Caring for 2 abandoned kittens

I am caring for 2 abandoned kittens who appear to be approximately 2-3 weeks old.  They are drinking their KMR fairly well, about 8-15 ml every feeding (6 per day), and they are gaining weight and active.  I have gotten lots of good advice and have fostered kittens before but I am particularly paranoid about this bunch because they are soooo young and because I almost lost one last time we fostered.

My questions are:

1.  When will the kittens use the litter pan?  Right now, we are using warm, wet, cotton balls to stimulate the kittens to go. The other kittens I fostered used the box very young but these don't respond to scratching yet. 

2.  They are both 8 + ounces now which means they have gained about 2 ounces in about 5 days.  Should I be weighing them in grams instead?   Is it more accurate that way?  Also, I am getting up at night and am not sure if I can continue for too much longer as I also have 2 young (Very Active) kids.  If they are not crying in the night, can I let them sleep? 

3.  About what week do the teeth come in and ears pop up?  I ask because I'm trying to determine if they are 2 or 3 weeks old in order that I can introduce kitten food at the appropriate time.    They seem to be breaking teeth but the ears are still down.

4. What have you found to be the best way to get kittens adopted?    I've had great luck in the past just carrying them around with me and people can't resist but, I wonder if there is a good site that links to people really actively looking for kittens.

They are both little girls and sooo cute.  I hope they make it but, unfortunately we just can't keep them

I'm sure I'll have more questions.  Thanks for the advice.

Hi there and welcome to TCS. I think kittens that young need to be fed every 2 hours around the clock. I'm sure that would be very hard especially because you have young children to care for also, maybe there are some friends or neighbors who are willing to help with some of the feedings? I doubt  they will survive it if they go all night without eating.

Petfinder is a good website to look for people who want kittens.

Good luck with everything.

I forgot to mention it's easier to weigh them in grams.

I have found this page to be very helpful to gauge how old kittens are.

http://www.alleycat.org/Page.aspx?pid=678

Thanks for the quick responses.  I'll look at the site now. 

Oh my goodness.  I think they are even younger than I thought according to that site.  Maybe 10 days.  thank you.  The upside is, if they are that young, they are really eating great because I was basing the intake on a little older kittens.  The downside is, they are more at risk being so tiny.

Yes, they are very fragile for sure.

A couple of points I want to share, but you may already know them.

Always feed on their tummies, make sure they are warmed to right around 96-99 degrees, never feed a cold baby, and at around 2 weeks old many babies will stop thriving, eat less, start going downhill. As long as you notice this and make extra sure they continue to intake as much as they were before, you can get them over this hump.

Good luck, I know it's rough for a few weeks but it gets easier as they grow and is so rewarding!

The kittens are starting to play a little and still gaining weight.  They are up to 10+ oz.  I do weigh them in grams now too but I can't remember the gram weight.  I Just thought I would update those who posted back.  Thank you for all of the advice.  I've taken everything to heart.  

Yes, certainly younger if their ears are still down.  Good luck, it's hard work bottle-feeding.

Hello.  I am worried that one of the little girls have really slowed down on the formula intake.  Cocoa is fat and very happy.  Trudging right along.  Scooter is slowing down to 5mls a feeding, which is waaaay to little.  I got 15 in her by syringe last feeding and have ticked up the hours between feedings for her.  She is also on NutriCal to keep her calories up.  I am sure she is constipated but she had a big BM today so maybe she will feel like eating more.  Any suggestions for coaxing her to eat?  Any kitten food or baby food that anyone might suggest?  We opened up her nipple on the bottle and that has helped.

Worried 

If she takes only 5 ml a time, you can give it more often instead.  May work! A dropper may also be easier than a flask or syringe. Even if you had made the hole bigger in the nipple.

The problem is, if it is her fancy, or if she got weaker then she was...

Good luck!

An update on the girls.  They are getting big and fat and adorable.  Their ears are finally up and the teeth are in.  Sadly, they have the ringworm fungus which is awful b/c we can't really snuggle with them anymore.  They are happy and play quite a bit with one another.  They are eating a lot of milk but I am desperate to get them eating food so I can sleep through the night!  No luck really.  Is the best thing to do just keep offering the food mixed with formula until they become curious enough to eat it?

That's wonderful news!!

They should be around 4-5 weeks now, and to wean, you would wait until they are good and hungry, and offer them some canned or chicken baby food with a bit of formula in it, on a saucer type dish, stick their faces up to it, and encourage them to taste it by lightly touching their mouth/nose in it, they will at least lick it off their faces and sometime will go back to it. They are very messy at first, will walk in it, oh it will get all over them!

Do this everytime it's feeding time until you see them eating on their own, with no problems. Then introduce them to very small size kitten dry, they will eat this easily once they are eating wet from a saucer. Next toss the bottle!

The babyfood worked!  And now we are on to kitten food and one even prefers baby kitten hard food.  We are still offering KMR but it is easier now that they are eating a little!  Thanks to everyone for the posts.  I'm so relieved.  It has been a longer, harder fostering than what I've done before because of the ringworm and the age of the kittens but I really think they are doing great and I have a home all set up so we are happy