Immediate advice needed!!

sarahtmomof3

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I posted a few days ago about the mama cat and kittens we have. We just found one of the kittens outside of the box and we returned her to mama, but she wasn't moving. All the other kittens are quite active and were nursing while this baby was on its back in the box. We took her back out and are warming her. Shes still making a few sounds and was purring while I was holding her. Problem is, we don't have anything to feed her or any way to get kitten formula this time of night. What should we do??? She is less than 1 week old. Please help!!!
 

cutekittenkat

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There are some home-made milk recipes that you can make, but by your description of her, if she does not become more active quickly, she needs to see a vet. Do you have an emergency vet nearby?
 

carolina

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There is some great info at Hissy's site, Kitten-rescue.com
The first thing you have to do, is to make sure the kitten is warm - here are detailed instructions:
http://www.kitten-rescue.com/cold_kitten.html Place some soft bedding (blanket or towels) in the bottom of a clean box and place the box in a warm, draught-free spot. If you have a pet heating pad, place this under the bedding, but give your kitten room to move off the heat if it becomes too warm. Never use a human electric blanket or a human heating pad to keep a kitten warm, as it can cause hot spots on the fragile skin and burn your kitten.

If you don't have a heat pad, you can fill a clean sock with uncooked white rice or white beans until the sock feels firm. Tie a secure knot in the open end and place the sock in the microwave for 60 seconds. Test the temperature before you put the sock heater in with your kitten. Make sure the sock is not too hot. If your kitten is cold, you can curl the sock around him. You can also use a hot water bottle or soda bottle, filled with very hot water and wrapped in a thin towel. Place this in the box next to your kitten. Make sure the soda bottle does not roll on top of your kitten by placing a small object underneath the blanket to stop it rolling.

If you are using these alternative heating methods, you will need to re-warm the sock or refill the bottle with hot water at least every two to three hours. Use another towel or blanket to drape over the top of the box to keep the warmth inside. If you have an air-conditioner in your home, please be sure you do not let your kitten become exposed to the cool air at any time, as a kitten can become chilled quickly and needs to be kept nice and warm. Also, never use a heat lamp on tiny kittens. The light can quickly burn the skin and cause dehydration to set in.

The ideal temperature within the box should be:

* Birth to 3 weeks: 85-88oF (30-31oC)
Now onto feeding: Only after the kitten is warm you will feed it - for the first two hours while you are warming up the kitten, you will give it only home made pedialyte:

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/what_to_feed.html
While your kitten is warming up, you can prepare something for him to eat. If this little kitten was hypothermic (abnormally-low body temperature) and in shock when you found him, you should only give him children's Pedialyte (or an equivalent) for the first two hours, until he warms up. Then switch to kitten formula. If you are using children's Pedialyte, dilute it half and half with water that has been boiled and cooled. If you don't have any Pedialyte, you can make a home-made version. This does not need to be diluted.
Home-made Pedialyte

  • 1 cup water (boiled then cooled)
  • Small pinch of baking soda
  • Small pinch of Salt
  • 2 teaspoons of sugar
Mix all ingredients well. Make sure the mixture has been slightly warmed before feeding to your kitten. The mixture will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Feed 1ml (1cc) every half an hour for the first two hours using a dropper or feeding syringe. Also make sure your kitten is on his tummy and not his back when you feed. Feed very slowly so the fluid does not go down the wrong tube and choke your kitten.
After two hours, if your kitten has warmed up, you can begin to feed him formula. Never feed a kitten cow's milk or human baby formula as this causes stomach upset and severe diarrhea. He can have a commercially available formula such as KMR or Just Born, but if you don't have any of this, you can make up your own formula to use until you can get hold of some from a vet or pet shop.
Home-made kitten formula (Kitten Glop)

  • 8 ounces water (boiled then cooled)
  • 1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatin
  • 8 ounces whole evaporated milk (not skim)
  • 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (not low fat)
  • 2 tablespoons plain yogurt (not low fat)
  • 1 large or 2 small eggs yolks (raw)
  • 1 teaspoon clear Karo syrup
  • * 1-3 drops liquid pet vitamins
  • * 1 capsule acidophilus
  • * 1 drop Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE)
  • * Optional, though very beneficial.
Boil the water, add the gelatin and mix well. Add the following ingredients in order, mixing well after each addition:
1/2 of the canned milk
Mayonnaise and Yogurt
Rest of the milk
All other ingredients
You can substitute canned goat's milk for the canned evaporated milk, if you prefer it. This mixture will keep in the fridge for up to four days. It is jello-like in consistency in the fridge so you can just scoop out as much as you need and warm. It can also be frozen in ice cube trays and defrosted as needed. You can find pet vitamins at a pet store or your vet, and acidophilus and GSE in the liquid form at a good health food store.
If you prefer, you can use this recipe permanently, instead of a commercially available kitten formula. If you are using a commercial formula, add a quarter of a teaspoon of full fat yogurt to the first bottle of each day. This will aid in your kitten's digestion.
If you suspect the kitten is sick, please take it to the vet immediately
 
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sarahtmomof3

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Thank you for the advice. I talked to a friend of mine who has the other kittens and she told me they had formula and bottles at walmart so I'm good on that. I'm trying to get her to latch on and not having a whole lot of luck. I'm not sure if she was cold or not, how do you tell? My husband held her and had her snuggled up toa rice sock while I went to Walmart. Now she's snuggled in my shirt. Shes making grunting sounds that sound congested. She got really upset with me when I tried to give her a bottle. Does it take kittens who have been nursing some time to adjust to the bottle?
 
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sarahtmomof3

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I don't know if we have an emergency vet nearby and these are stray cats so I want to try and do everything we can at home for the kitten. I don't want her to die but I don't want to spend a bunch of money on her either.
 

catsallaround

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sounds like the mom knows somethings up and tried to take her away from the healthy ones. I know it may not be the most popular feel for this board but I do understand money comes into play-and with a kittens so young it may be something else is up with her.

Keep her warm-can take temp but really I would not as no reason to upset her more. Offer the food-a dropper may work better just dont force the food in big squirts-put tiny bits on very tip.

I would just hold this one and love on it. If perks up see if mom shows more interest in her
 
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