Week Old Kitten To Raise

Hi all!
I have 4 full grown cats and was just given a week old kitten to look after while working at the Renaissance Festival today. I have never hand reared a kitten and don't really have a clue. I think one of my cats would play uncle, but I don't know how safe it is to intro them right away.
I also don't really know how much he should be eating. We got kitten replacement milk and bottles, but I need to know how much to feed and how often. The can says about every 3-4 hours. He does latch onto the bottle well.
Also, how do I clean him up? I assume I don't want to dip him in a bath. Will paper towels work ok? Or should I use a soft cloth.
I have him nested in my cat carrier amongst a nylon/wool blend fabric so he's nice and cozy. My fellow caretakers stimulated him to poop a few times already. How often should I do that? After each feeding?
Other advice is more than welcome. I'm going to go look through other threads now.

Devlyn

Congratulations on your new little one! Let's move your thread to our Kitten Forum where our experts in this area will be sure to see it!

Thanks Dawn!

Devlyn..I would keep this little one seperate for now until it has been vet checked. Below is a website that can give you all kinds of information that you need:

http://www.kitten-rescue.com

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/bottle_feeding_kitten.html

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/birth_to_two_weeks.html

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/pooping_and_peeing.html

Katie

Be sure to notice the sticky at the top of this forum. It offers lots of links that you may find useful. I would specifically recommend this site, which is full of information on caring for orphaned kittens.

I've got baby Smeagol in his box with rice/sock heaters. I fed him again and got him to poop. Burped him. It's yellow and kind of mustardy in texture. Seems like that is normal. I also gave him a rinse in some warm water to clean off his butt. I'm seeing some flea dirt but no fleas. Oy, I hate fleas.
I don't know how I will keep him from my other cats. I'd like to have him in my room at night so I can hear him if he cries, but my crew would be pissed to be seperated from their mommy lol.
I also started a journal to keep track of feedings. He seems strong and got very pissed when I cleaned off his bum.
I say "Him" but I'm not sure what gender he is. I'm going to call the vet and the no kill shelter to see if they have any recommendations. Ideally, I'd like them to take him with experienced rescuers. I feel a little overwhelmed trying to take care of the little guy.
If not that, I want to see if they will adopt him out after he's been weaned.
I know that his survival chances aren't good with him so very very young.
Thanks for the links! I would never have thought to warm up socks filled with rice as heaters.
I'm going to crash out for a couple hours until the next feeding in about 3-4 hours.

Where in Ohio do you live? I know a couple kitten rescues in southern Ohio that would probably take him and a Humane Society near me would take him too.

As far as keeping him seperated, even if he was guarenteed healthy he shouldn't be interacting with your own cats. He is just too young. When I had very young babies like this, I kept them in a large plastic box with a lot of newspaper and towels on the bottom. Throw some rice socks in there and I even put a heat pad under the box be just be very careful to put a bunch of towels in between, you want to warm the whole area in the box not just directly where he is laying. So a low heat and drape a towel loosely over the box to hold the warmth in. I used a large plastic tub and since my kittens had URIs, the heat pad underneath with the towel on top kept the temp of the box and the humidity up and their colds cleared right up. I don't know if yours has a cold or not but it just helps with teh general temp of the box.

You can keep this box up high on a dresser, or in a seperate room or something. I have a large closet type thing in the hallway where the washer and dryer are at and I closed my guys off in there with the warm box and it kept the temp in the closet up for the kittens. That was in the summer though when I had the ac on in my room and the windows open everywhere else for a cool breeze to come in but I didnt want the babies to get a chill.

Smeagol had another feeding and is sleeping in his box all cozy. He's got a bit of pus coming out of one eye. He's also very thin. I can feel his whole spine and his little ribs. He's got a little kitten belly though and seems content once I feed him.
He did not enjoy being bathed since I had to take him out of the warmth. He's pooping in his blankies without me really stimulating, although I do so anyways and he peed. He is very precious and I'm trying to figure out how old he is. From what I've read, he's probably only 3 or 4 days old. When he's hungry he lets out little mews and grunts as he tries to crawl around and find food. lol
He's suckling on his blankies and my fingers after I feed him and when he's awake, seems quite alert.
I'm not sure if he's dehydrated though. There's so very little of him, it's hard to do a pinch test. My ex, as always, is offering financial help to get him vet care and babysitters when I'm at festival. I can take him to work with me from Tuesday to Friday and my crew at work is willing to watch him on Saturdays, but I'm not sure what to do on Sunday. I guess that's a whole week away so I'll see what I can do when that happens. My best friend, who is also working the festival has offered to bundle him up and take care of him while we are at faire, but I'm not sure if that's the best solution as it's quite cold out there now.
I'm in southwest Ohio, just south of Dayton for those who asked. I'd love to find someone else with more experience and resources to take him in. Noone else at the faire was willing to even try.

You've gotten some good links to check out and you sound like your doing a great job.......We found my Petals when she was about 4/5 weeks old....so that's about as young as I've raised.............keep up updated and you know we would LOVE to see pics of your newest little one!

Smeagol had his first vet visit. He IS a boy and weighs 4 ounces. He tested negative to his FIV/FELV test and got some goop for his little eyes. He just ate again which is his 6th feeding since 1:15 am from me. My staff fed him yesterday a few times. I was told to try calling the humane society to see if there are any nursing mothers that might take him, which I will do tomorrow. His fleas I'll have to take care of with a flea comb. I hope I can find someone to take him because I'm exhausted and I don't know if I can deal with it.

Smeagol has pretty bad eye infections in both eyes and is now constipated. I stimulate him at every feeding, but he only pees, no poop. I added a little bit of vegetable oil to his bottle this morning so hopefully that helps. His little belly is so round now.
I'll be calling the humane society at 1 pm when it opens to see if I can take him in there. It makes me sad to even think about giving up on him, but I really feel like I can't do this. He deserves the best chance he can get.

The humane society and every other shelter says they will just put Smeagol to sleep if I bring him in, but I did get some advice from a vet tech who has hand raised 3 kittens. She told me to not stress so much, do a feeding every 4 hours and keep him warm. I did find a lady who wants him once he's a few weeks old, so that's good news. She would have taken him right away, but she has a young daughter about 8 years old and I felt that he might get handled too much.
Anyways, we are having one problem currently, that is that he hasn't pooped since yesterday at 9 am. He pees pretty much anytime I stimulate him, so that's fine, but how can I get him to poop???
I've tried rubbing his belly and bottom with warm wet cotton balls, with a q-tip, with a towel and nothing works. His tummy is very round and I worry about him not pooping, although he does seem rather happy to be with me.
I picked up some powdered formula today, another bottle w/ more nipples and a flea comb. I gave him a good combing which he absolutely loved and he's so fluffy now. I only found one flea, but a decent amount of flea dirt so I'm going to keep up on the combing to see if I find more.
His eyes aren't leaking as much pus now either, so hopefully the meds are working. I also cut the nipple on his bottle some more so his feedings are going much quicker and he's eating much more.
Please let me know what to do about his pooping. I'm really worried about him.

Devlyn

Hi all. Here's the little one's new album link to see pics of him as he grows up.

http://picasaweb.google.com/oddbodkinrenshop/Smeagol

Devlyn & Smeagol

Smeagol is doing much better. He finally pooped (on me) this morning.
He's nice and fuzzy now that he's been flea combed. I also got him cleaned up a lot and his eyes aren't leaking pus anymore. He's a real fighter and I am hopeful for his future. I found someone who is interested in adopting him in a few weeks once he's off the bottle and able to eat on his own. She does have a young daughter about 8 years old, so I'm not sure if I should keep him longer, although honestly, I'll be happy to relieve myself of the responsibility. There is that responsibility though and I feel like I should find someway to make sure that he gets neutered and not declawed. I'm not sure how to do that though.
Anyways, my big challenge right now is to find someone to babysit on Sunday.
I'm going to try to convince one of my employees to take him on Sunday so he gets fed. Taking him to the festival doesn't sound like a viable solution.

Originally Posted by Devlyn

The humane society and every other shelter says they will just put Smeagol to sleep if I bring him in, but I did get some advice from a vet tech who has hand raised 3 kittens. She told me to not stress so much, do a feeding every 4 hours and keep him warm. I did find a lady who wants him once he's a few weeks old, so that's good news. She would have taken him right away, but she has a young daughter about 8 years old and I felt that he might get handled too much.
Anyways, we are having one problem currently, that is that he hasn't pooped since yesterday at 9 am. He pees pretty much anytime I stimulate him, so that's fine, but how can I get him to poop???
I've tried rubbing his belly and bottom with warm wet cotton balls, with a q-tip, with a towel and nothing works. His tummy is very round and I worry about him not pooping, although he does seem rather happy to be with me.
I picked up some powdered formula today, another bottle w/ more nipples and a flea comb. I gave him a good combing which he absolutely loved and he's so fluffy now. I only found one flea, but a decent amount of flea dirt so I'm going to keep up on the combing to see if I find more.
His eyes aren't leaking as much pus now either, so hopefully the meds are working. I also cut the nipple on his bottle some more so his feedings are going much quicker and he's eating much more.
Please let me know what to do about his pooping. I'm really worried about him.

Devlyn

Click to expand...

Devlyn...sounds like progress is being made...as far as the kitten not pooping....kittens do not poop every day.

From the kitten rescue:

Don't worry if he doesn't pass a stool after every feeding or even every day. Keep stimulating until he stops eliminating, though it's important to know when to stop, because stimulating your kitten for too long can make his delicate skin sore and raw.

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/pooping_and_peeing.html

Just keep monitoring it.

Katie

Hi Katie!
Thanks for the info!
Smeagol got another flea combing tonight and I found no flea dirt or fleas so I'm hopeful I got them all. Yay!
He's gained .3 ounces yesterday and today, and he's eating like a fiend.
Should I be worried that he's eating about twice as much as the can suggests? I figure with the mommy cat he'd eat whenever he wanted and I'm letting him take what he wants and stopping once he loses interest. He's probably taking about 3-4 tablespoons per day of milk replacer when the can suggests 2 for his weight of 4.6 ounces.
One of my employees thinks her family may decide to take him, which I prefer as a home for him anyways. She is going to babysit for me on Sunday while I'm at the festival so that's taken care of.
I told her I'm more than happy to help foster him until he's weaned from the bottle and more able to adjust to their home. I know they will take good care of him and get him neutered. She also knows how I feel about declawing.
I'll be posting some more pictures of him tomorrow. He looks like a baby bird with his fluffy coat.
His eyes have not leaked any pus at all today, so I'm confident it's clearing up. It's the same stuff they give cats for colds to put in their eyes so hopefully it will ward off any more infections.
I love my sweet baby Smeagol!!!!!!

Your doing such a great job!!!

Smeagol just had his feeding and his eyes are opening!!! They look healthy as can be, and he's finding the nipple (and getting it into his mouth!!) much easier. He's also much more vocal today, probably because overnight I go 4 hours between feedings where during the day I feed more often cuz I'm a sucker for his little face.
Are there any resources about what they can see at his age and what he needs to be protected from. I've heard bright lights are bad.

My two are now almost 10 and I have had them since they were three weeks old, I know what hard work it can be. You've had some brilliant advice and what looks like brilliant back up. Their favourite place whilst I weaned them was dare I say an old simulated fur coat, it was warm dark and snugly, they hated loud noises and liked routine but they loved contact. Perhaps it was easier because as brothers they had each other. The coat was consigned to the bin however, once they reached 5 weeks. To look at them now you would never believe how tiny they were, they are large happy cats who love human company. I wish you all the best and keep everyone updated, it is so nice to see a success story even if it is early days. Strikes me that this little fella was lucky to find you!