REALLY YOUNG KITTENS NEED HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi i found these kittens have a vet appointment for them tomorrow they seem to have a respiratory infection.. I am planning on keeping them until they are old enough to leave their mom, i am looking up care sheets and i have cared for orphaned rabbits before. If anyone has any advice or suggestions they are welcomed! Any age estimations? Will any cat formula from the petstore be ok?

hi  i can't see the photos but are their eyes open? Do they stand? Walk? Run? Interact/play with one another?

How did you find them and why do you think they have an infection? Is mom with them?

IDK where the mom is, i think they have an infection because their eyes and nose are stuffed with gunk

@catwoman707   @StefanZ  

I would guess they are between one and two weeks old. They really should not have been taken from mom at this age if it was not absolutely necessary. I do see that they are sick but it would have been better if you could have managed to trap mom too. For future reference, when you find kittens and mom doesn't seem to be there, in 99.9% of cases mom is coming back.

As things stand now, you will need to bottle feed the kittens every 2 hours.  You should weigh them now and daily going forward to make sure they are gaining weight.  Minimum weight that you are shooting for is 10 grams gain a day. You can try to VERY very gently use a soft warm washcloth to loosen the gunk from around the kittens eyes and mouth.

At this age it is also VERY important that they be kept warm.  You will want to use either a heating pad for this or your own body heat.  Kittens can't regulate their own body temperature until 3 weeks. This is actually most important.

Also, yes, any kitten milk replacer you can find in the store is okay.  I have found any Walmart anywhere tends to have it, and many grocery stores do too. 

There is no way i could have stayed around to get the mom, I found them in newyork i live in Pa i found them in ny it was either take them now or leave them to nature (Also my uncle wanted to kill them )

Okay so they are 8-10 days old, likely more like 8 days.

Their mom had a uri so yes, the kittens have it too. The eyes will need terramycin antibiotic ointment, however it will be applied only to the outer lids where the gunk is, NOT forced open, as their eyes are not open due to their young age.

Take a warm wet washcloth and be sure it's very wet with warm water, and hold it over the eyes for a few minutes to soften the crud, then gently wipe. The goal here is to keep the crud from building up and gluing the eyes shut when they are ready to open.

Once they do, they will need the terramycin put in their eyes twice a day for a good 3 days AFTER they look all clear, otherwise it will return.

They will need antibiotics, liquid clavamox likely, and it's a very tiny dose of less than 0.1 ml twice a day, but the vet will show you the dose.

It will be critical to be sure and time the dosing right at every 12 hours, as they don't store it, and their bodies will flush it out right at 12 hours and you don't want the bacteria to get ahold of them.

Kittens are highly prone to pneumonia from a uri, and it will kill them.

They must be kept between 98-100 degrees at all times until after they are at least 3 weeks old.

A covered heating pad on the bottom of a box, but only on one side, in case they overheat they will scoot away to cool off. Heating pad should be on low.

They need bottle feeding every 2 hours, never longer than 3. This age their systems are too immature to store glucose so what they take in, is digested and right back out, so once their tummies are empty, they have nothing to keep their organs working and will shut down.

Same with a cold baby, organs become dormant and no matter what, NEVER feed a cold baby, it must be fully warmed before so the organs are working again and can digest. If not, then feeding them WILL cause death.

If any ever act lethargic and uninterested, it is going downhill. It may be saved and turned around by using karo syrup, or honey, rubbing it on the gums with your fingertip. This will buy you about 20 minutes of time.

They should be fed kmr or other milk replacement only. It should be nice and warm, and the nipple cut should be small, when full and turned over, a drop will quickly form but will not drip off unless it;s shaken a bit.

They must always be fed in the same position as they are when nursing, on their tummies ONLY. Never ever turn baby over like you would a human baby, or it will easily inhale the formula, and even a teeny tiny drop will cause pneumonia and will die.

On tummies, slightly raised head. Never squirt in it, once they get the hang of the bottle (it will take several tries as it feels unnatural to them) they will drink nicely. Until they get the hang of it they will need to be syringe, with a no needle syringe, small, 1.0 ml or 3.0, and you will gently put a couple of drops into their cheek only, never down the throat, or it's inhaled.

They need to be pottyed, I usually do this under warm water over the sink after they eat, stick their butts under the warm water (be careful it's warm enough but not hot) and tapping the areas with my finger, otherwise rubbing causes very sore, red butts and they will scream when you potty them.

When they are 2 weeks go 3 hours between feedings,  3 weeks they can go about 4 hours between feedings. Right now they will eat about 3.0 mls each time, and they need to be weighed daily to chart who weighs what, and should gain around 10 grams a day, but close is fine as well. Just don't want to see under 6 grams a day, the more the better, but don't overfeed.

If there is constipation, you can either slightly dilute the formula a bit more temporarily, or add 1 tiny drop of oil to a bottle. Like cooking oil.

Expect the poop to be lighter yellowish color, like mustard actually, and it will not be solidly formed while on formula.

So keeping them warm consistently, feeding right on schedule, and pottying are the critical things. 

Anything I forgot, just ask

Good luck momma!

Adjecyca said:

 
 Will any cat formula from the petstore be ok?

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Almost any.  Beware the so called "kitten milk" which is essentially just low lactose cow milk for adult cats.

This product is because most cats dont manage cow milk well.     This milk is NOT kitten replacement milk!

can perhaps be used for a while if desperate and you dont have anything else, but it is not the true thing.

A brand which is uneven and some forumists arent happy with their kmr is Hartz.   Although to be fair I know some forumsts found it OK.   Anyways, my personal advice is choose something else if you can.

If you have access to goat milk, it should be ok.   Fresh goat milk is best, but bottled is usually OK too.

You got excellent advices by both my collegues.

If you google anyways, so the search words are handraising, handrearing, kittens, orphans..

Here a couple of links to fetch further inspiration from:

www.kitten-rescue.com
http://www.kittenrescue.org/index.php/cat-care/kitten-care-handbook/

http://www.hdw-inc.com/glop.htm   kitten-glop (goatmilk instead of evaporated milk is good)

This site is about kitten-care, by a Bengalbreeder..

There mouth has teeth bumps on the inside and they can open there eyes the kitten that has less eye gunk opens both of his pretty wide, the other two have one better eye, which they open decently, the other eyes have A LOT of puss like discharge... 

I got them to eat but only a little bit, and i got them to pee, but no one pood yet, How long should i stimulate them for? i am really worried the one sneezes a lot 

BTW i called like every vet, shelter, and rescue person in my area and not a single one of them would help these kittens! I really didn't want to have to care for them but i didn't want my uncle to kill them either

Adjecyca said:

 
BTW i called like every vet, shelter, and rescue person in my area and not a single one of them would help these kittens! I really didn't want to have to care for them but i didn't want my uncle to kill them either

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Nay, but it is your quest now.    

Yours will be also the Glory if you succeed.

Good luck!

Adjecyca said:

 
There mouth has teeth bumps on the inside and they can open there eyes the kitten that has less eye gunk opens both of his pretty wide, the other two have one better eye, which they open decently, the other eyes have A LOT of puss like discharge... 

I got them to eat but only a little bit, and i got them to pee, but no one pood yet, How long should i stimulate them for? i am really worried the one sneezes a lot 

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It is okay if kittens don't eliminate after every feeding but they should poo at least every third feeding or so. They should definitely not go more than 24 hours without doing so.  One thing @catwoman707  taught us is that you can do this bu running some warm water over the area and tapping lightly with your finger to avoid irritation.  Sometimes they will not poop immediately when you do this but a bit later, a sort of delayed reaction. 

Regarding the eating, the key is that you MUST feed them every 2 hours. Also, are you weighing them to make sure they are gaining?

Adjecyca said:

 
BTW i called like every vet, shelter, and rescue person in my area and not a single one of them would help these kittens! I really didn't want to have to care for them but i didn't want my uncle to kill them either

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Unfortunately this is common especially at this time of year Everywhere is full, and since they are sick that further lowers their chances at shelters anyway.As @StefanZ notes, though, it will be so wonderful for you to see them grow when you succeed! 

Have you seen the vet you had an appointment with yet?

Have you tried advertising for a surrogate mother, don't know how to do this but if you can't dedicate yourself to these poor babies there might be someone out there who can!

Maybe they can care for them in ways you might not be able too. Maybe somebody has a mother cat who recently gave birth and can potentially "adopt" these babies.

I'm no expert on these situations but recently my cat had kittens (only 1 survived), and I found my self in a situation where I was having to hand rear him temporarily because his mom didn't have milk! I relied heavily on the advice given to me by tulosai and StefanZ . Without their knowledge I wouldn't have known to weigh him, therefore realise that things weren't right. If it weren't for these 2 my kittie could have died so I will be forever grateful to them! They did more for me than my vet did! Thanks guys :-)

Also @Adjecyca  if you don't mind my asking, how old are you? I only ask because you have mentioned your uncle a lot 

tulosai said:

 
Also @Adjecyca  if you don't mind my asking, how old are you? I only ask because you have mentioned your uncle a lot 

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I am old enough to drink ;D i was visiting my family when i found the kittens i only mentioned my uncle because they were in his car and i was visiting him and my other family

I have had them for less than a day and weighed them today i have a scale, but the way you made it sound is that i should be weighing them multiple times a day??

Got back from the vets office, the kittens are on Amoxi drops and Tobramycin. The vet had me run the shower and let them chill in the bathroom for 10 mins hoping the steam would help clear them up.. They already look a A LOT better, eyes that were glued shut with gunk can now open, more lively, eating more.. We still have a long way to go but so far so good.. Now i have earned a two hour nap lol

Weigh them once a day! It helps to give you a better estimate of how much they are gaining. Also don't weigh them straight after feeding unless yof are always going to weigh them after feeding :-) information provided to me by tulosai . Hope this helps :-) Good Luck! [emoji]127808[/emoji]

Adjecyca said:

 
I have had them for less than a day and weighed them today i have a scale, but the way you made it sound is that i should be weighing them multiple times a day??

Got back from the vets office, the kittens are on Amoxi drops and Tobramycin. The vet had me run the shower and let them chill in the bathroom for 10 mins hoping the steam would help clear them up.. They already look a A LOT better, eyes that were glued shut with gunk can now open, more lively, eating more.. We still have a long way to go but so far so good.. Now i have earned a two hour nap lol

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Great news, they are on the road to recovery now, thanks to you.

Weigh once a day before feeding, and in the beginning with you, they won't poop for a couple days or so, and when they do, you will see it start out solid then go to very soft. This is because of the time they didn't take in enough and got a bit dehydrated.

I have also went and picked up glycerin suppositories, cut it down to a sliver and this gets them pooping too, sort of lubes it up in there!

Remember for their eyes, be sure you give the eye ointment a good 3+ days AFTER they are clear. The tiniest bit of remaining bacteria will cause it to come back.

On another note regarding surrogate moms out there.

I have done this many times, in fact I have 2 surrogates here now who I pulled from the humane society, plugged them in to a mom with only 2 babies and she adores then as her own.

But with your kittens, they are sick and will make other babies sick too. Maybe the mom as well. So unless you are lucky enough to find a mom who lost all babies, and can care for them, that has been vaccinated, I would just continue on as you are.

Great job!

I know this is hard, especially for someone your age, but remember, it will only be for a few weeks, and then they will be able to go on their own and feed themselves, please don't give up! You will surely be blessed for helping them, it's good to build up some good karma. You are doing wonderfully, keep up the good work!