Kitten under a week old!!

My son found a kitten in a driveway the other day. He is he animal warden for our city. Of Course, as usual, I am always fostering the kittens that are to little to be adopted out. Well this will be the youngest yet. He is, I think about 3-5 days old. He is a strong little one. very squirmy. I think that is a good signHis eyes are closed and his ears are still down. I am feeding him KMR and pedialyte. He is getting better, only a few sucks at a time. we do this every 20-30 min. He is peeing and pooped a little. Is there any other tricks, that anyone knows to get this babe to eat better. I have not lost a kitten yet and I amnot going to lose this one. He is on a heating pad and is surrounded by stuffed animals. His meow is almost silent, the poor thing was crying so much. We put him with a nursing mom but she is all dried up. she has been nursing kittens for over 8 weeks now. her set and another set of 4 he found. We realized he wasn't getting anything so we started the KMR..he was not happy with that.Any advice to help will be greatly appreciated!!

No advice but that poor poor little guy, it's so lucky he found you guys!!! Sounds like you're doing everything right.

Sounds like you're doing a great job so far, just keep offering eventually he'll start taking with less issues. Good luck with him! He's adorable!

Well bless your heart for taking her in! The site that seems to help the most people in this situation is here: http://www.kitten-rescue.com/

It seems to cover all the bases with orphaned kittens.

Poor baby lost his mommy! He is certainly lucky to have turned up where you could take him in. Bless your heart for caring for this little one.

If you're trying to feed with a bottle, it might work better with a syringe.

We're fostering 4 alllmost 2 week old kittens.


We got them when they were about ... a day old. They couldn't use the bottles, it just wouldn't work. Your vet can give you a few 1ml (they work a lot better than the 3ml for now) syringes and you can go that way. Easier to monitor exactly how much the little guy is getting as well.

Good luck. Its tough, but fun. Ours have eyes and ears now!!! Makes it allll worth while eh?

Hi,

sounds like you're doing a good job there

Even if your nursing mom has dried up she may be of some help in taking care of him by laying with him and washing him- providing she's healthy.

Otherwise make sure you weigh the little guy on a daily basis and go to a vets asap if he hasn't gained any weight or is loosing weight over a period of two days to get some medical care, i.e. antibiotics.

Name him after your son

regards,

Christine

You are a hero to take on this little guy (gal, I suspect, actually), because hand-raising kittens that young is a rough row to hoe and subject to much heartbreak.

She looks like a tortie in the photos.

Originally Posted by mrblanche

You are a hero to take on this little guy (gal, I suspect, actually), because hand-raising kittens that young is a rough row to hoe.

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Ups! Yes, laugh, if she's a calico she's most probably a girl and not a boy

Maybe you shouldn't name this little girl after your son

Christine

What a tiny girl. It sounds as if you are doing everything right. I have only raised one bottle baby. I found her on the lawn only a few hours old. If she's warm, eating, pooping and peeing I think you have it all covered . I wouldn't put her directly on a heating pad, there should be a towel or something in between so she doesn't get too hat.

I have a kitten blanket, It was given to me from geauga Humane Society for a kitten I was fostering that was very ill. They wanted to put him down and i begged them not to..I would do whatever it took to make him better..so they gave him to me wraped in this tiny blanket with kittens on it. That was 2 years ago and he survived and was adopted out. This blanket has kept over 25 foster kitties warm. I wrap that around the heating pad. I am hoping it will have the same majic for this little guy..I think its a boy!!. I just weighed him..he is exactly 4 ounces. I now ust have to figure out how much he is suppose to be eating. Thanks for the advice and good vibes!!!

Good thing you got her to start eating more.. You're a great person for doing this, a lot of people would have not cared at all.. I think the others are right in saying this kitten is a girl; I see a tortie.. Aren't all torties females? Either way, good luck with this little one!

You have a girl tortie there. Good luck with her. If you have any specific questions I will be happy to help you. Bottle babies can be a bit scary the first time. Just be sure you are keeping her warm and are feeding her around the clock. She will tell you when she has had enough to eat (unless the nipple gets plugged which is a common occurance) Don't heat the KMR in the microwave (it spoils) use a container of hot water and float the filled bottle in that until it is warm enough. Best of luck!

i measured and divided one days worth of food and witha syringe i measure one feeding out of that.I warm that in a cup of hot water. I am sure its a boy but we will see...anyway he ate his whole feeding like a champ and burped like a man!! he did his potty and curled up , all content and fell asleep in my hand..I guess that means its going good..I named him Valentin..for now... it means strong and healthy..if its a girl we will call her Val....

Torties are girls just like calicos are. It is rare to find a boy tortie or a boy calico but there are out there- but here is hoping because you seem to want it to be a boy. Just drop the formula into the mouth little bits at a time, because syringes can flood fluids into the mouth easily. Don't rinse out the syringe (the rubber part) in hot water as it will corrode and make feeding harder. Use lukewarm water and scrub the crevices with a toothbrush to get out all the old formula.

I'm in awe of what you are doing for this little one. Good to see another fellow Ohio kitty lover!!!

I really do not care if the kitten is a boy or a girl..but from what i see ..it looks like a boy I have several cats/ kittens and fostered many(not this young)...it looks like a boy...He/she has a forever home..the person that found him in there driveway before they called my son to go get him wants him/her. thanks so much for the good vibes and comments!!!

Originally Posted by hissy

You have a girl tortie there.

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I thought that too, looks like a baby version of my "rescue torti", Kasey.

Mine's an "old girl" (she's the picture on the right, in "My Cats" at the post header) but I expect she looked quite a bit like that when she was little.


Your doing a kind thing and I wish you all the best and success.

Bless your heart for taking care of that little baby! He/she is adorable. Most of my cats were bottlefed, but never that young. It's hard work, but so worth while!