Abandoned Kitten

My neighbour just came and knocked on my door to tell me there was a kitten on it's own in the car park. No sign of the mother and no shade at all, the poor little thing was really hot. I've wiped him/her down with a damp flannel to cool off. He/she has had about 2 ml of kitten milk and a teaspoon of kitten tuna mixed with a little water, Eyes still blue, looks about 4 weeks old.

I've tried stimulating the kitten to pee with a damp flannel but nothing yet. Seems very healthy, mews loudly when put in the cat carrier but makes happy little chirping noises when picked up.

Anything else I should be doing? How often do small kittens need to eat or pee? Should I warm the milk or is room temp OK? It's about 30 degrees here today so room temp is actually pretty warm.

What does everyone else think? I'd be tempted to put a chilled blanket or wrapped chiller (like you put in a cooler( inside a carrier ) leave the kitten (& chiller etc) in shade near where it was found-moma very likely may come back. But monitor closely in case mom doesn't return. Thoughts anyone?????

Normally a mother doesn't leave her kitten for very long.  I was faced basically with the same thing but I took a 3 week old kitten in and bottle fed it until he was about 6 weeks old. I kept him and he is now about a year old & beautiful. If you choose not to feed him you always have the option to take it the the Humane Society.  You can get the formula (liquid in a can) @ Wal Mart and possibly the bottle, if not the vet carries bottles. Good luck. glenda     

Norachan said:

 Should I warm the milk or is room temp OK? It's about 30 degrees here today so room temp is actually pretty warm.

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Body temp is surely standard. With 30 degrees (Celsius) outside it should be OK. 

If you want to raise and foster it yourself, you can ask a mod to move your thread to the Kitten and preg forum.  (otherwise you can try and let mom find it, with a little luck it may go).

Click on the red flag in the left corner, and write there what you wish.

I understand the kitten has began to eat solid food, good.

Small portions, several times a day. Kmr or goat milk, and as we saw, even solids suitable for kittens.

Good luck!

Cats don't have pores. They don't sweat. They cool themselves off by evaporating breaths and even panting like a dog if they get hot enough. Cats aren't native to North America. They were brought here. They were desert animals originally and that's how they cool down but they can actually tolerate heat better than dogs.

Are you going to be keeping it? If not, I wouldn't recommend the humane society. Those people are hit or miss. They will smile and nod regardless, but if you get the wrong person and their shelter is full, I know it sounds horrible but I wouldn't be surprised if they put it down. Do a Google search for an organization called Best Friends Animal Society. They have an extensive network of people throughout the country and are slowly trying to take over municipal based shelters. They have a strict no kill policy. They have a network of volunteers who will do the work of finding it a home.

Your intentions are good but you must remember, it's a wild animal essentially. It has no concept at this point who you are. It doesn't realize you are there to help. To the kitten you're a giant monster and point being: Instincts will take over. Eventually when she realizes she can't get away, she may just continue to be sort of shell shocked and sitting still. In short, it's stressful for them. 

I did what you are doing one year ago with a kitten I found abandoned and shunned by it's mother outside my work.  If you have a spare bathroom that is the absolute best place to keep her. A) she won't be in a cage B) she's the size of a pea so a bathroom is more than large enough. (be sure to keep the toilet lid down) When I took the kitten in last year, I wanted to make sure she didn't become an anti social cat that runs and hides when people come into a room. Regardless if you keep it or not, this is probably it's first experience with humans so make it as non stressful as possible. This sounds nuts but it's the truth, you will know what makes sense, by putting yourself in their place. Every little noise, creak of the floor, loud voice is scary to them. They don't know any better. It's all foreign. That's why containment in the bathroom is the absolute best bet until you can get it to the vet. You can get a disposable litter box for a couple bucks at a grocery store or pet store. Fill it 1/4 the way with litter and make sure that is the only "object" on the bathroom floor. Next, find something like a small box, cut a large hole on the side of it and put a towel or whatever inside for warmth. Cats, and kittens especially are "prey" in the wild. They have a natural instinct when sleeping to want to hide in some sort of nook.

It's rather incredible but I'm telling you she/he will know what to do.  Human babies are helpless. They have to be cared for around the clock as you know. Cats and dogs are so instinctive you don't need to do that. Leave the vent fan on in the bathroom even if it sort of freaks her out at first. In no time it becomes white noise to her and it will drowned out the background sounds and leave her more comfortable. Take a very and I stress very small saucer and put some water in it.  I would not give them cow milk unless it's totally organic and lactose free. The milk of a kitten and milk of a cow are not the same in lactose, nutrients etc. Milk is like "fuel" it's arbitrary. It could be jet fuel, gasoline or diesel, but it's all fuel. Only one will start a car. (you get my point)  Petsmart or any pet store sells kitten formula. Get a few bottles of that and follow the directions.

When I brought mine home I "cat proofed" the bathroom by removing anything she could get into toxic, etc, put down a box with a pad in it, a litter box and some water. It was night time when I got her home and I didn't want to overwhelm her since I'm pretty sure up until that point she thought she was my dinner and was very stressed out. I put a night light in the bathroom socket, put the fan on and shut the door.  I checked on her every few hours and these little guys are amazing. My first check up on her she had already used the litter box ha ha. 

So in short, no offense, but get away from her! lol. You are doing the right thing because you have a heart but it could be causing the stress that's over heating her. Give her some space in a contained area like a bathroom. (If you don't you'll find her missing and good luck trying to get her out from under a couch)   make sure she has fresh water, organic lactose free milk is ok, but kitten formula is better. And then get her to a vet ASAP. 

As it turns out the reason my cat was shunned by her mom, is she was born with hip dysplasia. By 6 months old she had the hip joints of a 14 year old cat. She's having surgery next year but there is a 90% recovery rate so she will be fine.  I sometimes see the mom cat at my office and laugh because she abandoned the kitten and now the kitten has her own bedroom in my house replete with patio and screened in porch lol. 

Sorry for the long response but I was RIGHT where you are and I sought out info on a similar site because I had never even had a cat before. Each step of the way I sought a lot of advice from my vet and sites like this but the majority of what I said above comes from the experiences I had with mine. 

Thanks for taking the time to save a life. That may sound corny but it's great karma for you. Well done

...by the way you may very well have had more cats than me in your life so I hope you don't take my detailed response as me implying you didn't know what to do. I just totally empathize with the situation you're in because I was in in it myself and the younger they are the more you feel like geez, I don't know what to do. Another reason my response was extensive is if you take things very very slow with her, give her some space, introduce her to your voice little by little on your visits, win her over with food, she will trust you. That is sooo important for these impressionable times and it will either reward you in the long run if you keep her or you will be giving someone else a much better pet vs. one that runs and hides when they hear any sound too loud. 

Let her come to you. I wouldn't even pick her up (yet) I didn't pick mine up until she was to the point of rubbing her face on my leg. That's how I knew she trusted me. I used to go into the bathroom on my phone, that way she could hear my voice and for the first 3 days I never approached her. I just would set small pieces of wet food i front of her little box I made. Slowly but surely they realize you're one of the good guys and their curiosity will lead them a little further towards you each time. I think it took a week and she was running to greet me   Also, it's a child essentially. Before mine fully trusted me and acted a bit shy, I would look under the door after I fed her and left the bathroom and noticed she would come out of the box as soon as I left and I would die laughing because I'd see this little soccer ball getting kicked all over the bathroom ha ha. 

Today she is the most trusting, social, lovable, awesome little cat. But that's because I stumbled on an article that said it was critical to gradually introduce them to sounds, your voice, etc.  It may also help to put a shirt of yours in there next to her food and just leave it. she will soon associate your smell with being fed which means you are her hero for life. 

If you have any questions I can help with just let me know!! Oh and I totally agree with the posts above. Feed her small amount of food every few hours. If she doesn't eat it, just leave it. I guarantee it'll be gone when you come back. And don't forget water!!! That's the best way to keep her cool. Shallow, small amount though. 

StefanZ said:

 (otherwise you can try and let mom find it, with a little luck it may go).

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I was thinking on.  Theoretically it may work to try and hope mom retrieves it.  BUT.

It is better you do proceed and foster her. Adopt yourself or find an adoption home.

You have her already inside, it seems to work. She even eates some real food.  Now she will be a well socialized home cat.  You dont even need to socialize her much, at this age is goes automatically.

If you find her mom and leave her out, she will survive strictly biologically, but she will live a live as semi-feral...

Tx a lot for caring, Nora-chan

Good luck!

Hi, thanks a lot for all your messages.

There's no humane society in Japan so my only choice would be to keep the kitten myself. I think I'd already made that decision when I picked him/her up. Not sure how Mr Husband would have reacted to cat number 11, but I'd have worked something out.

I have a happy ending. 

The kitten ate a bit more food then spent the afternoon asleep on my lap. At about 6 p.m Tuppence, one of the stays I feed, walked in through the open window and began meowing for her dinner. When the kitten heard this he/she started to mew loudly. I put the kitten down, Tuppence rushed over and began to lick the kitten all over. She then picked him/her up by the scruff and jumped out of the window. She took of into my neighbor's garden, which is really wild and overgrown. I guess she must have a litter stashed in there. 

She didn't seem to mind that the kitten had my smell all over, but she comes into the house a couple of times a day to eat and hang out with my cats, so maybe she thinks of me as a friend. Hopefully I'll see the little baby again when he/she has grown up a bit.

I can't work out how the kitten got into the car park though. It would have had to get over a three foot high wall just to get out of the garden, then walk 200 yards down the street. Surely that's too far for such a young kitten? 

Oh my, what a lovely and surprising ending to this story

I know you live in Japan:  what is the situation there for spaying cats?  Tuppence is a candidate!

Hi Ritz,

Yes, I was surprised it worked out so well. Tuppence seems to have forgiven me for "kidnapping" her baby. She's been back twice for food.

I haven't been able to find any charity groups that do cheap TNR, but my vet knows I take care of the strays in my neighborhood so gives me a third off the price of any treatment they need. He's great, a lot of vets don't like to deal with strays but he never bats an eyelid, even when I turn up with a carrier full of hissing feline fury. He's dealt with cats that have been badly mauled by other toms, treated an outbreak of scabies among the stray cats and so far he's helped me TNR 4 males and 9 females.

Tuppence is definitely going to be spayed soon. I want to get her older sister, Robin and her Aunt Molly spayed first, as they both seem to be on heat. Then Tuppence, then I'll start on the kitten's in the autumn. (SIGH, it seems like you're never done.)

I'll try and post some pictures of the new kittens soon.

Norachan said:

 my vet knows I take care of the strays in my neighborhood so gives me a third off the price of any treatment they need. He's great, a lot of vets don't like to deal with strays but he never bats an eyelid, even when I turn up with a carrier full of hissing feline fury. He's dealt with cats that have been badly mauled by other toms, treated an outbreak of scabies among the stray cats and so far he's helped me TNR 4 males and 9 females.

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Im sure his good heart is richely repayed.  Not "just and only" getting extra of good karma, but also, getting a lot of extra experience.   Im sure he is this way going to be a better surgeon and emergency vet than most of his collegues, who only takes in normal, full paying patients, working only their normal office hours.

Dont forget to drop by and bring him and his assistents and personnel some  nice sweets or similiar, now and then!

This is one of the tricks of our forumite LDG, who does have a similiar fruitful cooperation with her local vet.

Good luck!