Help me help these kittens I found!

I just wonder if and how I could prevent it

Please don't beat yourself up, how could you? I've done it so many times, but over the years, brought the wisdom to know, I couldn't have changed something sooner when I didn't know about it, I do and always have done the best to my abilities, and there truly are some that just aren't meant to survive in the world, reasons we will never really understand.

I also know, it doesn't make it feel any less hurtful, all the what if's, or I should have's. 

It's important to know that someone cared, I was afraid he wouldn't make it, honestly. He was in very poor, weak condition. Then when you said mom won't nurse him, I knew what was likely coming.

He didn't stand a chance of making it in our world, but know his spirit is still very much alive and well. Tiny weak body, with just as much spirit as a full grown cat  to live on.

RIP little one.

So sorry for your despair and hurt for this little soul.

No regrets, stash his image in a pocket of your heart, and now carry on forward and try to help the others.

This is only the second time this happens... it haoenned happened once before with betty a small kitten I tried to rescue when I was 16. She didn't make it because I didn't kniw how to take care of her.... I was feeding her cow milk! And I was keeping her on a balcony where she probably got dehydration from the sun.... and this brings back the same feeling I felt then....
But betty knew how much love her.


Now, the good news is:
1. The eye is doing SO MUCH BETTER. I think in a day or 2 it will be healed.
2. I got them rehydration solution (which was meant for the little one RIP) so we will try to give the mom some of that.
3. I got them vitamin shots And gel... all the kittens including the little one who was found on the street were given a small drop if the gel, and we forced a lot of it down the mom's throat to be blunt because she absolutely needs it. Tomorrow we will give her a shot. She needs to be healthy and save the remaining orphan AND her own 3. Any objections to that? And side effects im not aware of?
4. As soon as they are weaned she is scheduled for neutering. ...they are still resistant to neutering the males. They are typical eastern men who think uts a pitty fir a male to lose his testiculesm..working on that.
5. Finally and most importantly I made absolutely sure that the mom is also nursing the lil one who is not her own. Boy he has to fight for it nut he is a tough one. The other 3 (her own) started to eat small nibles of dry food and they are ol woth the syringe, so a combination of those is giving the lil one more chances of getting his milk.
I still haven't found a feeding bottle but I will keep looking. I had a lot back home, but didnt know I would end up needing them here too.


I am making my peace with the loss of that lil angel. Maybe its better for her. But I can't wait to see this oyher one surviving! ! I even convinced my flat mate (who wants a cat) to adopt him!!!

Fingers and vibes !

djoe said:

This is only the second time this happens... it haoenned happened once before with betty a small kitten I tried to rescue when I was 16. She didn't make it because I didn't kniw how to take care of her.... I was feeding her cow milk! And I was keeping her on a balcony where she probably got dehydration from the sun.... and this brings back the same feeling I felt then....
But betty knew how much love her.


Now, the good news is:
1. The eye is doing SO MUCH BETTER. I think in a day or 2 it will be healed.
2. I got them rehydration solution (which was meant for the little one RIP) so we will try to give the mom some of that.
3. I got them vitamin shots And gel... all the kittens including the little one who was found on the street were given a small drop if the gel, and we forced a lot of it down the mom's throat to be blunt because she absolutely needs it. Tomorrow we will give her a shot. She needs to be healthy and save the remaining orphan AND her own 3. Any objections to that? And side effects im not aware of?
4. As soon as they are weaned she is scheduled for neutering. ...they are still resistant to neutering the males. They are typical eastern men who think uts a pitty fir a male to lose his testiculesm..working on that.
5. Finally and most importantly I made absolutely sure that the mom is also nursing the lil one who is not her own. Boy he has to fight for it nut he is a tough one. The other 3 (her own) started to eat small nibles of dry food and they are ol woth the syringe, so a combination of those is giving the lil one more chances of getting his milk.
I still haven't found a feeding bottle but I will keep looking. I had a lot back home, but didnt know I would end up needing them here too.


I am making my peace with the loss of that lil angel. Maybe its better for her. But I can't wait to see this oyher one surviving! ! I even convinced my flat mate (who wants a cat) to adopt him!!!

Fingers and vibes !

Click to expand...

No objections, sounds as if you are on the right track!

A very important point about the kitten's eye. You need to continue treating it for at least several days AFTER all signs of infection are gone.

VERY critical otherwise it will simply return. Must be sure the med got rid of every single bit of it or it multiplies all over again.

The only other thing is, regardless of whether mom is allowing the baby to nurse or not, which of course is the first step and thankfully she is allowing, but the others will most surely push the baby off/away.

He is so small/young, he will fight for it a bit, but will give up and go to sleep until the next time around. Each time he gets pushed off and surrenders is one more time he should have nursed but couldn't, which will cause slower growth and strength.

So this is a very important issue. Guaranteed, they WILL do this, it just happens. Chances of him latching onto and getting attached to one specific nipple that is not reserved already is pretty low. That's where the problem arises.

Otherwise, things are sounded positive today despite the loss of the little one.

Not neutering males, do they not know all there is to that? Not only the huge reason of overpopulation and unwanted babies, and all the suffering that goes on, but how about the fighting issue? This is very big, makes for such a stressful existence for them, they fight to kill, not that they are usually able, but the idea is, they give deep bites which ALWAYS get infected/abcessed, and go for their face, eyes, ears, the vulnerable areas. I would really love to attach a photo I have of a cat I didn't rescue soon enough who was torn up and completely blinded at just under a year old due to the viciousness of male cat fights. I can but it doesn't do any good unless they were able to see it too. It's quite dramatic and difficult to look at so unless you ask me to so they can see it I won't.

Not to mention the added transferring of contagious diseases, and so on. It's very old school for them to think how awful it is to remove a males testicles. 

I know you are doing your best, and already should know that because of you, this baby will be able to have his vision and be pain free soon!!

GREAT job!

Sorry about the little one passing. :shame: (I hate but's.... but) he was loved, cared for in his short life because of you. I love what catwoman said. Stash him in a little pocket of your heart and move on to the others. Just excellent help/advice and just what we all need to hear in times like these.

Mega, mega, mega vibes for the other little ones. :cross: You ARE their angel !!!

Hi everyone
Just wanted to let you the little one's is healthy is improving. . Very slowly but it's something.


Only today the eye was starting to open.

I also git him royal canin babycat milk and a bottle which he responded well to. But I never know if he had enough. He seems to me like he eats very little. He would not drink 10-15 ml. Noway.

Wish us luck

djoe said:

Hi everyone
Just wanted to let you the little one's is healthy is improving. . Very slowly but it's something.


Only today the eye was starting to open.

I also git him royal canin babycat milk and a bottle which he responded well to. But I never know if he had enough. He seems to me like he eats very little. He would not drink 10-15 ml. Noway.

Wish us luck

Click to expand...

This is such great news!! You are literally saving the baby, as well as his eye!

I'm surprised about the amt you mentioned, 10-15 mls is alot, way too much for this little one.

You can judge what's a good amt pretty much by the tummy getting full and big, and also when he fights it more than he usually does and will not take one more drop.

I'm trying to estimate his age here, but alot of it more depends on his size, as even if one his same age is drinking 7 mls, his size is so much smaller that he would simply burst trying to get that much in him.

Here is the little one. The photo is taken yesterday morning, by the evening his eye was beginning to open up.



Here are the three kitties whose mom is feeding the lil one. They are obviously much bigger than him, they have started to eat dry food but are still breastfeeding at the same time. They also get a portion of the bottle because they seem a bit skinny at times. The twins wouldn't separate them - they have good reasons - 1, because they don't want the kitties to hang around big cats and 2, they keep the little one warm. Though they play rough sometimes. 

Oh aren't they just sweet!

Yes, the bigger kids will actually get VERY rough with him, as they will have advanced to the rowdy wrestlemania stage and he will just barely be getting to the bounce up and tap on one stage.

You're doing an excellent job!!

My phone died on me so I couldn't take a photo to show you.

I managed - finally - to help the eye open up today, and it did.... and i wish I did not have to see this. I did not find any eye!

There is no eye. There is watery mucus something on the lids, and a little deep behind it there is a dark pink (flesh like) something. 

I have no idea what I am dealing with here... I put the medicine on the lids.

The little one is eating from his foster mom a couple of times during the day, and the bottle is supplementing... I am not sure it is all enough because he is still so tiny.

do we dare put a drop of antibiotic in his mouth? or his milk? should we close the eye back?

........

Okay so without seeing it, I can only imagine there is simply no eye, which is odd to me, if one eye developed yet the other is non existent. 

I know here in the US once you take a cat to the vet, they will see him again for the same issue at no cost, I highly suggest this.

It may need to be sewn shut permanently, but I can't make that call on closing it back up or what. Eye antibiotics like the ointment will not harm the tissue, it is meant for the eyes, and if it is goopy then still needs treating, even when there is no eye.

I wouldn't put a drop of penicillin in his mouth, the vet didn't give you any oral meds for him correct?

Poor little baby, he sure is trying to make it.

Ideally if he was able to be weighed each day in grams, it would tell you if he is taking in enough yet or not. He should gain a bare minimum of 6 grams daily, ideal is 10 grams but 6 isn't bad.

Hi, I don't know if this is what you are seeing but I wanted to post a picture of Bea, a feral kitten I took in last year.

She had a bad eye infection, her eye was closed for a couple of weeks and when it first started to open it looked like this.


My vet thought she was going to be blind in that eye, but we kept treating her with antibiotics and eye drops anyway. After another month it looked like this.


She's been rehomed now and when her new owner had her spayed they also did a bit of cosmetic surgery on the eye to remove the bit of eyelid that hadn't gone back in.

She has one slightly cloudy eye but can see out of it. Not 100%, but she can see.

I just wanted to say don't give up yet. Eye infections can look horrible but keep treating the eye as you were and you may get a miracle.

I will continue with the terramycin. 

What antibiotics can i use for such a small kitty? and what eye drops?

The eye drops are from a vet. That's why I was recommending taking this baby back for the eye, as he may want to give you something more for it, including clavamox. antibiotic.

Okay then, I will do it today.

Just when you think everything is going Okay, you get more suprises

I am traveling to see my fosters back home on Wednesday. I was hoping to leave with a clear mind. 

HI the doctor first said the eye is damaged for good. then when i said that i have seen cats recover, and when he opened it wide, we saw the pupil!!! (I got so excited that there is at least hope).  He prescribed an antibiotics eye drop 3 times a day for 5 days. is that okay/enough?

And i saw the little one eating dirt today!!! (like the soil from the ground... which is used as litter for the other kittens!.. I freaked out! i put my finger inside his mouth and cleaned it up. I hope he did not swallow it. we removed the litter completely... i hope he had not swollen anything before! 

I hope he is getting enough milk... I see him only in the afternoon and feed him twice... the twins feed him twice (not too much though) and the mom is supposedly feeding everyone once. He is bigger for sure now but he is still tiny and weak.

He was yawning alllll the way to the vet and back. As soon as he it away from the other kittens he starts yawning.

We might have found a home for the three kittens. When do you think it is OK to give them away?   When they go it will be really hard for the little guy.

Here is the babyboy after he got his first eye drop. You can also see how tiny he is for his age (somewhere between 2 and 3 weeks I presume)

This is great news about the eye! I would have been very surprised if there really weren't an eye in there, since the other eye is developed, as it usually goes in pairs, I have never seen one eye normal and the other one not there. They develop together.

Eye drops are great and should really make the eye heal well and fast too.

Eating the dirt isn't good, dirt has parasites he can get. He seems hungry still.

If the kitten is getting fed twice by you and twice by the brothers, and mom too, he should def. be growing and gaining size and weight.

I fear he is still unable to nurse much if at all from the mom, and is relying solely on the 4 feedings a day, which would explain why he is still so small and weak. 

The kittens are fully able to eat on their own, without momma cat at about 6 weeks, it's good to give them another couple weeks with mom, but with the circumstances as they are, I would allow them to leave at 6 weeks as long as they are eating fine.

The bigger kittens leaving might be just what the baby needs to get bigger!

Aww little punkin!! 

Yes, he is def. small. He's sure trying to make it, I think he needs to be fed more from the twins. Volume and more times.

Yes that is my guess too.  I am trying and trying but for some reason they think they are doing their best! they give him one shot ad when he stops to breath they are convinced that it is enough. They think the would be overfeeding him and risking his life otherwise. And they are constantly worried about the other cats (who can already eat small dry food!) and they bottle feed them too! I am just getting frustrated with the situation but I cannot show it, because I am grateful that they are at least doing what they are doing. 

I am leaving for 4 days and that worries me too. 

I also think that momma cat will simply ignore him when the kitties are gone, so he will really just be left alone.