two week old kittens

Thank you For a while there I was doing google searches like crazy for info, my Kitties folder is full of bookmarks for pages with a variety of opinions on orphan care. What I have learned is that, like pediatrics, it's a specialized area within the general veterinary discipline. I think second opinions can be good, but sometimes you can get contradictory advice and/or information overload I"ve sort of been letting myself get stressed out worrying about whether I'm doing this or that right. But as so many of you have kindly reminded me, I can only do my best for them.

Mo and Larry are doing very well. The KMR and bottles came in the mail yesterday and it was a little like Christmas around here I immediately prepared the bottles to see how they like it. Well Larry is just crazy about it but Mo is having a little trouble adjusting. I think I've settled on just the right size hole in the nipple for her but she's not really taking as much as usual. That's understandable since she hardly had to work at all to get any milk out of the medicine dropper. The important thing is to minimize her air intake as much as possible because I'm pretty sure that is the main reason for the colic/constipation.

Then there was a question about whether or not it would be okay to change them over to KMR from goat's milk. I read that some bottle baby experts actually prefer goat's milk over KMR as long as it is supplemented with the vitamins and other things kittens need. But then we decided to go ahead and just transition slowly over a few days to KMR. So today I started with a 1 to 4 ratio and added a 1/4 tsp of pumpkin to their daily 60 ml of formula. Lets hope that all goes well

zeety, so  glad to hear the kittens are doing well. Keep sendiing us updates please.

Awwww. I'm just getting around to reading about your rescue. So sorry about Curly - he passed on being loved. I'm so glad the others are doing well. My cat's name is Larry!! And my brother's family cat is named Moe, and my mom's cat is Curly - so we have the 3 Stooges!! :nod:

Good luck with these tiny babies. It sounds like you're doing a wonderful job!!

YAY! Bottles and KMR! I do hope they help! :cross: It would be nice not to have colicy babies. :lol3: You ARE doing such a wonderful job! :heart3:

Primula said:

zeety, so  glad to hear the kittens are doing well. Keep sendiing us updates please.

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Will do

nanner said:

Awwww. I'm just getting around to reading about your rescue. So sorry about Curly

- he passed on being loved. I'm so glad the others are doing well. My cat's name is Larry!!

And my brother's family cat is named Moe, and my mom's cat is Curly - so we have the 3 Stooges!!

Good luck with these tiny babies. It sounds like you're doing a wonderful job!!

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Great minds...etc, etc. Nyuck nyuck.

LDG said:

YAY! Bottles and KMR! I do hope they help!

It would be nice not to have colicy babies.

You ARE doing such a wonderful job!

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I'm also using one of the spare nipples that came with them as a Binky for Larry. Poor little guy is so frustrated with not having the real thing he just never stops his search.  When he can't find it he alternately growls and whimpers. Funny how kittens personalities are, Mo is completely different.

AWWWW a binky for Larry :baby: !!!!!!!!!!!! How very precious. YAY for KMR Those babies will be much more satisfied now after receiving that :nod: Very :happy3: happy to hear how great they are doing! You are doing a wonderful job as their surrogate meowmy :heart3:

zeety said:

Great minds...etc, etc. Nyuck nyuck. :lol3:

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hehe. And your idea of the binky for Larry is fantastic!! Sending vibes!

That's brilliant! Oh that's just too darling!

How are those babies today !!!!!! You have to get a picture of Larry with his binky

I want so much to share their progress with you all but my webcam takes very poor pics. I can't ever seem to get them positioned right because I need one hand to hold them and the other to snap the picture, and it always comes out blurry. The webcam will do video, I just need to figure out how to load it up. It probably won't be very good, but it will be something.

We don't care if they're blurry pics! :lol3:

Best pic I can get of Larry, he refuses to sit still...the little milk mouf.



See the little red dots on my hand? His claws are very sharp already. He's a real stinker

:heart3: Awwwwww!!! :love:

LOL they wake me up in the middle of the night crying and then don't want food, they just want to be held.

It's not easy being an Easy Meomy, but they are my babies...

They'll grow out of it, and you'll be saying, "I wish they'd wake me up in the middle of the night looking for love!" :lol3:

I agree with Nanner... :heart3: Awwwwww!!! :love:

Well, I hope this thread helps someone else who maybe comes across a litter of abandoned babies later on. Taking care of bottle babies is not easy, it's a full-time job. I haven't had a good night's sleep in weeks and, frankly, I'm getting a little tuckered out.

OH little Larry - I just WUV WUV his cute little face :love: :love: And yes, I am sure that you have not had a good night's sleep - but soon they will be sleeping through the night . I am SO glad they both are healthy and happy

I so admire the wonderful thing you're doing. And I love that there's another feline Larry at TCS! I know we have some Larry husbands, but they're hoomans.

zeety said:

Well, I hope this thread helps someone else who maybe comes across a litter of abandoned babies later on. Taking care of bottle babies is not easy, it's a full-time job. I haven't had a good night's sleep in weeks and, frankly, I'm getting a little tuckered out.

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I thought my bottle fed babies would never ever grow up to the point that they would sleep more then 4 hours without wanting food! But they did and I survived....it was rough but it worked out. And those tiny little kitten claws are SHARP! My husband would never get up w/ me and I could only feed one at a time so they would climb all over me and claw me to try and steal the bottle from each other. My legs were a mess of red scratches for a few weeks from them~I had them baby gated into my big walk in closet and they learned pretty quick how to climb the baby gate to get what they wanted. We ended up moving the gate when they were almost 5 wk old and gated our bedroom door. They slept curled up on blankets under a tall table next to my bed and when they got hungry they would climb the bed and walk all over my face until I got up to feed them. We still have one of the cats, he is 6 mo now and sleeps on my pillow curled around my head every single night. You will have an amazing bond with these babies!

frankthetank said:

 You will have an amazing bond with these babies!

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I completely agree, I kept all 3 of my bottle babies, like you I raised them from a very young age, mine were literally from birth. I literally didn't sleep for the first few days because my vet had recommended I feed them every 2 hrs because they took a while to come around from being delivered by emergency c-section and 2 of them were a little on the small side. They were getting used to the bottle because it is not at all natural to them as I was bottle feeding for the first time, so by the time I finished I had to start all over again. Like you I lost one, it happens and there is nothing we could have done about it as much as it hurts. The bond you have and will continue to develop with them is stronger than any bond you will have with any other pet. It is not easy taking care of these tiny babies, they are a few weeks old now and good news is they will stop being completely dependent on the bottle before too long. I sometimes miss the days when my babies were still nursing, but at the same time I do love my sleep and the ability to do something for more than a few hours. Keep up the good work you are doing an awesome job!