PLEASE HELP! NEED ADVİCE ABOUT 5 2 WEEK OLD STRAY KITTENS!

First I should explain that I am currently living in Turkey, a country where people don't really care so much about pets and where there are a vast amount or cats and dogs that live on the streets. There is no charity or organisation that helps these animals and pets shops and vetinary surgeries are rare and are not always to be trusted. I am a British girl so it breaks my heart to see these animals so you will understand that I do my best for any street animal that comes into my life.

In my apartment block on the ground floor each apartment has it's own storage 'closet' for outside items. Last Monday (19th) I was in my apartment and I could hear crying and knew immediately it was from a kitten. I went into the corridor where the closets are and saw inside the last closet was 5 kittens with their mother. So I thought okay the mother is there I don't want to disturb them. However just 2 hours later I heard the crying again, I went back to check and someone had taken the kittens out of the closet, put them inside a wooden crate and left them on the floor in the corridor, mother is nowhere to be seen. I am not sure who's closet it was as they are not numbered or in any kind or logical order to match the apartments. I left the kittens there for another hour or so hoping the mother would come back, however she didn't. It was getting late and I was worried a dog would come inside and find them so I moved the crate to the other end of the corridor in front of my closet, still hoping the mother would come back. I didn't want to touch them as I know this can put the mother off caring for her young. The next day when I came home from work, still no mother and children had started playing with them and disturbing them. So I made the decision to put them inside my own closet. The mother still is able to get inside there so I still had hope. I put some cat food inside hoping it would help to attract her back. The next day I came home from work and it was clear to see that the mother still hadn't come back. The kittens were very distressed and hungry. So I gave them some milk mixed with egg yolk from a bottle.  My local pet shop doesn't sell kitten formula and there is not a vet anywhere near. I don't know what else to give them.

So until today I have been trying to care for them best I can, feeding and keeping them warm and dry. I am scared to have too much contact with them but I am also starting to think their mother is never coming back. I have also started to let them eat bread mixed with milk alone and they seem to be trying, which is good to see. I am guessing they are 2 to 3 weeks old as they haven't quite got teeth yet but they are becoming very active

walking and climbing. I am trying to feed them as much as I can but I work all day so it is very difficult. My boyfriend also works all day and there is no one willing to help when we are not at home. Please, any advice would be greatly appreciated as I really don't know what to do. I don't want to have to take them to a vet as I know they won't be interested in helping them and may just put them to sleep. If I can get them to survive to 8 weeks I know I can find good homes for them. Please help!

Can you get goat milk for them?  this is a good food for them.  Fresh from the goat if you can, but bottled is OK too.

If you cant, full fat unflavored unsweetened youghurt should do.  Turkish youghurt for example, with such a egg yolk in, should be a decent emergency kitten glop.

  You may also have this egg yolk in it too as extra.

 @CarlyWhyte1348

You touching and handling the kittens doesnt need to scare off the mom.  this is essentially a myth.

So contnue what you are doing and help them as well you can.   IF the mom returns, she will return and almost surely help them again.  If something bad befell her, its already done, I suspect...

The acute problem for now, save changing to better food,  is they may need stimulating.

Usually the mom does it washing them.  Now you must do it.   there are tricks ans ways.

If you dont manage with first attempts, return here, and  someone from here will give you more advices.

a good link is www.kitten-rescue.com.

If you google on our site or Internet, the words are handraising, handrearing, kittens...

Keep reporting and asking!

Good luck!

ps, if they are very active trying to walk and climb, and seems to try to eat this bread with milk, they are more than 2-3 weeks, probably 4, maybe even smallish 5 weeks.

Thus, if they seems to manage some solids,  you can also try to give them some watered minced meat.  perhaps with egg yolk in.

As @StefanZ said it is VERY important to stimulate young kittens to pee after meals or they will in short time have a burst bladder and will die.  2 Links below, one is a great video.  But basically you use a warm wet cloth and rub their urethra and anus and they will pee and in time poop.

Also, very important not to feed them on their backs or they will aspirate the milk into their lungs, get pneumonia and also die.  And they need supplemental heat as they cannot generate enough heat on their own and if not warm enough they can't digest their food, same result SO a warm water bottle over 101F.

http://www.maddiesfund.org/Maddies_...re_How_to/Stimulating_an_Orphaned_Kitten.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Kitten-Poop

Unfortunately the runt of the litter died yesterday. I came back from work and he was lying on his side so weak, opening his mouth but making no sound. I tried to give him some food from the bottle and he was trying but didin't have the energy to keep going. He died about 5 minutes later. I really am trying my best and this just seems like a failure, it's heartbreaking. He was completely fine the morning before, crying just as loud as his brothers and sisters and walking and climbing. I just don't understand what could have happened.

I have been stimulating them since I found them and they do seem to be doing this themselves as I am finding mess in the box they sleep in. The closet where they are sleeping is very warm all the time, even at night, and they have plenty of blankets and 2 cushions to keep them warm. Also, at night I am covering the box over with a towel so I do believe they are warm enough. I don't want to put a water bottle or something in there as it may become to warm.

They seemed to enjoy yoghurt with an egg yolk and also the goats milk, thanks for the tip @StefanZ. However the last couple of days I have noticed their teeth have really come through and they are chewing the bottle and my finger. And it is pretty painful when they do! So today I am thinking to try them with some solids, I have some kitten food, dry and also wet meat.

They are ready for wet food but go gently.  You may need to add some water to make it more soupy so they can lick the wet food, then transition to undiluted wet, always a very gentle chicken formula if possible.  At this age their GI tracts can become messed up easily.  If you have trouble finding a good wet food, you can substitute for now, human baby food chicken stage one only (just pureed chicken, no onion).

I gave them some of the wet kitten food I have (the pouches rather than from a can) and mixed with some water and mashed it up slightly. They were licking and trying to chew some of the pieces and then I filled them up with the milk mix from the bottle. This seemed to be okay. I let them walk around on my balcony for some fresh air but not for long as I was scared of them becoming cold. I think for the next week or 2 I just need to keep my fingers crossed that what I am doing will work. I will go to the big süpermarket in the next day or so and I will pick up some baby food for them to try. Should I put this in a dish to eat themselves or from the bottle with a bit of water?

CarlyWhyte1348 said:

 
I gave them some of the wet kitten food I have (the pouches rather than from a can) and mixed with some water and mashed it up slightly. They were licking and trying to chew some of the pieces and then I filled them up with the milk mix from the bottle. This seemed to be okay. I let them walk around on my balcony for some fresh air but not for long as I was scared of them becoming cold. I think for the next week or 2 I just need to keep my fingers crossed that what I am doing will work. I will go to the big süpermarket in the next day or so and I will pick up some baby food for them to try. Should I put this in a dish to eat themselves or from the bottle with a bit of water?

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OK a nice start!

I would avoid food with chunks and gravy, and give them smooth pate mixed with a little water if needed.  The transition from nursing to wet food is helped if they aren't forced to chew. Bottle - Soup - then wet direct from cat

Baby food should be given in a bowl.

You mentioned a balcony!  This is potentially very dangerous.   What height is the balcony from the ground below, and what would stop them from going over or through the barrier?

Okay thanks for the help @StephenQ  hopefully things can start to get better from now.

And don't worry about the balcony, we are on the ground floor so it's more of a veranda really and they won't be there without my watchful eye anyway

CarlyWhyte1348 said:

 
Okay thanks for the help @StephenQ  hopefully things can start to get better from now.

And don't worry about the balcony, we are on the ground floor so it's more of a veranda really and they won't be there without my watchful eye anyway

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Ah very nice!

My friend has a mother cat that has got 3 kittens that are just under 4 weeks old. We have been reading online that it is possible to introduce my orphaned kittens to her and she is likely to accept them, so we will try this today. This really would be so great as these kittens really need a feline mother more than anything!

It is possible, let us know how it goes.

It worked! She accepted them! We put the mother in a different room and then put my kittens in the box with hers. The other kittens started licking and smelling mine and they all seemed fine together. After about 15 minutes we let the mother back in with the kittens. First she was smelling the box, but after a few seconds she got in and was licking everyone the same as if mine has always been in there. We left her alone with them and after about 20 minutes she was lying down in the box and everything seemed good! This is such a happy ending for these kittens and now they can get everything they need. My friend will keep me posted and I will visit them in a few days after they have settled in with new mom. They seemed so much smaller than the other kittens so it was clear to see how much they were losing out on being abandoned by their own mother.But I think (and of course hope) that they will be okay from now on

Congrats!!!!!

NOTE:  This story with happy ending (so far) continues in the Pregnant Cat & Kitten Forum under the thread "Trying to introduce my orphaned kittens to a new mother."