Help for an abandoned kitten

My husband brought home an abandoned kitten last night. We are keeping it away from our cats (all current on vacines). I think she is about 3 weeks old. She does have most of her teeth but sometimes wobbles when she walks. She is in a large cage and likes the stuffed animals I put in with her. She did use the litter box.

Here are some questions:

She is very dirty. Can we bath her? She does have fleas and flea eggs on her.

She is trying to eat so I am mixing kitten formula and kitten canned food. Is that what I should do?

Anything else I should be doing?

Thanks for any help you give me.

Originally Posted by animnol

My husband brought home an abandoned kitten last night. We are keeping it away from our cats (all current on vacines). I think she is about 3 weeks old. She does have most of her teeth but sometimes wobbles when she walks. She is in a large cage and likes the stuffed animals I put in with her. She did use the litter box.

Here are some questions:

She is very dirty. Can we bath her? She does have fleas and flea eggs on her.

She is trying to eat so I am mixing kitten formula and kitten canned food. Is that what I should do?

Anything else I should be doing?

Thanks for any help you give me.

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Welcome to TCS...this website is going to be very helpful for you:

http://www.kitten-rescue.com

Advise on what to feed:

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

The best way to remove fleas from very young kittens:

Your lice comb will probably be fine for this. You will need a bowl of hot water to which you will add just a small drop of dishwashing liquid - you don't need much, just enough to make the water a little sudsy. Also get a bunch of dry paper towels, believe me, you will need them. Don't just take the whole roll, tear a bunch off so they are at the ready. Gently pick up a baby and comb gently in the direction of fur growth to capture the fleas on the teeth of the comb. Quickly dip the comb completely into the water. Totally submerse it to dislodge the fleas. They will float to the top and try to jump off the surface of the water. Cover the bowl when you are combing to prevent this. Dry the comb thoroughly so as not to get baby wet at all and repeat this until you have removed the fleas.

Thanks for rescuing her.

Katie

Thank you! I had not thought of the lice comb. She is also pretty greasy. She was in a junk yard under some cars. Would a warm bath with baby shampoo and warm towels afterwards be ok?

Originally Posted by animnol

Thank you! I had not thought of the lice comb. She is also pretty greasy. She was in a junk yard under some cars. Would a warm bath with baby shampoo and warm towels afterwards be ok?

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You know....I would not bathe her...I would take a warm washcloth (squeeze most of the water out of it) and rub it all over her then take a dry washcloth and dry her off. This should hopefully collect all the dirt/grease...but won't subject her to the same level of water as a bath would.

Katie

My son and I gave her a sort of bath. When we started it the water that came off her was red and we thought she had a wound. It was massive fleas. She must have know we were trying to help her. She didn't move. We did not put her in the water, we held her and slowly poured warm water on her. We washed with baby soap and washed and washed and washed. Finally most of the fleas were gone and we rinsed and rinsed. We dried her in warm towels and now she is on my husband's lap, in a blanket, kneading and kneading.

Yuck on the fleas. That poor baby!

We found a two week old kitten in our yard last spring and caring for it was one of our best memories of the year. We did wind up having to bathe it several times because of various elimination issues but I always made sure he was bundled up, with me, warm and dry before letting down again.

Ours loved having a fleecy blanket in his basket to snuggle under.

Aw, the poor baby...have you had her checked by the vet yet?

Keep us updated!!

I took my two cats, 5 and 1 years old, to the vet to make sure they were all UTD on their shots. I discussed what I knew at the time about the kitten with the vet. They had 2 emergencies and could not see her on Sat. They know me very well and told me basically what to do. They said if she was fine and not sick to come in when she needs shots in about 3 weeks. She is fine tonight. She is starting to play and is very happy. She does like to snuggle and she really likes her stuffed mom we have for her.

Thanks for all your help and concern.

I just read this post, good for you for rescuing this kitten! I'm glad you were able to get most of the fleas off of her as fleas can kill young kittens, I'd keep using the flea comb on her for a couple more days to make sure there aren't any lingering fleas. There's also a tip I've heard on this board a lot: cut up a flea collor and put it in your vaccuum cleaner, then when you vac. your carpet, any fleas/eggs you get will die in the vaccuum instead of trying to escape! good luck and keep us updated!

Oh thank you so much for rescuing this baby.............can we see pics?????

Here are pictures of our new baby and her new big brothers.

Oh my........how sweet is that! Your furfamily is beautiful!

Thanks for your help and support. She seems to be doing great.

Such a beautiful baby! You are doing a great job with her. Keep us posted!

Oh she is sooooo cute!