Newborn fussy kittens

I have took in three newborns (born yesterday morning) and one if them is really fussy, he has peed and pooped, I've feed him, I've put him on my chest but he is still really fussy. If you have any tips I would greatly appreciate it. Whether it be on my fussy baby of taking care in general. 

History and general knowledge on the Baby's

There mom left them in random places in the yard, my dad only found three but I know there was more because the mother was huge. One has a dead leg. It is purple and we think its umbilical cord got wrapped around its leg. I have took them to the vet and I have the Dr. check out the leg he said there was nothing he could do about it right now.

• The black one is really calm and has no hard time eating.
• The stripped on is the one with the bad leg.
• The black stripped on in the fussy on. 

Their mom is just a kitten herself she has had one litter before these baby's and she did amazing. She cared for them all though there kitten life with no complications. I could see why she left the stripped one but not the other 2. 

If you have any info I would genially appreciate it.

Thank you.

I do not know a lot about kitten care, so I can't be much help.

I think if you post this in the Pregnant Cats and Kittens Forum as well, you'd get some kitten savvy people to see it.

Welcome to TCS and thank you for helping these babies!

I'm sorry to hear that the mother won't feed the babies. At this age, they must eat every 2-3 hours. If you can take her inside and get her to care for them, it certainly would be best for all, but, if that can't happen, it's good of you to take them in. It also means that you can sooner have her spayed, so that this doesn't come up again. If she is not tame enough to handle, get in touch with your local TNR group for help catching her.
If they are only a day old, it's unusual for the babies to have pooped on their own. Normally, the mother has to stimulate the hindquarters to get the bowels working. In her place, you must do this, gently, with a dab of mineral oil on a cotton ball or cosmetic round. Keep an eye on this and if they don't "go" after several days, you can try a drop of olive oil in the milk. Also remember to burp them after feeding.
As to the fussiness...I have recently had to foster some infant kittens and I have discovered that they find fleece to be VERY comforting. Just coming in contact with a plush blanket immediately calmed them down and they began to purr.
If you want some truly expert advice, you could probably look around this board for another, established thread which addresses caring for newborns. Also, check out this list of tips from Alley Cat Allies (alleycat.org--THE clearinghouse for info on outdoor cats).

Top Ten Reasons Your Kitten May Not Nurse Well
1. Cold or dehydrated (Do not feed until stable – warm and hydrated!)
2. Not hungry, especially with new intakes of healthy kittens older than 2 weeks
3. Formula/bottle/nipple to cold or hot
4. Formula bad (taste)
5. Need to urinate/defecate
6. Not fully “awake"
7. Nipple opening too small
8. Physical deformity, i.e., cleft palate (should be picked up during intake exam)
9. Illness, i.e., URI, panleukopenia…RED FLAG
10. Old enough to eat solid food

Top Fifteen Bottle Feeding Hints

1. Formula should be fresh; < 24 hours old, preferably <12 hours
2. Formula should be correct temperature; warm (nipple also)
3. Nipple opening should be large enough (use scissors), appropriate size for age; formula should 
drip out slowly when held upside down
4. Loosen bottle cap slightly
5. Place fingers lightly on “cheeks” and chin
6. Feed in prone position, do not force
7. Assure that kittens are alert…very small kittens are more likely to nurse when “asleep”, but 
kittens > 2 weeks old need to be “awake”
8. Burp kittens after feeding
9. If medicating, give after feeding unless otherwise indicated (easier on stomach)
10. Use toilet paper for stimulation
11. Use warm, damp washcloth to simulate mother’s licking to clean several times a day, especially 
around mouth and anal areas
12. Keep accurate records; particularly, weight, food intake, elimination
13. Keep ALL supplies and environment scrupulously clean
14. Formula can be used as vehicle for supplements, i.e., Nutri-Cal, L-lysine, BeneBac, FortiFlora
15. Patience, observation and determination

It's hard for me to check in regularly, so, I hope that this will help and/or that you'll get some more good answers soon. Good luck! Thanks again for caring for the babes.

Thanks for the advice. 

I shall ask a mod to move this your thread to the Pregnant and kitten care.   As these here, are essentially not feral but small kittens.  Yes,  Im advising there too. 

Do they seem healthy otherwise?

Next, please describe more what you mean with this fussy?   Doesnt she take the bottle?  A dropper is often easier with newborn or  weak kittens.

A quite common reason kittens are moving and meowing is they dont get enough with food...   So a little bigger portions...

You know you shall weight them every day??  Its the easiest way to notice if they gain or not...

I will return tomorrow, dont worry!

Good luck!   @imalover16

ps.   If you could help and spay this mom, it would be nice and swell!   If you yourself dont afford, you can probably get hold on some rescue group, or a shelter nearby, who helps with spaying...   I understand she otherwise manage OK, so  fostering and adopting isnt aboslutely necessary,  TNR is fine here..

ps. 2.  ECMyera above has many good advices.  Not least, keep them warm.  They cant eat properly if not warm enough.

Read through these advices, if you arent completely familiar with  helping small kittens...

This "fussiing"  do bother me, to be honest.   It can be nothing, but it can be something alarming, something they lack dearly.  For example, enough with warm, or...   almost anything.

When they are so small, the margins are minimal, and a quite a small mistake,  down they go...

There are tricks to wake up fading kittens, but you must knew them, and be vigilant...

She calmed down, Their mother and a few others we have outside (5 moms, 3 teens, 6, 3 weekolds) They are all strays. They are calm right now. I do believe the little one was just cold. They are asleep at the moment. Another question, should I wait or wake them on every 2 hours for feeding?

The stripped one died this afternoon.

imalover16 said:

 
The stripped one died this afternoon.

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Oh no. I am so sorry. How are the others? 

The black stripped one died about an hour ago. The black one is still going strong how ever. (:

I'm sorry. At least you have one kitten going strong

imalover16 said:

 
She calmed down, Their mother and a few others we have outside (5 moms, 3 teens, 6, 3 weekolds) They are all strays. They are calm right now. I do believe the little one was just cold. They are asleep at the moment. Another question, should I wait or wake them on every 2 hours for feeding?

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If they are stabilized, eating happily, no problems, you can let them sleep, they dont need more often than 3 hours.  Healthy kittens may even manage more.

But if they arent stabilized (yours arent...  *sadly smile*)  so be sure they get more often.  Little if so is, but often.   So I think you should wake up and be sure they get next portion.

Next  danger for the inexperienced:   is the kitten contend happy, had a good meal and is going to sleep his beauty sleep, or is he fading and beginning to going down?

The recipe for  try to revive weak kittens is:  keep them warm, massage up helps too.   Smear a little glucose sugar on their gum.  If you dont have glucose sugar (Dextrose, Dextropur or similiar brand name) white caro syrup, or honey are OK.     It perks up them.   Give water with a dropper.   in the corner of the mouth, tummy down, head up.  Be sure they dont get it in the wrong throat....

If the kitten was "just" getting low sugar contend in blood, it will be saved this way.    If it was dying for real it will of course not be enough.

ps.   RIP  little ones   Striped and Black Striped.

At least it can´t be said nobody cared. nobody wept after you.   Nay, there were persons who cared, and who wept.

imalover16 said:

 
Their mother and a few others we have outside (5 moms, 3 teens, 6, 3 weekolds) They are all strays.

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Oops, I think you do already have a Situation  there...  Uncontrolled they will multiply, as Im sure there must be at least one tom too around...

I understand you probably cant TNR them on your own.  But it must be some  rescue group or a shelter doing TNR nearby.  Or at very least, a low cost spaying clinic....    Vigorous TNR Trapp Neuter Return is the best, and really only, remedy here....

How and why, you can ask more at the Ferale Forum, where you began.  

Good luck!

Aw. So sad. Half of kittens born outside die within the first year, so just focus on this one and as soon as you can get some hekp, get all of your cats fixed. Their quality of life will be so much better.
it may help to find videos of bottle feeding so that you are sure to hold him properly etc. Just do the best you can and you will learn. It is often difficult to save ones so young so dont beat yourself up about it.

I got this PM from @imalover16

"Hey Stefanz, you are on my thread but this I am hoping you will see faster. The black kitten was going strong and it was sucking from the dropper perfectly he wasn't fussy he wasn't using the bathroom much but I didn't think anything about it. Well today he pees all over him self which I think is odd since he isn't suppose to do that right? Last night his stool was a weird brown/orange/yellow color but I thought I was normal since it was his first poop, But 5 minutes ago I tired to get him to pee/poop and his poop is orangey red It worries me because he also isn't eating as much and it seems more that I have to force him to eat anything. Hes nice and warm, I have a heating pad in there, he really likes it, its fussy. I feed him every 3 hours and I try to get him to use the bathroom after wards. He doesn't really meow but that's normal for him because he hasn't since hes been in the house. So I'm guessing my question for you is what should I do about his stool? I really want this little fellow to live desperately. So please message asap."

Im sorry,   I had much to do today, and now Im tired and empty for good ideas.   I do hope someone else will have insights.

@ECMyers ,,@Red Top Rescue

Since the mama cat left these three in the yard, it is possible there was something basically wrong with each of them.  As cruel as it seems, a mother cat will leave defective babies, especially if she has more babies not born yet, and she will go have the others somewhere else, so they do not get sick  from the defective ones which are bound to die. The moms know more than we do.  Sometimes we can save these abandoned babies (I did once -- he had deformed feet, and he never grew bigger than a squirrel, but he lived.)   Obviously one of these kittens had a leg that would not have allowed it to live and could have brought predators to the nest, and that one has died.  The fussy one obviously had something wrong with it which made it fussy, and that one has died also.  The third one seemed OK, at least in comparison to the other two, but he may have something wrong also.  I cannot comment on his poo, although I've seen that color before.  If they didn't get colostrum from their mama, they will need BeneBac to give them the intestinal bacteria to digest food.  You can usually get this from a vet or from a feed store, or from a rescue group.  I used it on the one I saved.  Tat mama left 2on the floor and got in an old mattress and had 3 more.  The two screamed and screamed and she would not come out.  I was called but when I got there, one had just died.  I took the other one, fed him a little KMR right away and stuffed him in my bra to keep him warm on the drive home.  Talk about fussy -- he screamed for about 24 hours straight but finally calmed down.  It was like an automatic scream, rhythmic and piercing.  I'm sure nature does this as a last emergency signal for the mom to come get her baby.  Anyhow, put in ear plugs, took him into bed with me, and fed him every hour, just a tiny bit, and finally I guess his blood sugar got high enough to stop the screaming.  He may have had that orange poop the first few days, I don't remember.  Eventually he got the nice pasty yellow stuff that digested milk becomes, once the BeneBac kicked in.  Don't blame yourself if this kitten doesn't make it.  He would have had zero chance without you, and it could be he was already doomed and his mama knew it.  It will be interesting to look and see if she has had more babies in a nest she chose somewhere.  You said she was a good mother last time, so maybe she is being a good mother this time, and she has others that are healthy.  Keep us posted, and thanks for taking care of these three.

Red Top Rescue said:

 
  If they didn't get colostrum from their mama, they will need BeneBac to give them the intestinal bacteria to digest food.

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One idea - fresh goat milk, may it be an alternative?  These who use goat milk tell bottled is OK, a decent alternative to kmr if you dont have good kmr.  But fresh goat milk is better - if you can get it.....

I suspect there are some extra benefif with fresh goat milk -  because it comes straigh from the goat who herself is supposed to nurse her kids.

And what is good for a goat kid may be good for a kitten too.

@imalover16

Good luck!

ps.   Ah, so fussy means screaming?

I'm sorry to read 2 babies died but it's very hard to raise newborns. I had some experience in this matter since I rescued three newborns too. It's very important to keep them warm they would chill so easily. You can use a heating pad or a bottle with hot water placed under the blankets. I feed my two boys goat milk and they're trong and healthy know.

Good luck!!!

I'm sorry to say the 3rd baby died sometime during the night. Thank you everyone for your helpful insight.

I'm sorry to hear that but I am not surprised.  Let us know if you find the mother and if she has other babies somewhere else.  Don't move her, just check on her, bring her food nearby and water if you do find her.

The TCS team would like you to know that we are so very sorry about the loss of these babies you tried so hard to help. Threads are locked after someone has suffered such a loss, as a sign of respect.

Even though they were with you such a short time, we invite you to place a tribute at http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge  about these little ones.

If you find the mother and/or other babies as Red Top Rescue mentioned, please feel free to start a new thread.