Help!!! I have a 3 day old kitten!!!

Lucy, the mother cat, had a single kitten 3 days ago under my bed. I did not witness the birth or even know it happened untill I heard the kitten cry. Lucy does not stay with the kitten at all. She runs to it when it is crying and that's it. And now even that is iffy. About an hour ago she brought the kitten into my daughters bed (while my daughter was sleeping). I put Lucy and baby into a laundry basket lined with a clean sheet. Lucy then took the kitten out of that and brought it into my sons room and put it in my sons bed, while my son was sleeping in it. We watched Lucy and the baby for a bit. She cleaned the baby and cuddled it but it doesn't seem the baby is nursing and Lucy feels like she is starting to dry up, he pouch is getting smaller. I moved Lucy and baby into a laundry basket in my room (my kids are toddlers). The kitten has a cold wet nose, if the kitten cries Lucy goes right to it, she is bathing it, but idk if this all is normal. The moving the kitten, it not appearing to eat, Lucy's shrinking pouch, her not staying with her kitten. Has she abandoned it? Is this kitten sick?

I think she is trying to find a place for her and the kitten.  They like to find their own comfort places. 

At this point, the kitten sounds cold to me.  Try warming some towels in the dryer and making a bed for them in a low light room in an open closet or a place where there is no commotion.  Fill a bottle, that has a good top, with warm water. Not hot.  Put a towel around it also.  Lay it in the little bed.   Having toddlers you know the right temp.  Lay the baby in there and show the momma that it is warm.  Cats always like warmth and she may tend to stay with the baby then.

The main thing is warmth and food from momma.  Try not to disturb them....even if she picks another place.  She probably likes your sons bed because it is a warm place.  Can you put some warm towels on the bed if this is where she wants to be.  The immediate concern is getting that baby warm, which might mean she gets part of the bed.  

But if they are up high, I would use a box, low sided for mom to get in and out easily, yet too high for the baby to roll out.  It sounds like she wants to be a mom,  but when she finds a place, she is moved.  Cats are like this.  They want to pick the place, unfortunately.

Keep close watch, she may start to nurse if you keep your distance.  In the meantime, try to find a rescue or e vet to give you more suggestions.  Rescues deal with tiny kittens all the time.  There is replacement milk for kittens....KMR, if you have to feed yourself. 

There are more knowledgeable people here regarding kittens this young.  I am sure they are going to  come on very soon to give you more info. 

Keep us posted, and good luck with this baby.  Why do these things always happen on a weekend!

I second Farley. Kitten not eating may be he is cold and not having the strengh.  Mom drying up may be simply she has just only one kitten, instead of perhaps four...

The iktten isnt abandoned in the worth usual meaning, if she still washes and licks it, as soon as it cries.

The really only way to know if he eats enough is to weigh them every day at the same time... Everything else is guesses...

"Having toddlers you know the right temp."  Cats normal temp is somewhat higher then humans, so it can be a little shade warmer, but there about.   Warm enough is necessary, but too warm may be dangerous too.

IF he will be abandoned, or not get enough of moms milk, a good site is www.kitten-rescue.com.   You will get many ideas from there.

Where are you living? which country?

Good luck!   *vibes*

Is the kitten crying a lot? If not, he's content. Kittens that aren't fed will cry a lot. The best way to make sure that the kitten is getting enough nutrients is daily weighings. A newborn kitten should weigh about 100 grams and should gain about 10 grams per day in the first week or so. You can get a small food scale to use that can measure grams in small increments. A mail scale may work too. Having a scale and weighing a kitten frequently is super important since it's the only way for you to know if kitten is okay. If it isn't you have to step in and help care for the kitten. I would get the scale asap since things can downhill very fast with such little kittens.

During the first couple of weeks of life a kitten cannot regulate his body heat. He needs heat from mom or he will get cold which will eventually kill him. If mom isn't staying with him enough you can help keep him warm. What I do with orphans is make "rice socks". You take a sock and fill it with regular white rice (oatmeal works too) and tie the sock to close it. The you put it in the microwave for about a minute. Put a couple of these socks in with the kitten and cover it with blanket so that the hot sock doesn't actually touch the kitten. The rice holds it's heat for a couple of hours. Keep checking on it. You can also use a heating pad on low with several layers of blankets on top of it so it doesn't get too hot and hurts the kitten. Remember that he can't move if it gets too hot.

Other that weighing and checking on the kitten try to leave mom and baby alone. That your cat isn't staying with the kitten is not uncommon. I had a mom who did the same thing the first few days but it got better. I would put the kitten in a good nest in a quiet area and put mom's food, water and litterbox right there so she doesn't have to move away to get it. As long as the kitten is not crying all the time and is gaining weight he's fine despite mom not being there all the time.

If you move the kitten too much it will stress mom out so try to let her pick the spot and make that spot as safe as possible.

Now if the kitten seem agitated or listless he may not be getting enough food so you can help by supplementing. You can get kitten formula at most pet stores and even some grocery stores. Walmart has it. Feed the kitten every four hours or so or less if mom is nursing some. They sell kitten bottles everywhere but in my experience they are way too big for small kittens. I prefer to use catac nipples that fit on the end of a syringe for very small kittens. You can buy all you need here: http://www.squirrelsandmore.com/rehab-supplies/hand-feeding-supplies.html . Until you get that you can call your vet and ask them for a 1 or 3 cc syringe without needle and feed with that. Some kittens will suckle on the tip of it. You can try the regular bottle too. If you can find the Four Paws brand bottle with nipple that's the best. It's shaped differently and tends to work better, ime. Please note that for some stupid reason the instructions that come with these bottles say to use a needle to make a hole in the nipple. That doesn't work as the hole is way too small. Instead cut an x at the tip of the nipple. You should see some drip when you turn the bottle upside down. You can try yourself to see if the liquid comes out easy when you suck on the nipple. If the kitten has to suckle too hard he'll just give up. The site Stefan linked to has a lot of good info about how to care for kittens. 

Good luck!

Lucy (the mother) is staying with the kitten more now. I have all hard floors, no carpeting, and the kitten was born on the floor under my bed. It has been hot (mid 80's) the past few days so the kitten was able to stay warm fine, but temps dropped back down to 40's. The kitten spent a good part of the morning crying. My 6 year old helped by cuddling the kitten while I got the warmest blankets I could find and made a warm soft nest in a laundry basket. Lucy instantly took to it once I placed the kitten in there, and hasn't left since other then for food and drink and then right back to the kitten. The blanket I used is a soft fury velour blanket to help the kitten.

I just went and checked on Lucy and the baby and the baby has died. Lucy is still laying with it, but the kitten is not breathing and when I went in it was laying on its back. I will be getting Lucy fixed now to prevent any further litters.

Sorry to hear about the kitten Sometimes, nature knows best and there might have been something wrong with him.

Im sorry...  Rest in peace, little one.

Thank you all for you advice and suggestions. On a rainy Sunday I had to burry a 3 day old kitten. It completely broke my heart, but broke my kids even more as they don't understand life and death. I think Lucy knew today was the last day and brought her to each of my children so they could see the kitten and say goodbye. Lucy is the most loving cat I have ever had, and stayed right next to her baby even after the baby had passes.

oh no....I am so sorry.

You did your best....that's all we can do.

God bless his little soul.