amount they need to eat depends on body weight. A guideline to start is 8 cc's of milk (KMR)/ounce of body weight/day. So if the kitten weighs 3 ounces you would be feeding 24 cc's/day. Divided that into feedings every three hours and give about 3 cc's each feeding. A teaspoon is 5 cc's, so it sounds like the baby is getting just about the right amount. You need to weigh her every day to make sure she's gaining weight.

Can you post pictures? We may be able to give you a better idea of how old she is if we can see her.

[calismom]

Why would anyone criticize you? Your doing a wonderful thing! Im not an expert and Im expecting my first batch of kittens myself, but it seems like your doing everything perfectly. I hope someone more knowlegable then me will come along and help! Good luck with your baby and keep us posted!

[CuteKittenKat]

Calismom's right- you saved this kittens life! Your a wonderful person, doing a wonderful thing!
As for the baby, I've bottle fed a few kittens, and it's a wonderful, extremly rewarding experience. Here's a couple sights on kitten devellopment:
http://www.angelfire.com/il/kimlance/development.html
http://cats.about.com/od/kittencare/...ck6weeks_2.htm

And this is just on bottle feeding and stuff
http://www.2ndchance.info/orphankitten.htm

Keep us updated on your little one!

[dan10101]

Let's see if this works...

[nursedoggett]

Aw, so adorable! Best of luck to you guys!

[dan10101]

Thanks to everyone for their comments, suggestions and links. We're reading everything.

Most importantly it looks like she's getting enough to eat for now.

I started a spreadsheet to keep track of pertinent information. I don't have a scale. I'm going to check with my neighbor the nurse, maybe she does.

Dan

[darlili]

Bless you and your family - prayers for you all and that little one .

[Breellablue]

If you have a kitchen scale, many of these work in grams, you can easily convert grams to oz. Looking at those photos I'd say 250-300g. Keep us posted!

[KiTTYL0VE4]

I'm sure everyone here will think you are a great person for saving this kitten. s/he looks very young. From what you described it seems like you are doing everything right, and the kitten is a fighter already for surviving when the others passed. If you dont have a kitchen scale, you can go to Walmart and buy one for like $7 or $8. Weigh him/her everyday to make sure s/he is gaining weight. Keep us updated on the kitten, please. Once again kudos to you for saving this kitten..