Rescued nearly drowned kittens, need advice

A feral cat in my street has been hiding her three kittens under our deck. Last night we had massive storms and the area under our deck flooded. We could hear the kittens screaming during the storm, so we tore up the deck, found them floating in about four inches of water, and brought them inside. Momma was nowhere to be found. She came around a little while later and we got her into the house as well. Kittens are currently in a crate with towels and a heating pad, and they are all in our laundry room. Momma is hiding behind the washing machine. She will venture out partially and eat but hasn't gone to care for the kittens. I've mixed some wet food with water and one of the kittens is eating that. Kittens are approximately three weeks old. One has crusty eyes which we have tried to clean up. They need their momma to attend them. It is still storming and will be flooding for the next couple of days. Any advice to help coax momma out? What else can I do?

I think you have gone above and beyond for these babies, I pray you are blessed for your help and caring. The only thing I can think of is to 'hide' the kittens more, somewhere she will feel more safe taking care of them, maybe drape a couple of chairs with a blanket near the end of the washing machine, I think she is too scared in the open.You could sprinkle a little bit of flour to see if she is going to them, I would imagine they will be meowing loudly if they are not fed soon. If they are quiet and sleeping she is most likely there for them. Keep us posted!

Best idea I have is cover the nest, limit interference and your presence to feeding time, put down a dish of KMR daily, and wait Mama out. She may move her kittens to a more secure location. Don't be surprised.

Thank you both! I will cover up the crate a bit more. I don't have access to KMR right now due to area wide flooding. Best I can do at the moment is mix canned food with some water. I've seen two of the kittens eating it so far. I may be able to get out tomorrow if the rain abates. We have tried to clean up their crusty eyes a bit (all three are gunky eyed) as well as clean the poop off of one. Husband got that job...ick, stinky for such a tiny critter!

My laundry room is very small, it only has room for washer and dryer plus walk space. The only place momma can move the kittens is behind the washer...I hope she doesn't do that!

Here are some homemade KMR recipes that will work for the short run.  Maybe you will have all the ingredients for one of them.

http://kittenformula.blogspot.com/

Ah, thank you! I should be able to do the first one. Can I just put it in a dish for them to drink on their own or must they be bottle fed?  Reading the description of the kitten ages, I think they are about three weeks old. Eyes are open, and they are moving around, but are very wobbly still.

And I only have whole cow's milk. Will this be okay?

No sorry cows milk will not be okay. Cats r Lactose intolerant so the kittens will get a serious upset tummy which could be fatal if they had any.

 I'm confused about the recipes, then. They all call for whole milk or condensed milk or evaporated milk, which are all cow's milk, correct? But if it has to be goat's milk I will have to stick with canned food mixed with water until it's safe to travel.

Do you have evaporated milk? Or plain yogurt? If not then you'll need to dilute the cow's milk - half milk, half water. Beat in an egg yolk, some honey, salt, and mayonnaise. Leave it in a dish. The babies sound about 3 weeks old. Thank you for saving them.

Mom should come out to feed her babies if you cover the area and stay out of there except to leave food.

You'll want to ask the vet for terramycin ointment for their eyes. Keep us posted! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

motorcurl said:

 
Ah, thank you! I should be able to do the first one. Can I just put it in a dish for them to drink on their own or must they be bottle fed?  Reading the description of the kitten ages, I think they are about three weeks old. Eyes are open, and they are moving around, but are very wobbly still.

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If two of them has began to eat a little on their own, they may even be almost 4 weeks.  Even it its plausible to try with feeding 3weeks if desperate.

Are they eating? Or do you need to syringe the food? Please give us an update!

Hopefully, once left alone, Mama will come out of hiding for her babies. Wish you had a webcam you could set up to monitor them without disturbing Mama any more than necessary.

3 week old kittens may be able to eat canned (only) food. It's Verry soft. Go get some Iaams kitten food, pate' style.. Good luck! Praying.. If left alone, momma will care for babies...

Kittens wobbly on feet sound like my stray Momma's kittens and they are not 2 weeks yet! They are only 13 days old today...

motorcurl said:

 I'm confused about the recipes, then. They all call for whole milk or condensed milk or evaporated milk, which are all cow's milk, correct? But if it has to be goat's milk I will have to stick with canned food mixed with water until it's safe to travel.

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Persian2Momma said:

Kittens wobbly on feet sound like my stray Momma's kittens and they are not 2 weeks yet! They are only 13 days old today...

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I would stick to canned cat food, mixed w/water, till you can travel... No Cows Milk!

Status update: Momma cat is spending most of her time in the narrow gap between the side of the washing machine and the wall. Kittens have found their way to her and she is allowing them to nurse, thank goodness! She was hissy with them at first and swatted at them, but has settled down a bit. She's not grooming them well, though. I had to take one out and clean the dried poop off of it. Eyes are looking much better on all three of them.

The kittens are eating the canned food/water mix and were interested in the kibble I set out for momma.  Momma is eating canned food and kibble, and using the litter box (yay!). I've got puppy pee pads down on the floor since they're pooping solid waste and making a big old mess in there.

We've got more storms coming over the next few days, so I'm hesitant to put the little family back out. And I sure would like to get momma spayed. This is her second litter that we know of. I read somewhere that she can be spayed at about five weeks after birth or when kittens are weaned. Can anyone tell me if that's the right timing? I'd like to get the littles done too, but I know they've got a ways to go before they're old enough.

Oh, and I think they are close to three weeks old. Momma moved them to a shelter on our porch on April 3rd, and the neighbor kids said that she had given birth in their yard a couple of days before that.

Please do not put mama cat back outside! Mom can be spayed when the kittens are 6 weeks old. I usually recommend 8 weeks, but since she's feral, go ahead. The kittens need to be two pounds to be fixed, which is usually when they are 8-10 weeks old. I'm relieved to hear that mom is feeding them, and that they are eating some of mom's food too. They will learn to use the litter box, but not at 3 weeks old. Thanks for caring for them, and hang in there! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Yes, please keep the whole family inside! This way you can have mom and kittens fixed and socialize the kittens so they can be adopted. They'll all have much better lives, thanks to you.

Bless you.  I don't know what else to say.  I just found this thread, and will be following.  The longer you can keep the kittens in and interact with them, the easier it will be for them to find homes at some point.

Oh, when cleaning the kittens, use short strokes.  It mimics the mama's tongue.  They like that.