3 new little kittens to feed

Stepson's girlfriends cat had kittens and abandoned them again just like last winter, She found them this morning,1 had died and one is acting weak. I have them in my little carryer with a old heating pad under the old towels to get them warmed up. I went and got some milk replacer this morning, one drank like mad, and one drank some and wants to snoop around, those two seem fine, the 3rd little one didn't drink much and was cold to the touch and layed in a heap shaking. I remember from last time we did this, we had one act like that and the vet said to get some sugar into him with corn surup or something like that so I got a little in his mouth and got him to drink some milk, he is curled up on the heating pad so I hope he will come around. Why does the mom cat raise them about a month then leave them? There eyes are open but can't get around real good yet. just like the last bunch, the grey girl is a little hell raiser, and the boys have the problems. I said I will feed them for 2 days here. I am not going through getting attatched to the little things and have to maybe go through watching one die again, I went through that last time, and I cryed because I didn't know what to do for him, if I had known to give him some sugar and warm him up good he maybe would have lived, but when his brother acted the same way I called the emergency vet that night and he told me what to do so I did it expecting him to die also but in a couple hours he was just fine, he is our cat rusty now. Anyway anyone have any advice on how much they should drink each feeding? And anything else I should be doing? Thanks much, Tom

It sounds like you've done the right thing with teh corn syrup and a heating pad. Just make sure he's really warm if his temperature dosen't go back up it can really dangerous. You might have to force the liquids. I would call the vet and discuss this with them. If they don't get the fluids they won't make it.

Originally Posted by Tom W

Stepson's girlfriends cat had kittens and abandoned them again just like last winter, She found them this morning,1 had died and one is acting weak.

Please tell this owner to spay this momcat. It is clear that the momcat has no interest in kittens and the best thing to do is spay her to prevent any more tragedies.


I have them in my little carryer with a old heating pad under the old towels to get them warmed up.

A human heating pad is a danger because it is concentrated heat, and not dispersed heat. The warm-up needs to be gradual and not sudden or sometimes the body can't deal with it and the kitten will die. It is best to use sock heaters, or pet heating pads www.kitten-rescue.com will give you tips



I went and got some milk replacer this morning, one drank like mad, and one drank some and wants to snoop around, those two seem fine, the 3rd little one didn't drink much and was cold to the touch and layed in a heap shaking. I remember from last time we did this, we had one act like that and the vet said to get some sugar into him with corn surup or something like that so I got a little in his mouth and got him to drink some milk, he is curled up on the heating pad so I hope he will come around.

When the body gets so cold, the kitten can go into shutdown. If you have some strong coffee that is at room temp, warm it up just a bit, and syringe a tiny bit down the throat, this may jumpstart the kitten. There is a possibility that this kitten will not make it.




Why does the mom cat raise them about a month then leave them? There eyes are open but can't get around real good yet. just like the last bunch, the grey girl is a little hell raiser, and the boys have the problems. I said I will feed them for 2 days here. I am not going through getting attatched to the little things and have to maybe go through watching one die again, I went through that last time, and I cryed because I didn't know what to do for him, if I had known to give him some sugar and warm him up good he maybe would have lived, but when his brother acted the same way I called the emergency vet that night and he told me what to do so I did it expecting him to die also but in a couple hours he was just fine, he is our cat rusty now. Anyway anyone have any advice on how much they should drink each feeding? And anything else I should be doing? Thanks much, Tom

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Tom, sometimes no matter how much the cat owner wants kittens, some cats just aren't good mom material. This is clearly the case here. It is also possible since this was a backyard breeding (I am guessing) that the tom was a carrier of some disease and it has been transmitted to the kittens. That is a possibility NOT a certainty. If that is the case, then the mom cat will either up and leave the nest, or take the baby kittens someplace and leave them for the predators. It sound's harsh, but it is nature's way of dealing with sickness. I had one feral mom one year that took her kittens up on the roof of our barn. Before I realized what happened, a birds of prey swooped down and took off with a kitten. We rescued the other ones and one survived, and one died.

Don't give up on these babies, they are in your life for a reason, so don't give them a timeline. There is always something to be learned when you deal with such fragile lives, and early on when I first started rescuing (way over 20 years ago) the things I did not know, and the mistakes I made would curl your hair!

Good luck with these babies, I have every faith in you that you can do this- Don't give up on them, and don't give up on yourself either- You can PM or email me any time you have questions, and the website that Tania and I built for such a situation as this is also a useful tool as well.

I have the heating pad under a old blanket so it don't get to hot and warms up slow. After getting the surup and some milk in him he is nice and warm and just as awake and alert as the other 2. None of them look sick, they are all the same size and big eyed and want to snoop around already. The bunch we had last winter the first one that died when I didn't know what to do was always smaller than the rest, the girl cat out of that bunch was the fittest one and it looks like the same with this bunch. The other little one that died out of the last bunch was the one I wanted to keep, he was doing ok but not quite right and one night he was playing one minute and the next he was on the floor with blood coming up his throat, we rushed him to the hospital but he was unresponsive from lack of blood, the dr thought head trauma but couldn't see any sign of it, also my wife who is a nurse said that it was old blood because it stunk so bad, the dr was set on head trauma but after talking to his head nurse awhile she also agreed that he must have been bleeding internaly. If we would have been thinking we would have known way before he died because they were in a big dog carrier with there little litter box in the back, and about a week before he died there had been a real strong smell from inside it but the litter all looked normal and I just keep it as clean as I could but after he collapsed I could tell right away that the old blood smell was the same smell as inside there "house". He also had the same bad smell when I would hold him but had no clue what it was, And he also was eating way more and was always hungry, he was on soft food at the time. Dr said he was brain dead but I disagree, when I would pet him at the hospital he would wiggle his ears and make a little meow but his eyes were not responsive and he could not move. They tried to tell me it was just a spasam but I don't think so, I am sure he could hear and feel me petting him. They treated him as a head wound and gave him some meds to help if he had pressure on his little brain and some other stuff and waited for almost 2 hours but the little guy had to be put to sleep, he is buried out side my bedroom window with his little brother. Now I am crying just telling it over again. Must look dumb for a 210 lb 49 year old guy to cry about a tiny kitten, I cried harder when the 2 little kittens died than when wifes cousin died, sad to say. Sorry for all the sad stuff, Its just having these 3 little babys here again brought back all this stuff. Wife says all the time to the girlfriend to get the mom fixed but she won't do it, says it goes against her church beliefs which is the dumbest thing I have heard of. If she wants to deal with the kittens than fine, I just can't take having them here, I get way to attatched to them, they are here today and tomorrow because she has school and work but she has to take them back home after that. We now have 8 cats in the house with them here, if the city ever found out we would be in big trouble. Tom

It would probably cause all kinds of family upsets but I would be strongly tempted to kidnap the momcat and spay her! I never heard of a church that refuses to give cats medical treatment - and that is what it would be in this situation, to prevent further suffering all round.

Doing that would never fly I am sure. She can do what she wants, but like I said I am not going through all this stuff again. One other question, I had read something about not using clumping litter with tiny kittens because if they get some inside them it can clump and cause a deadly blockage? I don't know if they are big enough to use a box if I put a small one in the back of there "house". All I have is clumping litter here for the big cats. Tom

Originally Posted by Tom W

Doing that would never fly I am sure. She can do what she wants, but like I said I am not going through all this stuff again. One other question, I had read something about not using clumping litter with tiny kittens because if they get some inside them it can clump and cause a deadly blockage? I don't know if they are big enough to use a box if I put a small one in the back of there "house". All I have is clumping litter here for the big cats. Tom

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Its only a danger if its clay based. I've heard a lot of discussion on clay-based litters and there really isn't a lot of scientific proof to back this up. However, to be on teh safe side I'd be cautious with clay. There are many ohter clumping litters that don't use clay.

A little update, the owner is taking the kittens back home and is going to put them in a big pet carrier with the mom cat and watch and see if she will take care of them and not try to hurt them. I thought there was only one that died, I just found out there were 3 of them that died before she found them. I am sorry if I came across like I don't want to take care of them, I am just upset about them not getting the mom fixed and then I have to take care of them. Not careing is not the problem if anything its the opposite, I get to attatched to the little things and it so hard for me if they have problems. I should have just worried about the kittens on here and not said anything about the rest of it. If I came across not careing about the little kittens then I am sorry, I care more about our pets than I do for myself. EDIT, I also found out the little babys are only 3 weeks old. Tom

Oh God, Lord help those kittens. I wish I were closer Tom, I would take all three in a heartbeat.

Tom, if the "owner" is taking those kittens, does she know what to do if they don't thrive? Going even a little while without food or warmth is deadly, as I'm sure you know. Can you check up on them or anything? Poor babies!

And I strongly feel that this momcat shouldn't be having any more kittens. Grrr. Maybe if the woman knew how she was risking the health of the cat by not having it spayed? Good luck, man!

If the mom won't feed them or trys to hurt them she is going to bring them back here for a while, She has homes for all of them when they are old enough.

Latest on the little babys, they are inside where its warm with there mom and she is so far taking good care of them. I wonder if she left them because she couldn't find a warm enough spot for them outside? I told the stepkids girlfriend to bring them back here if they have any problems. I don't want them to not be warm and fed like they should.

Please try and educate the owner on the pro's of spaying, it really isn't healthy for her to keep having kittens over and over.

Originally Posted by Tom W

Latest on the little babys, they are inside where its warm with there mom and she is so far taking good care of them. I wonder if she left them because she couldn't find a warm enough spot for them outside? I told the stepkids girlfriend to bring them back here if they have any problems. I don't want them to not be warm and fed like they should.

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They were OUTSIDE???!!! Sorry, I didn't realize that. Yikes! Poor babies.

Yes they were outside in freezing weather at night. The girls dad won't let them in the house. They are now in there garage all in a big pet carrier with there mom so she has to be with them, at least they out of the weather and I really hope the mom keeps feeding them till they are old enough to be on there own. I told her to put in a old heating pad or something to keep them warm, I hope she did, the vet told me on the last bunch that little babys like this have to be real warm, It makes me feel bad that I found out there was 6 of them to start with not 4, so 3 of them died before they were found. Its also strange that the last bunch all the males were gold colored and the one female was gray, this time 5 gold males and one dark gray female, and in both cases the female was the strongest/toughest one of the bunch. She really cares about her kittys but I think her parents are the problem so thats why she brought them here because she knew I had learned alot from the first little ones she brought over last winter and I would do my best with them. I am sure I saved one of them this morning from learning from the last bunch. I have had cats most of my life but till last winter I never had to deal with such tiny little kittens. I was up all night with the first little one that died out of the last bunch that were here last winter, I felt so helpless because I had no idea what to do. I was petting him and he was purring right up till he stopped breathing I cryed so hard for days after having to watch him go. When the vet told me he died from low body temp and not enough to eat I felt really bad, The girl was feeding them cows milk when they came over. If I had learned about the formula and the sugar deal and getting him warm he probably would be here today, but at least when his brother started to act the same way I called the emergency vet and he told me what I had to do in a hurry and saved him but he died about a month later from the internal bleeding I talked about before, at least he had a little time to play with his brothers and sister, I guess it just wasn't ment to be for him to live, he was my favorite out of the bunch and I was going to keep him and he even had a name, his name was Floyd as in Pink Floyd because he was a pinkish/ gold color. I am really sorry for going on about this stuff but today brought back all the memorys from the last time. Like I said sorry if I sounded like I didn't want to help the little babys in other posts, I just didn't want all the responsability for them again after how hard it was the last time I was up all night with 2 of them that died. I even asked god why he had to take them both when they were so little. So I really do have a big Tom

oh Tom - all I can say is thankyou for doing everything you can to help this precious little babies you sure do have a big heart

sorry I dont have any advise for you - but my thoughts sure are with the kitties right now.

It is so sad to read all this, but I think you are doing a wonderful job in difficult circumstances, and I hope so much that they all survive. Do try and persuade the girl to get the mom spayed.

Originally Posted by jennyranson

It is so sad to read all this, but I think you are doing a wonderful job in difficult circumstances, and I hope so much that they all survive. Do try and persuade the girl to get the mom spayed.

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Thanks, Tom!

Here is a list of low cost spay clinics:

http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html#wi

I would hope that this time, you have mom spayed so that she can enjoy a kitten free life.

Katie

I just found out that the mom cat is doing good with her babys.

I still wonder if she gave up on them because of the cold weather, It was early last winter when she gave up on the last kittens we raised here.

The little babys were only here one day and I miss them already, something about little kittens that makes my fall in love with them. Yvonne gets upset with me and says I spend more time with our cats than her