Found abandoned kitten, am I doing all that I can to help him?

Please bear with me, this post will be kind of long. I just want to give as much information as possible:
Going on 5 days ago, I came across 4 kittens hiding under my front porch. I coaxed them out with some wet cat food, but one (Castiel) became brave and as soon he got his belly full, he came right to me and let me pick him up. The first thing I noticed was his EXTREMELY thin frame. I could feel every bone in his body. I can't say much about the others as they ran back into hiding after eating. I should add that my grandmother who lives with me had told me quite some time ago that she had seen a pregnant female, more than likely his mama, and recently told me that she hasn't seen her for a while. I'm assuming that she has either abandoned them or died. It's nearing the colder months, and it has been raining here quite a lot, so my "human" maternal instinct was to bring the one in my arms inside and get him warm. He was very friendly for a stray, purring and rubbing against my legs, wanting me to pick him up, licking and kneading me.

My initial plan of action was to take him to the Humane Society, which I did, but my heart ached for this poor little baby. I knew that he was malnourished, you can tell just by looking at him. The people there estimated that he was around 4 weeks old. I left him there, but I tossed and turned all night thinking about him. Not to mention how apathetic they seemed towards his condition there at the shelter, I couldn't stop wondering whether he would be given the neccesary attention. The next morning I went back and got him, paid the adoption fee and everything. I just wanted to make sure that he has his best chance at life. (Also, just to throw this out there, they tried to give me the wrong kitten at first, and got irritated when I pointed it out, which made me even happier to take him back home.)

Now is probably a good time to say that I am not a cat person by nature. I had one cat as a young child, but he was older. He wasn't exactly my best friend. That being said, I know very little about caring for cats, much less young, orphaned kittens. However, through research and many trips to the pet store for advice, I feel like I may have my ducks in some kind of a row. I feel like I just need some advice from someone with experience.

Here is my current situation with Castiel:
-He is pretty lethargic. He sleeps most of the day and all through the night. He cries for me when he is awake, though. He mostly just wants to sit in my lap, or anywhere on me for that matter, where he usually falls back to sleep. I just let him sleep.
-Obviously, malnourishment. I went to the pet store and was told that giving him KMR would be the best way to help him gain weight and regain strength. I can't get him to drink it out of a dish, so then I was advised to syringe feed him. I started by giving him a teaspoon every few hours, but he threw up, so now I feed him about 1/2 teaspoon every few hours, and I leave dry kitten food in his kennel with his water so he can eat if he gets hungry. However, he doesn't eat it.
-Dehydration. I syringe fed him 1/2 teaspoon of water soon after he threw up. I'm just really concerned about him becoming dehydrated from not eating or drinking, and then throwing up.
-Warmth. With him being so skinny, I try to keep him as warm as possible. When he isn't in my lap, sharing my body heat, he is in his kennel, which has a heating pad underneath half of it, so he can be warm or move if he gets hot.

I'm calling the vet tomorrow to hopefully get him an appointment soon. In the mean time, am I doing all I can for the little guy?

Here are some pictures of him:

Castiel80Q3 said:

Snapchat-2003281876467117301.jpg

• castiel80q3
• Oct 26, 2015

Snapchat-6097659176035431504.jpg

• castiel80q3
• Oct 26, 2015

Click to expand...

Exactly WHAT brand of KMR did you got?

Sometimes it helps to try with another brand.   Goat milk is also always an alternative. Especially if you can get raw goat milk, fresh or frozen.

I dont know why he threws up - hopefully he isnt OK with that brand of KMR...   A standard trick for ex throwing-influensa sick children, whom threw up immediately whatever they get, is to give them pedialyte, just a little, every 5-10 minutes.     This way, the stomach never notices there did come something... And thus, the child or adult, can keep the pedialyte....

You write you give him every few hours.   Exactly how often?   Every few hours sounds way too little!   He is in crisis now, red flag, red alert!

Much more often, and small portions, even a few drops!

Bought pedialyte is best such a non flavored clear for children, but home made is OK.  Be sure it contain glucose sugar / dextrose.  Dextrose proper, or glucose syrup, white caro syrup, or honey.  All these are better than common plain sugar.

Re the vet - try to find a vet who is used to help weak kittens.  Many vet dont really have a clue.  They are good if there are visible symptoms, but not with just weak ones...

In the last: a little peculiar the shelter left out the kitten, taking adoption fee.  They are NOT supposed to adopt out so small kittens, whom are not stabilized either.  But they could instead ask you to be their emergency and fostering home for this kitten...   That is the correct from tehm to do...

But lets be happy they didnt pts him.  Many shelter do so with weak, sick kittens.

Please continue to report and ask questions!

Good luck!

I think a heating pad under half of his cage is fine for warmth. As to the throwing up...have you offered him wet (canned) kitten food? He is young for dry kitten food. I would switch immediately to canned food. Also, the canned food will help with dehydration some as it will have additional moisture. Kmr is good and the powdered varieties are usually best as far as causing less diarrhea and vomitting. Our first kitten was a stray also four weeks old and we finally got her to drink kmr by mixing it with her canned cat food and making kind of a slurry that she could slurp down out of her dish. You might try this. A vet visit is definitely in order. Being stray and from a stray mama, he likely has worms and possibly other GI parasites that the vet can easily treat with medications. Is he using the litter box? And does he go to the bathroom regularly?

You should offer him wet cat food mixed with water or pedialyte to make a mush. Perhaps he will lap that. You can also moisten the dry kitten chow so that it is easier for him to eat. He may take the KMR from a bottle. Clearly his system needs to adjust to some changes, and he is likely dehydrated, so clear pedialyte would help. This little fellow needs several mL's of KMR (PetAg or Royal Canin is best) every 2-4 hours right now until he stabilizes. You can mix the KMR with pedialyte instead of water.

What has become of the other kittens under your porch? Perhaps your kitten is also missing his litter mates.

The litter would be hungry if the mom cat is not eating a steady diet so that she can make good milk for nursing. This cat mom needs to be fed, trapped, and spayed or you will have litter after litter under your porch. The babies also need feeding, trapping, and re-homing or they are in for a miserable life.

Though I am happy you are caring for this kitten, and do hope the vet can help, he is much too young to be away from his mother, and your cat problem is bigger than just this sweet little guy.

The brand of KMR is GNC. I give it to him every 2 hours. He hasn't thrown up since. I noticed him lapping water out of his dish this morning, so I am hoping that is a good sign. As for his litter mates, they come around still, and I give them food, but they are too afraid to let me get close enough to grab them. If push comes to shove, I will probably trap them. I have yet to see Mama Kitty since coming across the little ones.
Castiel uses his litter box regularly. No diarrhea that I've noticed.

The GNC is fine. Glad to hear the kitten is better. Are you offering wet food?

You need to trap the other kittens now, not later. Start feeding the kittens In the trap so you can rescue them. They can still be socialized at this age, and no good will come of them turning feral and breeding.

Just begin putting their food inside the trap so they have to go in twice a day to eat. Most likely all 3 will go in together. After a few days they will trust the routine, and then quickly & quietly close the trap door.

Then you bring the trap in, and set up a room for them with food, water, and a kitten-sized litter box, and let them free in the room. You'll need to spend time sitting with them so they learn your scent and get comfortable. Their sibling will be happy to see them, and they need caring for.

All 4 will need a topical flea preparation and worming. You can find homes for them in a few weeks when they are older.

The mom has probably gone into heat and gone off to mate. She may return to bless you with another litter eventually.

sarthur2 said:

The GNC is fine. Glad to hear the kitten is better. Are you offering wet food?

You need to trap the other kittens now, not later. Start feeding the kittens In the trap so you can rescue them. They can still be socialized at this age, and no good will come of them turning feral and breeding.

Just begin putting their food inside the trap so they have to go in twice a day to eat. Most likely all 3 will go in together. After a few days they will trust the routine, and then quickly & quietly close the trap door.

Then you bring the trap in, and set up a room for them with food, water, and a kitten-sized litter box, and let them free in the room. You'll need to spend time sitting with them so they learn your scent and get comfortable. Their sibling will be happy to see them, and they need caring for.

All 4 will need a topical flea preparation and worming. You can find homes for them in a few weeks when they are older.

The mom has probably gone into heat and gone off to mate. She may return to bless you with another litter eventually.

Click to expand...

I have offered wet food several times, and he has yet to eat it. However, if I get some of the gravy from it on my finger he will lick it off.

So everythig with him sounds good, improvements over the whole line.    *happy*   No more red flag, a yellow flag perhaps for awhile.

Yeah, GNC is one of the better formulas, its also based on goat milk too.  

I agree with SArthurs analysis.

Just an update on my kitten's condition:
-He has started coming to me for feedings. He still gets fed every 2 hours, and he won't let me forget it :lol3:
-No more vomitting, so I am going to try and give him a little more at each feeding. I think maybe he had been starving for a while and being fed so much at once from the get-go upset his tummy.
-Still sleeping a lot, but he physically looks better. I have noticed that his gums are a bit pinker than they were before.

@Castiel80Q3, when I found my Grizzly, he was 15 days old.. He slept almost during the whole day. Usually when you find them in the state you found Castiel (and I found Grizzly), that is after an ordeal - apparently - and they find a nice cosy place to finally get some rest and food they tend to sleep endlessly. Also, because they are still practically (and literally) babies! 

Regarding the vomiting: If you haven't dewormed him yet, please do so. Throwing up could be a sign of worms in his tummy. And he was a stray a few days ago.. Also, don't feed him or give him water right after the vomiting. Try to be patient (I know, it's hard) allow some time to pass and then give him some water or food.. For dehydration, I often use dextroze.

KMR (I think that's the way you guys call the kitten baby formula) is the best way to go - or the goat milk. Normally, if he was still with his mother, she would probably nurse him for another month. 

If you want to give him wet food, make sure it's "pate" like food.. No chunks and stuff. Make sure it's strictly kitten food. It contains all the right ingredients for baby kitties to develop well, at such a young age.

Have you bathed him? Checked him for fleas, ticks etc? He comes from the street. Anything can have inhabited his coat (and his sibblings' coats too).

Make sure to vaccinate him and keep him off the street/yard/garden -whatever- for 7-15 days.

Needless to say, what you do for Castiel, you need to do for his sibblings too.. @sarthur2  is right. Now is the time to bring them in. I'm guessing their brother will make them comfortable and will show them around 

You have a window between 4-12 weeks of age, to make them socialize with you and "tame" them.. The little buggers grow up really fast 

 

GrizzlySapien said:

@Castiel80Q3
, when I found my Grizzly, he was 15 days old.. He slept almost during the whole day. Usually when you find them in the state you found Castiel (and I found Grizzly), that is after an ordeal - apparently - and they find a nice cosy place to finally get some rest and food they tend to sleep endlessly. Also, because they are still practically (and literally) babies! :9:

Regarding the vomiting: If you haven't dewormed him yet, please do so. Throwing up could be a sign of worms in his tummy. And he was a stray a few days ago.. Also, don't feed him or give him water right after the vomiting. Try to be patient (I know, it's hard) allow some time to pass and then give him some water or food.. For dehydration, I often use dextroze.

KMR (I think that's the way you guys call the kitten baby formula) is the best way to go - or the goat milk. Normally, if he was still with his mother, she would probably nurse him for another month. 

If you want to give him wet food, make sure it's "pate" like food.. No chunks and stuff. Make sure it's strictly kitten food. It contains all the right ingredients for baby kitties to develop well, at such a young age.

Have you bathed him? Checked him for fleas, ticks etc? He comes from the street. Anything can have inhabited his coat (and his sibblings' coats too).

Make sure to vaccinate him and keep him off the street/yard/garden -whatever- for 7-15 days.

Needless to say, what you do for Castiel, you need to do for his sibblings too.. @sarthur2
 is right. Now is the time to bring them in. I'm guessing their brother will make them comfortable and will show them around 

You have a window between 4-12 weeks of age, to make them socialize with you and "tame" them.. The little buggers grow up really fast   

Click to expand...

Castiel has an appointment with the vet on Friday to get him checked for parasites. I have combed through his fur and have found no fleas or ticks, but I didn't give him a bath. I know most cats don't enjoy water. However, I have wiped him down with a warm, damp cloth more than a few times. He cleans himself.

I'm trying to catch his litter mates, but no luck yet. They are still very frightened of me, though.

You MUST use a trap - they will not willingly come to you. If you do not have a trap you can rent one from the Humane Society. It's the only way.

How much are you feeding them? If your kitten was starving you can be sure that they are too.

Castiel80Q3 said:

Castiel has an appointment with the vet on Friday to get him checked for parasites. I have combed through his fur and have found no fleas or ticks, but I didn't give him a bath. I know most cats don't enjoy water. However, I have wiped him down with a warm, damp cloth more than a few times. He cleans himself.

I'm trying to catch his litter mates, but no luck yet. They are still very frightened of me, though.

Click to expand...

OK, since you haven't found anything suspicious by combing, you can wait what the vet tells you. They will advise you to deworm the little guy - as a precaution.

Regarding his siblings, what @sarthur2   tells you is again what you must do. There are specially designed cat traps. They are perfectly harmless. You just leave the food inside and you let the kittens come in and you're done.  At first put the food in, without setting the trap to close right away. So that they see there is no "danger".. But since you don't have much time on your lap, set the trap to close when you put it for the 2nd or 3rd time..

Make sure you put a wet food that really makes them go nuts for.. A food that even YOU smell and can't resist. In that way it'll be more possible that all of them get inside at once and the trap door closes when all of them are there. You don't want to risk them getting in like "first, one of them.. after 5 minutes there goes the 2nd one.." and so on.. Because you risk the trap door closing before the last one(s) enters and that last one will then be too terrified to catch.

The advice you've been given here is excellent.  You must trap the rest of the litter, as well as the mother cat if you can find her and get her spayed.  The kittens are young enough to be socialized and adopted.  They're lovely, furry and cute now . . . but in six months they will be downtrodden and sad and sexually active.  Which means the females will be pregnant and the males will be roughed up and injured from fighting.  The life of a feral cat is impossibly hard.  You have it within yo;   ur power to help these living, breathing creatures.  If you perform no other act of kindness your entire life, please help these kittens.

And finally, because I simply cannot help myself, and I am a horrible, horrible person . . . I think you should change his name to Destiel. 

I am happy you are doing so much for the one you caught already.  I hope you are successful in saving the others!  I'm suspicious of parasites or bacterial infections (tick diseases, etc) that they are sick with.  If they have a fever, are not eating, and just do not look well at all, they all need to be seen and medicated asap.  Some of those tick diseases kill kittens fast, as do other types of infections and parasites!  Is the mom coming around at all?  Or are they abandoned?

Please be sure NOT to vaccinate them anytime soon... they are TOO young!  They need their immune systems to get stronger and normalized, and honestly, if you do any research on vaccinations, you will find they are full of toxins, have way too many side effects (even long term, such as cancer), and are really not even necessary except for the most essential ones. 

Best of luck!  Keep us posted, and keep those babies safe!

Good new and terrible news. Good news is I have the remaining kittens in my care now. Terrible news: there were only 2 to be rescued. One was in the street and you can guess what happened to him. Luckily, I didn't see it happen.

As for the other kittens, I can see who has been capitalising on the food I have put out in my attempts to catch them. The SISTER pushes her brothers away from the food dish and eats ALL of it. So she is kind of chubby haha. I now feed them separately. Though, she has taught Castiel how to eat from the dish, so I don't have to syringe feed him anymore. She also has gotten him to eat regular wet kitten food. Maybe he was just depressed and wanting his siblings and that is why he wouldn't eat willingly. Who knows? I am just happy that things are looking up for him.

The other little boy is skinny like Castiel, but not AS bad. They all use the litter box now. Still haven't found Mama Kitty. According to my grandma, who is the only person to have ever seen her, she is a black/orange/white calico. The dad must have been a tabby because that is what I have been told the kittens are. The fur patterns are right for a mix like that. Anyway, I've heard that she may be in heat and has left and could return with more kittens. So, I will keep a look out. Should she return, I will attempt to trap both mom and baby(ies).

If she does return, and is pregnant, should I try and trap her before giving birth? If so, should I allow her to give birth here, or should I hand her over to the Humane Society immediately?

Oh, it's just too sad when a baby has an end like this.. I always get depressed when I hear something like that.. I am so sorry..  

It's a good thing that one sibbling teaches the other.. It's like kindergarten without a "supervising adult" 

Regarding your dilemma, it's actually up to you.. If you feel up to it, to take care of her and be sure about her welfare, since you will be monitoring her, then do it.

If it's too much for you to take care another litter plus the mommy, you should hand her over to the Humany Society. I don't know if such institutions practice spaying before birth, or if they let the mommies give birth first.. If they spay before birth, I am personally against it, but that's just my personal opinion.

Do you or your grandma know for a fact that she is still alive? Maybe something happened to her..  

 

LavishSqualor said:

The advice you've been given here is excellent.  You must trap the rest of the litter, as well as the mother cat if you can find her and get her spayed.  The kittens are young enough to be socialized and adopted.  They're lovely, furry and cute now . . . but in six months they will be downtrodden and sad and sexually active.  Which means the females will be pregnant and the males will be roughed up and injured from fighting.  The life of a feral cat is impossibly hard.  You have it within yo;   ur power to help these living, breathing creatures.  If you perform no other act of kindness your entire life, please help these kittens.

And finally, because I simply cannot help myself, and I am a horrible, horrible person . . . I think you should change his name to Destiel. 

Click to expand...

I almost named him Dean. But it didn't fit him. And it had been a few days that he had been without a name. I couldn't just keep calling him "kitty-cat", so I named him Castiel and now call him "kitty-Cas" haha.

GrizzlySapien said:

Oh, it's just too sad when a baby has an end like this.. I always get depressed when I hear something like that.. I am so sorry..  

It's a good thing that one sibbling teaches the other.. It's like kindergarten without a "supervising adult" 

Regarding your dilemma, it's actually up to you.. If you feel up to it, to take care of her and be sure about her welfare, since you will be monitoring her, then do it.
If it's too much for you to take care another litter plus the mommy, you should hand her over to the Humany Society. I don't know if such institutions practice spaying before birth, or if they let the mommies give birth first.. If they spay before birth, I am personally against it, but that's just my personal opinion.

Do you or your grandma know for a fact that she is still alive? Maybe something happened to her..    

Click to expand...

We don't know whether she is alive or not. We haven't seen her. I have never seen her, for that matter. When my grandma said she saw a pregnant cat, I thought she meant just, like, around. You know, like in the street or just passing through. I didn't know she meant it was under my porch.

I am relieved that you now have two of the siblings, and sorry that one was run over.

I thought your little guy would be happier with his litter mates. Now they can all eat and grow properly. They will be good playmates for each other too.

If/when the mama cat returns she would likely be too far along to spay. If you see her at all, just set the trap and we'll sort out what to do then.

Please post pictures of the new kittens!