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I sent out a "distress signal" because I knew this would be an extremely difficult situation to deal with. Infant kittens require constant care; that really doesn't mix well with full-time work and a stressed-out wife (not that I'm not stressed, I normally jump out of my skin at shadows--LOL!)...

It's been cool the last few nights but it's warming up again. Normally you wouldn't need a hot water bottle as the kittens would just curl up against mommy, but since there is no mommy I have to improvise. The rice idea sounds great (and you can eat it afterwards) but for now the weather is...

Newly worn-out cat daddy here. Yesterday afternoon a neighbor brought me three orphaned infant kittens; they're about three days old tops. Their eyes and ears are still closed, and they still have the dried remains of their umbilical cords attached to their bellies. I was up every hour and a...

Yep, I guess I'm an outlaw of sorts after yesterday. Pennsylvania law states quite explicitly that procedures on animals involving an incision must be done by a licensed veterinarian, and I and a colleague broke that law. The situation was this: On Wednesday night I noticed one of my cats had...

I'd been giving the kittens time outside of the holding cage to explore, play and socialize with us and the other cats--that was working nicely until Momma cat saw an opportunity on Saturday to bolt, leaving the kittens behind. Sunday she was spotted hanging around and coming into the house to...

The kittens were climbing the bars and knocking the bowls all around, so I opened the cage door to let them out--they went for it. They've been happily exploring and playing while Mom relaxes inside the cage. She so far has made no attempt to escape; she hisses and growls when I feed her and...

Here's the problem. The kittens are developing normally and have no problem with humans; I usually take one or two out of the cage when I feed and hold and play with them. They cry because they're scared but soon calm down, but then cry again because they're hungry and still nursing. As long...

I make up food for Mom out of lunchmeat ends and boiled rice run through a food processor. The kittens are now showing an interest in this solid food....

The surviving kittens now have their eyes and ears open and are crawling around. They respond favorably to my touch but mew loudly when picked up--this upsets Mom, but they're getting used to my touch and my smell. They're still nursing off of Mom exclusively and are not yet interested in...

One sees some interesting things in animal shelters, especially if involved in the medical treatment of the animals. Today we did a spay-abort surgery on a pregnant cat; two fairly advanced fetal sacs were removed from her, but so too was a slightly smaller mass that was yellow in color...

We do it at The Cube in post-surgical recovery. The left eartip is our standard, although some rescue groups prefer the right. The eartip is clamped with a straight hemostat just below where the cut is to be made, surgical scissors are used to make a straight-across cut (we prefer to take just...

I must agree with the suggestion that Momma ate the dead kitten while they were in the trap overnight--no other explanation adds up at this point, and the first time she used the litter box the waste was considerable. No bones, not even a skull, were found, but they would have been so soft as...

One of the kittens died in the trap during the night; I planned on burying it this morning, after I set up two interlocked holding cages for long-term occupancy and managed to get mom and the survivors out of the trap. I couldn't find the body of the deceased kitten and suspect it's stuck to...

The vet tech doing pre-op prep can often tell if a cat is pregnant, but often not until it has had its knock-down shot (once the belly is shaved the nipples and veins showing through the skin are a clue). The knock-down shot and the gas during the surgery usually kills the fetal kittens in...

Bathroom, pregnant feral and clawfoot bathtub. Five years ago I captured one of my first ferals, who happened to be very pregnant. She escaped, ran into the bathroom and hid under the bathtub. She gave birth there--three kittens, all of whom died two days later. When we recaptured her (an...

Lost another one. I went to inform the person who brought me Benjamin to inform her that he had died, and she was trying to treat a very dehydrated 4-6 month old kitten. She informed me that he was doing well until this morning and then just became increasingly listless. We tried to give him...

Benjamin didn't make it--I found him dead at about 1:00AM and figure he died between midnight and then. No visible cause of death was noticed, and although his eyes were open he almost appeared to have died in his sleep. His appetite was spotty--most times it seemed like I was force-feeding...

He tolerated his first bath, which was meant primarily to get the caked food and crap off of him. Unfortunately as I was drying him off I found quite a few fleas. He's too young for treatments like Frontline, so he'll get another more intensive detergent bath (both Palmolive and Dove work...

You're right about the antibodies, which is why the kitten will probably have to be tested at least twice--the first test may not be accurate. I simply addressed the mechanics of drawing blood from a kitten, not the test itself or the way the results are interpreted or acted upon. If the...

OTC flea collars have caused toxic reactions in cats and present a serious strangling hazard as they are not designed like break-away collars. Use a topical solution like Frontline or Advantage instead, and breaking down the large dog doses is a good and relatively cheap idea (our clinic does...