My family and I have a few outdoor cats living on our farm with us, as well as two inside. I'm not exactly sure when these ones were born, but it can't be more than a couple weeks. About four days ago I noticed they were crying all the time. Their mother was already pretty fickle with us, shying away from almost everyone, all the time, and I realized quickly after checking on them that they were very bony, unclean, and clearly hadn't been fed in a while.
No matter what else I tried to think about, I couldn't just leave them outside to starve. What with it starting to get chilly at night, I knew I'd need to bring them inside anyway.
So, I went out and bought Just Born kitten formula, a bottle with five different nipples, and some cleaning rags.
I think they're just, just now starting to grow teeth, so that makes it about three/four weeks old? I don't know, they seem younger than that.
They're doing fairly well, actually, all things considered. Caught on to the bottle feedings nicely. Usually it takes a minute or so to get the idea back that they should suck on it, but it was going very well until today.
After feeding them I always rub their bellies slowly, for about a minute, and clean them gently with a warm, damp rag. The heating pad and newspaper in their box is comfy enough, but I've noticed they're not having hard stools any more.
I don't think they're old enough to switch foods, and I'm very scared. The biggest problem is that we don't have enough money to pay for a 100 dollar vet visit... I don't want anything to happen to them, they've suffered enough. What do I do?
I'm making sure right now that they have plenty of water to drink. They're still too young to drink from a bowl, so I've been using a syringe and feeding it to them that way.
If there's anything else I can tell you about it, please let me know. I need any and all advice I can get, as soon as possible.
-M. in MO
No matter what else I tried to think about, I couldn't just leave them outside to starve. What with it starting to get chilly at night, I knew I'd need to bring them inside anyway.
So, I went out and bought Just Born kitten formula, a bottle with five different nipples, and some cleaning rags.
I think they're just, just now starting to grow teeth, so that makes it about three/four weeks old? I don't know, they seem younger than that.
They're doing fairly well, actually, all things considered. Caught on to the bottle feedings nicely. Usually it takes a minute or so to get the idea back that they should suck on it, but it was going very well until today.
After feeding them I always rub their bellies slowly, for about a minute, and clean them gently with a warm, damp rag. The heating pad and newspaper in their box is comfy enough, but I've noticed they're not having hard stools any more.
I don't think they're old enough to switch foods, and I'm very scared. The biggest problem is that we don't have enough money to pay for a 100 dollar vet visit... I don't want anything to happen to them, they've suffered enough. What do I do?
I'm making sure right now that they have plenty of water to drink. They're still too young to drink from a bowl, so I've been using a syringe and feeding it to them that way.
If there's anything else I can tell you about it, please let me know. I need any and all advice I can get, as soon as possible.
-M. in MO
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