"Dump" Kittens, Need help!

I am new, and sad to say not here under great circumstances.

I work as a weigh scale operator at a landfill site, today our equipment operator brought down two kittens whom he found in a load that had just been dumped from one of our transfer stations... These poor souls had traveleed about 100 km in a roll off bin along with several tons of garbage, then the whole load was dumped at our landfill, how they survived that is beyond me, as the operator was packing in the load he thought he saw a small stuffed animal but felt a pull to get out and look, sure enough it was one of the kittens, he searched though as much of the load as he could and found one more. The sad fact is there may have been more The vet says one boy, one girl, The boy we have named Oscar, the girl Hope.

I also have a pregnant cat from work, she is soo tiny and the vet figures just a baby herself, she is doing well and getting ready to birth soon, she will promptly be spayed and her baby having babies days will be over.. her story made me mad as she was also dumped, but at least she had a chance and was old enough to somewhat fend for herself.

I am too furious to go into too much detail....

We had one customer suggest that a feral cat may have had her kittens in a bin, and that may be possible if the bins were left for a while, these bins are dunped every 2 days and these kittens based on what the vet said are about a week or more old. They are fat and strong and seem healthy.

Heres my SOS... They are drinking milk replacer and seem to be doing well, they are strong and chubby right now, though they do have some fleas but are too young to do much about that yet. However, I have only been able to get them to pee ( Rescued them about 4 pm, vet saw them at 5:30 ) They will not, so far, have a bowel movement even following the vets advise on how to stimulate them... can anyone help me with ideas?

I am so frustrated and sickened with the human race right now, and worried, I will deal with homes later, as I cannot possibly keep them all. Right now I want to focus on doing what I can for them now.

Welcome to TCS!

My first question is: what did the vet tell you to do to stimulate them?

I get a cloth wet, then rub their bums until they go potty. Usually they go every 24 hours, no more than that should they be allowed to go without pooping. If they do not poop for 24 hours, get them to a vet ASAP.

Thats what he said, a cloth "damp" was what he said specifically and what I was doing, I have only been trying since supper, so maybe in the morning? I was not sure how often they "go" and forgot to ask the vet that. I have never had kittens, my cats have always been spayed before they could.

How often are you feeding them? At one week, they likely need to eat every 2 hours. I always stimulate them right after eating. I also keep a notebook recording every time they ate, peed, or pooped. I also record how much they ate.

Are you keeping them warm? I always use a heating pad, covered with a towle or cloth set on low. Kittens cannot regulate their temp & if they are cold, they will not eat/potty.

Sorry if you already know these things, but I'd rather re-iterate than miss something!

I don't have any advice to add. I do want to say you are an angel to rescue these little ones and the pregnant kitty.

I have no advice beyond that given, but I want to say you are a great person for doing all you can to rescue and look after all these unfortunates. Sometimes the human race sucks.

looong night, lol, every three hours is how often I have been feeding them, on the advise if the vet. and we have poop.. lol

I have them in a large tote container, with a heating pad covered by a towel at one end and just towel at the other so they can get away if they get hot.

Don't worry about saying something I have already heard, as you said, its better to be sure.

Thanks for the compliments, but just so you know, I did not make it clear in my prior post, I had no clue when I first brought her home, that the kitten ( because she really is just a kitten herself ) was pregnant when I took her in, likley would not have changed anything as far as taking her in though, but we found that out about a week after I had her, we had her vets appointment that day and what I thought was maybe worms, sigh, was a pregnant belly.. she is just so darn small and skinny it never occured to me she was pregnant.

I am on my way to work, have a 9 hour day, and they will have to come with me as everyone here is working today. I will try and check back this evening.

My own kitty came from a dump, so this hits very close to home. Bless you for taking in these babies. It sounds like you are doing everything right so far with the feeding and stimulating them. I hope they were the only 2, but if there were others, may the poor sweet souls rest in peace.

Oh Bless you Oscar and Hope. Thank goodness there are loving folk such as yourself out there, I wish you the best of luck and the kitties will love you for it too

It is very doubtful that a feral cat had her kittens in a dumpster. As hard as it is to believe, kittens are put into dumpsters too often. As a Humane Society volunteer, I hear of these stories regularly. What motivates people to do that is beyond my comprehension.

Glad to hear that they finally pooped. Don't be surprised if they get loose stools as a change in food, even to a quality milk replacement, can mess with their digestive system for a while.

I just wanted to say thank you for taking in these babies. I just got done bottle-feeding a kitten who didn't want to poop for me after stimulation at all. She was actually constipated due to the vet assist giving me the wrong dosage on the KMR (didn't have the actual can at the time). I found out a couple of days later when we bought a can. I ended up watering the formula down just a little bit more and kept stimulating like I had been doing. She was between 2-3wks old at that time. That finally fixed the problem and she's now a healthy happy kitten who is about 7wks old. I wish you the best of luck!

I really dont have much to add...just wanted to say that your an angel!!

Those cats were so lucky to have found you!!!

I don't have anything to add.
I just wanted to say how wonderful of you to take these babies in.

an update.....

I was truly struggling to get these guys to move their bowels as often as all the reading I did said they should, I called the local shelter ( I have a dog and a cat from them ) and they said to bring them to one of their staff members home, who also fosters, and maybe she could have better luck and give me some pointers, she also has Momma with kittens the exact same age as these ones, their eyes opened last night and this morning and the Momma cats kittens also just opened their eyes. Their Momma is healthy and loving ( she was dumped on their steps ready to birth ) and they thought If I brought the kittens directly to the home of the staff member and avoided the shelter for various reasons ( risks to the kittens being the highest ) we could see how Mom responded to these guys, her litter was small, only 3 herself, so 2 more would likely be ok for her to handle. Well, it went perfect, the kittens were wimpering a bit when we intro'd them and momma intstantly went to see them in their basket, concerned, and began licking and grooming them, after she had spent a ton of time grooming them, she went back to her kittens to check on them. At that time we carefully and with an eagle eye put the kittens in with her, she gave them a couple of quick licks and laid down, they went to her and started looking for a nipple almost right away. Within a few minutes all 5 were nursing side by side and Mom had them mixed with her own. The lady who has them is great and promised me constant updates and that she will watch close for and signs of rejection, but early indications are good. She and I will be in constant touch and I plan to visit often!

I admit, the purely selfish part of me hated to leave them, who knew you'd get so attached so darn fast.... But the smart and logical part of me knows this is the best for them.

This is fantastic news! That's really good that this Momma cat took over. That's always the best thing. Reyah really helped me to raise Athena. Keep us posted!

That's wonderful news.
I know how fast you can get attached to those furry little babies, but you're right it is the best thing for them.
You'll be getting updates on them, so that's good.

Bless Mommy cats little heart for taking in the new babies.

What a wonderful resolution to a horrifying story. Thank you for rescuing those poor babies and doing what's best for them.
I am saddened by much of the human race.

Devlyn

That is SO wonderful! They will likely do a lot better having a mama cat to feed and look after them. Please let us know how it goes!

WONDERFUL NEWS ON THE UPDATE! OscarNHope, I admire the way you kept reaching out in ALL directions and found the ANSWER!! Bless you, the foster mom & the mama-kitty for rescuing those poor, precious babies. My heart goes out to the unknown mama-kitty whose kits were most likely taken from her by cruel, selfish owners
Oh, yes, please tell the equipment operator "Good Job" on following a hunch and finding those kittens before it was too late. From TCS to you & your coworkers - this one's for you