Orphaned baby feral/stray...HELP!

Oh my! I was minding my own business today at a church fall fest when some friends (and I am going to use that term loosely right now ) showed up with a TINY baby kitten in a towel and told me they were going to kill her if I didn't take her!

She was covered with fleas and she can't be more than about 2 weeks old. Her eyes are barely open, she doesn't even have one tooth, and her ears aren't standing up yet.

She was SCREAMING and live in small town/middle of nowehere (nothing open, no stores that sell replacement milk) so I came home and made a recipe that I got from the ER vet: Egg Yolk, Evap. Milk, and Corn Syrup. I syringed it down her throat slowly (no bottle for her to suckle from either ) and did probably 5 or 6 ml. I bathed her in dawn dish soap to try to get the fleas off and I bet 30 went down my drain! Poor little baby! Now she is all dry and sleeping sweetly in a small cat carried lined with towels.

Beyond this (and I am lucky to have gotten this far!), I have no idea what to do! I am scared to death she is going to die from a mistake I make with her. She is so little.

I also have 6 other cats to think of and I am not sure what she could pass to them, so I am keeping her in the kennel and seperated from them completely for now. On Monday, I can get her to a vet, but there is nothing other than the ER vet between now and then and she is definitely not in distress now that her little belly is full.

How much do I need to feed her everyday and how often?

How do I make her use the bathroom...and how often?

Should I seek to find her a surrogate momma cat even if that means taking her to a shelter (a no kill shelter is all I would even consider!) or is hand caring best?

HELP me!

Here is a great website for raising kittens:
http://www.kitten-rescue.com/bottle_feeding_kitten.html

It sounds like you are doing a great job. Just remember to keep up with the feedings, keep the baby warm, and rub the kittens genitals to make it potty before/after every meal.

Thanks for taking her in.

If the ER vet gave you the recipe, stick with it for now until you can get her to the vet. At minimum, feed the baby every two hours and keep her warm between feedings.

When you have time after a feeding, comb her little coat for more fleas. You will need to make sure all the fleas are off her as soon as possible.

I will typically take a warm washcloth and with one finger pet the kitten like it's mother would, especially stimulating it's bottom to get it to use the bathroom. This will also help clean the kitten up and remove any remaining flea dirt.

Keeping the baby warm and fed is your top priority with it for now. Use a heating pad as long as it is buried well under a blanket several layers thick. The pads can get too hot for kitties. A warm water bottle is actually better.

Feeding the baby every two hours is very important. You have to do this all night long so sleep will be difficult. At this point you will probably be able to extend the feedings to 3 hours in the next couple of weeks.

And you need to know you may lose this little one. Even if you feed it every two hours. Even if you do absolutely everything you can, you may still not be able to save it. I've done the exact same thing for hand fed kittens and I lose just as many as I save.

Many good vibes to you and this baby.

Originally Posted by RAFM

Thanks for taking her in.

...

Even if you do absolutely everything you can, you may still not be able to save it.

Many good vibes to you and this baby.

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Many vibes!! I know of at least one other person here at TCS who's also having this problem at the moment, but there are multiple baby kitties.

Yes, exactly what the above posters have already said -- feed as much as she'll eat every 2 hours (exhausting, but rewarding!), keep in a warm but not hot place, stimulate to start elimination after she gets done feeding. If she's old enough to walk around and her eyes are open and all that, you can try stimulating her while she's standing in your litter box, so she gets the idea of that.

If you get absolutely overwhelmed, you can try calling your vet back to see if there's someone who can take over feeding and care from you, or even for just a little while. A surrogate mama cat may or may not work; if your vet knows of a cat that has done this in the past and is available, that would be best. Otherwise any old female cat will ignore the baby at best and at worst try to kill it.

Good luck and keep us posted (when you're not feeding, working or sleeping!)

Originally Posted by RAFM

Thanks for taking her in.

If the ER vet gave you the recipe, stick with it for now until you can get her to the vet. At minimum, feed the baby every two hours and keep her warm between feedings.

When you have time after a feeding, comb her little coat for more fleas. You will need to make sure all the fleas are off her as soon as possible.

I will typically take a warm washcloth and with one finger pet the kitten like it's mother would, especially stimulating it's bottom to get it to use the bathroom. This will also help clean the kitten up and remove any remaining flea dirt.

Keeping the baby warm and fed is your top priority with it for now. Use a heating pad as long as it is buried well under a blanket several layers thick. The pads can get too hot for kitties. A warm water bottle is actually better.

Feeding the baby every two hours is very important. You have to do this all night long so sleep will be difficult. At this point you will probably be able to extend the feedings to 3 hours in the next couple of weeks.

And you need to know you may lose this little one. Even if you feed it every two hours. Even if you do absolutely everything you can, you may still not be able to save it. I've done the exact same thing for hand fed kittens and I lose just as many as I save.

Many good vibes to you and this baby.

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This the same advice I would give. I fed Lucky my bottle baby every 3 hours. As was my vets advice. I used a hotwater bottle wrapped in a towel. I also covered the box with a blanket to keep in the heat and keep it dark. I also put a small stuffed toy for her to snuggle with.

Thank you all for your advice! I fed her (him?) about two hours ago and right now, she is sleeping peacefully in a nice snuggly warm spot. I hate to wake her when she is finally resting. Is it true that she will get up and meow when she is hungry? She has eaten quite a lot and she does pee when I stimulate, but I can't not get her to poo just yet. We will keep trying!

I have added to her kennel a sock filled with rice which I heated in the microwave. Then I wrapped a towel around that and laid it in her carrier. She has a piece of fleece in there too and she is all snuggled up in it. I actually put her carrier in a large closet and left the door cracked so she could have dark and quiet and also be isolated from our other cats. She seems content in there to be away from the noise of the house.

I do know that she may or may not make it. She is a fighter though, you can tell that about her already! She meows really loud and is very active when she is awake. She has a wobbly walk too.

I have picked the fleas off several times and I just keep combing and getting them off her. I can't stand fleas, so it thrills me to no end to see them fall in the water and go down the sink!

AWW Rebecca - you are a life-saver for this little one . Just want to pass along my vibes that all is going well today. You are putting your heart on the line but are doing such a loving, kind thing for this kitten who needed someone like you to step up and take her... Very kind . I hope she makes it too and you are doing all you can for her

I commend you for taking care of that little baby. It sounds like you are doing good by keeping her warm and snuggly. Many good vibes to you. Keep us updated!

Today has been a good day. She is still active and wiggly. She doesn't love the bottle, but we were able to get out today and get a bottle and kitten replacement milk. She has eaten about 2 tbsp so far today since noon. She weighs 6.8oz right now, so I calculated that she needs about 3TBSP per day for now.

I am still getting fleas off her one at a time. She pooped this morning, but has not gone since then. Is that bad? How many times a day should she go? She pees very easily and does that every time she eats, but the poos are harder to get her to do. She actually did one overnight in her kennel that I found this morning. She did that one by herself...but it was not diarrhea. It was actually what I would call "soft formed."

Do you all have any tips for feeding? I wrap her in a towel (like a little tac0) and put her head back against my chest, then put the bottle in her mouth. She usually burps (which is so stinkin' cute!) after she suckles. My biggest problem is that she constantly wants to climb and move. She wiggles all over me and climbs straight up my shirt with those little sharp claws. If I sit her on the ground, she will wobbly walk as far as she can and then stop and start nursing the closest thing (which breaks my heart).

Here is a picture of her...I can't get any good ones, but you can see how cute she is!

Rebecca, go to www.kitten-rescue.com and click on the link on the first page to email the site owner. She will actively help you via email. Write HELP RESCUED TINY KITTEN in the subject line.

Bless you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a precious little kitty. Many for this baby kitten to make it!

AWWWWWW She is SOOOOOOO adorable. I where those people found this kitten ? Was it at church fall festival? And I wonder if there were any more kittens. .

So glad to here she is doing well today. You are doing a great job Bless your heart.

I was actually at a church festival at MY church and this lady is the pastor's wife at a different church that I used to attend with my husband several years ago. We are facebook friends (the wife and I) and she knows I love cats and have quite a few of them. I guess that fact made her decide I was the one to contact. She drove 15 minutes out of her way with the cat in a towel and told me it was die if she took it home because she didn't have time to deal with it. Of course, and I am sure she was banking on this one, I couldn't leave it to die. My husband has been very supportive and my mom saw it's picture and immediately told me this was "her cat." LOL So it even has a home if I can just get it through these next few weeks!

I have thought, many times, that they should not have moved the kitten. What if the mother was moving the litter? Apparently it was the only one and it was left beside the church steps, screaming its head off. According to the pastor's wife, there was a cat there who had a litter of kittens and all of the kittens were eaten by a fox. ???!@!@ (So, did anyone TNR the mom? Of course not...that would be tooo easy! GRR) The pastor's wife seems to think that the fox got the momma this time which caused her to not come back for her baby. Still though...one little kitten all alone. Seems fishy to me. Poor cat! She is sweet as can be though.

I'm happy to hear she is doing so well. Great job!

When you feed her, I would suggest putting her loosely in a fleece blanket. My personal experience has been that they are more content in a fluffy, fleece blanket during a feeding.

Keep up the great work!

I'm so glad you rescued this little kitten

Originally Posted by BlueRexBear

I was actually at a church festival at MY church and this lady is the pastor's wife at a different church that I used to attend with my husband several years ago. We are facebook friends (the wife and I) and she knows I love cats and have quite a few of them. I guess that fact made her decide I was the one to contact. She drove 15 minutes out of her way with the cat in a towel and told me it was die if she took it home because she didn't have time to deal with it. Of course, and I am sure she was banking on this one, I couldn't leave it to die. My husband has been very supportive and my mom saw it's picture and immediately told me this was "her cat." LOL So it even has a home if I can just get it through these next few weeks!

I have thought, many times, that they should not have moved the kitten. What if the mother was moving the litter? Apparently it was the only one and it was left beside the church steps, screaming its head off. According to the pastor's wife, there was a cat there who had a litter of kittens and all of the kittens were eaten by a fox. ???!@!@ (So, did anyone TNR the mom? Of course not...that would be tooo easy! GRR) The pastor's wife seems to think that the fox got the momma this time which caused her to not come back for her baby. Still though...one little kitten all alone. Seems fishy to me. Poor cat! She is sweet as can be though.

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Well then, this little one is a miracle kitten to possibly have survived that fox. AND to top it all off, your mom is going to give her a wonderful life . I am sending all of the vibes I can muster up today to this little one and to you.... caring for these little orphans is hazardous to our hearts but SO worth it. No matter what, this little baby knows love now and is in great hands :v ibes:

Thank you all so much for the support and help. I posted these pics over at the pic board, but I wanted to make sure you all get to see them (not sure if everyone checks every board).

I have given HIM (yes, it is a boy!) the temporary name of "Mr. Meowgie. Big name for a little cat, but he is a tough little fella - a fighter! This morning, he weighed 7.2 ounces which is up from the 6.8 oz he weighed yesterday morning!!! *YAY*

Mr. Meowgie having his bottle:



Just an idea of how tiny he really is...

Oh my goodness, look at that fluff!

As for the eliminating issue, kittens usually do so directly after they eat, so I would think just after every time you feed him would be enough, considering he needs to eat every two hours. But the good news is that he seems to be able to do it on his own, evidenced by the poop in his carrier, so I would say that right after feeding is definitely going to be enough for this little guy.

Yay that he's doing better!! Many more vibes being sent your way for continued recovery.

Oh Rebecca!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is SO adorable, and you are SUCH an angel! Just mega to you and your mom and your DH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Continued to you and baby!!!!!!!

I did see the pictures in Fur Pictures. WHAT a little ball of fluff, just a precious little angel. Again, You, Your DH and You MOM are just wonderful for saving this llittle one

Keep the pictures coming And more