Kittens Infested by Flys...attached...Help!?

Sorry about double-post...also under Pregnant Cats/Kitten Care.

A feral female that I've been looking after gave birth under my deck sometime last night/early morning. I went out this morning to feed the adults and she let me have a look. There seems to be 6 of them.

She took off about 1-hour ago, so I went down under the deck to take a look at the kittens. They were covered with flys. Not 10-20 flys...but we are talking 50 + flys. Totally repulsive.

I have a large dog house on the top of my deck to shelter the adults. I grabbed a box and put the kittens in it to transport them to the dog house which is lined with cushions and clean towels.

When I picked-up the kittens, I noticed 4 of them seem to be attached. Afterbirth...deformity...umbilical cords? No idea? I placed all 6 kittens in the dog house hoping the fly problem would be gone.

The flys returned immediately. I called my local Humane Society and told them the whole story. They seem to think it is afterbirth and that is what the flys are after. They suggested I back-off and the mother will return to nurse & clean them. So far...no mother.

I have no idea what to do for these little ones. I started to just stand over them and swat flys. To bring them in may be a death sentence because of their age but to leave them in this state is making me feel horrible. Also, I already have 2 foster kittens inside approximately 4 weeks old and this is on top of my 4 inside fuzz-nuts. I don't possibly have enough hands to start bottle feeding 6 more.

Any suggestions/ideas would be truly appreciated.

Yes, the mother is young...probably close to 1 1/2 years old and this is her first litter.

The mother is still no where to be found...going on 2 hours or so. I just called my vet. and spoke with service (office is closed now). I told them the whole story and #1 if the kittens are attached because of deformity, vet. feels this is why the mother has left them. #2 if it is deformity, they feel at such a young age, there is nothing they can do except euthanize.

How long is too long without the mother? It is a scorcher out there...105 degrees real feel. They have not been nursed in hours.

My local "shelter" is just that...a "shelter". They are a kill shelter unfortunately and I have never had anything to do with them because of it. My Humane Socitey is a different organization and they primarily deal with adoptions, fostering, etc.

Still keeping an eye out the window for mother cat. The mother knows I feed 2-3 times daily...she will eventually show-up but I fear it may be too late. Very frustrating.

Please get these kittens to the vet immediately. The flies have laid eggs more than likely on these kittens, and leaving them outdoors in the hopes that the mom will return is gambling with their life. They need to be checked, flea-combed, cleaned and evaluated. It doesn't sound like they have much of chance, but leaving them outside gives them no chance at all,

The mother has returned but has not gone near her kittens to nurse or clean them.

Without sounding cold, I cannot afford an after-hours emergency vet. visit (once again). I am fostering 2 4-wk. babies without outside funding, I feed a feral colony twice a day and I do have 4 inside cats...2 of which will go through the expensive but necesssary spay/neuter at the end of the month when they will be of appropriate age.

Just spoke with my Humane Society for the 3rd time and their suggestion is to give the mother some time to tend to them.

I'm nervous about handling the 4 kittens that seem to be attached but if the mother doesn't do something soon, I will take-in the 2 out of the 6 that are not attached and do my best with tube/bottle feeding.

Wish I had a better solution but unfortunately vet. visits aren't cheap...the strays and my own cats are very expensive. I can only do the best I can under the circumstances.

I just saw this post. Could you take out the kittens that seem to be stuck together, then maybe Momma cat will start caring for the healthy ones. You can try cleaning up the four, with it so hot out maybe it is just an afterbirth sticking to them. And it could be scaring Mom off.

Leesali, you have certainly done everything you can under difficult circumstances. I wish you had more help, so you could have them vet checked! At least they have you to watch out for them and try to do what you can. Will you be able to spay Momma cat when her time comes?

i recently lost a beloved rabbit to flystrike and this is what the kittens are in danger of getting and dying off.

my rabbit was old and infirm and the flies laid eggs on her which turned to maggots within a couple of hours. when i checked her in the morning she was fine but in the afternoon when i returned from work she was teeming with maggots.

it would be more humane to turn the kittens in to a shelter to be euthanised than to risk letting them contract and die from such a terrible death.

flystrike is horrible. My Nana has had a kitten die of it. These kittens need the vet.

What a Night!! I cannot believe what has gone on in the past few hours...an episode right of Emergency Pet Vet!!

Will try to keep it brief:

Couldn't take it anymore, so I put all the newborns (6) into a box and brought them into my house. The two that were not attached took to a bottle immediately The other 4 were so tangled that I didn't know what to do. I flipped them over and found a golf ball size mass of God know's what attached to all four. The stench was enough to knock you over.

Now I'm on my 4th call to my Humane Society...this time I was hysterical. The President of Long Beach Humane Society was in my kitchen within 10 minutes. She took a look and said she has never seen anything like it. The mass was the placenta mangled-up with the four kittens & their umbilical cords. A total mess!!

We used warm water to soften the tissue and then very carefully SHE started to cut away the entangled kittens. Two went free like a skillfull surgeon was at work. One became a bleeder and the other's legs looked deformed from circulation being cut off. We tried to stop the bleeder for over an hour to no avail. She made a call to a local vet that works with the Humane Society and within minutes we drove to his house with bleeding kitten. Sutures were given in his garage and the little bleeder finally stopped bleeding. Have to give this one Karo syrup w/formula. The bad-legged kitten doesn't look so great but the doctor believes the kitten reacts to sensation to both legs and would like to give the little guy a chance.

A few calls later and they found a foster home for all six newborns They will be leaving sometime tomorrow afternoon. Keep in mind, I am fostering two 4-wk. olds, have 4 inside cuties of my own and there are still 4 more kittens outside (4-wk. olds) that I need to capture and bring in. Yikes!!

So, this is going to be an all-nighter for sure. Will be syringe and bottle feeding many little fuzzy faces around the clock tonight into tomorrow. GOD BLESS those that volunteer...the women that I have dealt with tonight are absolute angels!!

Will be posting all night since I will be up all night

you must be so relieved to have someone come out to help you.

wishing you luck and vibes for this litter

Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

flystrike is horrible. My Nana has had a kitten die of it. These kittens need the vet.

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as horrible as this sounds, i'm so glad someone else had experienced flystrike.

its a terrible thing and i just wish i had been more aware of it as its something that can happen to anyone.

hearing about other peoples experiences makes me feel less like a bad owner that it happened to my pet.

Wow, that is great you got the vet and the Humane Society worker to help you out. Thank you so much for caring and doing your best to take care of these babies!

it's awful, Nicky - i haven't personally seen it but Nana described it to me and yeah well, just tragic.

So happy to hear that leesali, good on that lady for coming over and helping you out!!

Leesali, thank you for your persistance. I am so glad you finally got the help you need. Prayers that these sweet babies make it through the night, and grow up happily in their new foster home. You are such a wonderful person to do so much for these poor little kitties.

Keep the phone numbers of the people who were willing and able to help!

Received a call around 9:30pm...they found a foster mom for three of the babies tonight Met her about 15 mintues ago and handed over the three. Three down...three to go. Guess they figured it is too much for 1 person to handle all night. Thanks for everyone's well-wishes. Still can't believe what went on here tonight...amazing. Will keep you posted.

Definitly keep us posted. Glad they found a foster Mum for three.

Gosh! What a wonderful outcome! Everyone involved with helping those kitties is absolutely extraordinary!

I am so glad to hear you were abe to help and find vet care for these babies! I would think in this situation a vet would understand they are feral. Our vet never charges for feral cats and I am glad you found a good vet that is willing to give this baby a chance at life.

It sounds like an incredibly rare situation - not a pleasant one - but their outcine is much better now thx to you!! Good luck to them!! Pls keep us updated! And good luck with all the other you have, wow - you certainly have your hands full.

leesali- Just something to keep in the back of your mind. If one of the three begin to fade tonight, have some strong coffee unsugared on hand, and slowly give it to the kitten. Not very much 1/2 ml if that, but that sometimes will help jumpstart what is slowing down and give the kitten a fighting chance. Make sure the coffee is tepid, not hot.

Good luck with the three you have left, and thank you for getting a team on them as quick as you did.

Just finished 1am feeding and all three were able to suckle bottle tip rather than syringe feed. Keeping a special eye on the "bleeder" kitten...definitely no new blood
has stopped bleeding completely.

Interesting about the strong coffee. Never heard of that but have yesterday's coffee on hand just in case.

Have to say, they aren't taking much...they stop suckling or turn their head from nipple of bottle. I have a few guidlines for how much to feed newborns...2 ml every 2 hours for 1st 24-hours? They are just about 24 hours old. Will try to give them more next feeding....around 3am.

Thanks for all the positive posts/vibes.