I found a very small kitten today...PLEASE HELP!!!

I have been feeding this stray for about 2yrs now. She rarly let's me pet her, so getting her in a crate and taking her to the vet to get fixed is out of the question. She has has had 2 litters each with 2 kittens. The first litter, she stopped nursing at about 4 weeks. I bottle fed them and gave them to a very close friend of mine(they are still alive), then last summer, she had another two. She stopped nursing them at about 3 weeks...well, I bottle fed those as well(the other also went to a good friend of mine, and I kept one, she has turned out to be the best cat). My point is, she always has healthy kittens and takes fairly good care of them....She usually has them in our fenced in backyard...but today, I was outside when I heard a kitten...I knew it was proably hers because I noticed a few days ago it looked as if she had them. Sure enough, there were two kittens...unfortunatly, my neighbors dog had one in it's mouth, and by the time I got to it, it was to late. The other was in a tire and I scooped him up and carried him back to my house....She was meowing so I sat her outside(with me watching through the doors) and I waited on Snickers(momma) to come and nurse her...she came up to him, and sniffed a few times, then ran away. I have tried twice today. Now that she wont have anything to do with it....PLEASE tell me what I should do...I know I'm going to have to feed it, but I've never taken care of one this small, and I'm so scared. If something happens to it, it's going to break my heart! Any advice or tips would be appreciated!

BTW: The last time I fed him was at 8:30 and he's been asleep ever since...should I wake him up to feed him? Or just let him wake up on his own? I'm so confused and worried....

And I have NO CLUE on the exact age...any ideas???

Aww he is so cute! Too bad she won't keep on feeding him. You will probably have to start bottle feeding him. They say every 2-4 hours but if he is stil sleeping then let him sleep but keep an eye on him. He will let you know when he is up and ready to eat.

Oh and it is not out of the question to get the momma fixed. Borrow a trap from the vet or a shelter or buy one from the store and trap her. If you can get her in as soon as she is trapped, leave her in the trap and take ehr into the vet. Bring a carrier with you so they can transfer her when she is put out for the operation. Then keep her in a bathroom or laundry room or a quiet room until she is ready to go back outside.

If you can trap her and bring her into a spare room or something right now, she may be more likely to nurse the kitten when there isn't the great wide world to explore and keep her occupied. she will have to check out the room you put her in first. She may actually turn out to be very friendly also. She may just be a little skittish and untrusting at first.

This site should help you
http://www.kitten-rescue.com/

I was just going to post that same site!! I would say the baby looks about 10 days old. You know all about stimulating it to go potty and stuff?

I would strongly recommend you take a look at this web site:

http://www.kitten-rescue.com

to learn (or refresh) your skills for the necessary tasks.

It has been roughly 4 hours since he ate, so yes, I would wake him, offer and hope he latches on. Just remember to keep him warm because a chilled kitten will not eat. Are you remembering to stimulate him after eating so he can poop and pee?

Have you seen Momma? Is she looking for him at all?

Best of luck,

~gf~

Thanks everyone. He's still sleeping, but his breathing is fine..he's all snuggled into the corner of the box. I'm paranoid, I keep thinking he's going to smother or something...
I'm going to wake him and see if he wants to eat.

And yes, I knew about the stimulation. Thanks for mentioning that though. The website is great, I'm reading over it now. I was also wondering if he's 10 days old, do I still need a heating pad? If so, I'm going to buy one first thing in the morning. Uh, I'm just a nervous wreck!


I didn't even think about the trap. Thanks for that tip! I bet she would be more calm after that too. I'm going to do that because I feel bad for her and her kittens. It's not fair to them. Sure, I've been lucky in the past to find great homes, but that's not always going to be the case. And after seeing that one get killed today, it has really upset me. But yeah, she's a real sweet cat, she's just shy...She was really little when she wondered in, and I couldn't ever catch her...She let's me pet her from time to time, which is an improvement for her.

Thanks again.

Here's Snickers...(the mom)


And here's her kitten from last summer, Smoke. She's already had her trip to the vet.

Ohhh she is a beautiful cat!! She must trust you a little bit if she is rolling all over the place and showing you her belly!! Go for it! She will be so much happier when she is spayed and not having to worry about kittens. Maybe she isn't the motherly type if she is pushing them away after only a couple weeks.

Ohh oops I just got a better look when I realized the one has so much more hair then the other. Well they are both beautiful girls. I missed the part where you said the rolly one is the baby.

That's ok! They look alike, besides the baby has more hair. She doesn't stay out very much though...so she always let's me pet her belly. I love that cat to death. She's the best pet I've ever had. But regardless, I'm going to get Snickers to the vet ASAP. You've been really helpful. All of you have.

Do not buy a human heating pad, with this young of a kitten, a human pad can easily burn skin. What I have done in a pinch, is buy those thermal heating pads, the ones that stick to your skin, and heat up. I apply them, then once my body temperature warms them up, I wrap them in thick washclothes and tuck them down into where the kitten sleeps. Not directly under the kitten, but tucked into the sides of the box so the heat radiates out. The box should be small enough that the heat can't escape.

Ok, Thanks. I've been tryng to feed him for the past 15 minutes. He wont eat for some reason... I'm just so worried about him.

What are you feeding him? Try rubbing his tummy lightly in small circles with your finger, running toward his rectum to start things up. Be sure that you are feeding him while he is on his belly and not on his back. Also be sure that the formula is coming out of the nipple, sometimes it doesn't that it is warm enough and not chilled.

It's Whiskas kitten formula plus. Yeah, the milk is comming out. He ate just a little bit...then he just layed there and whimpered a few times. So I put him back in his box, and he curled right back up and when to sleep. So, I guess I'll just give him a little bit and maybe he'll wake up and want to eat.

About the heating ... if you have a heating pad or blanket meant for humans, the way you can use it is to attach it to the side of the box, not the floor, so the kitten is not in direct contact with it, and can move if it's too warm.

However, the first thing I would suggest you do is to call a local non-kill rescue group in your area. They may have a lactating mother in a foster home that can nurse the kitten, which would be much better for it than hand-feeding it. May not be, but it's worth a shot, and better for the kitten. I think hand-raising should be the last option.

As far as catching her to have her fixed there are other options other than trying to catch her. She is having litter afte litter, and you have told of some of the horrors some of those sweet innocent babies have suffered. Please don't let it keep happening.

Again, contact the local rescue group or humane society. They have special cat-friendly (and safe) traps made specifically to catch feral cats, and they are always glad to lend them to people who are trying to catch one. Then you or they could get them fixed. Think of all the future suffering you'd be helping to avoid.

Good luck.

Well...he's still alive! Thank God. I'm glad he made it through the first night. I just fed him and made him potty...He looks healthy and acts it...he whimpered a little before going back to sleep. Awww...I hope he makes it, it's so rewarding.

And the only no-kill shelter around here is a very nice rescue center where I got my Beagles. They are only open on weekends though(they have volunteers run the place through the week, but they don't accept animals during that time), so I know they couldn't take care of kitties. I'm sure if it were left on their doorstep they wouln't refuse it, but I would never do that and risk something else happening to it. I think there is one about 30 min from here, I need to try there. Thank you for your help!

Also, I have another question...How do I know I'm feeding him enough? I'm worried because some of it misses his mouth and he still whines a little after he pottys and before falling back off to sleep?

Oh he's so cute, good luck I hope it all works out, I have rescused 16 cats and kittens but none were that tiny so I wouldn't want to try and give advice, the last one I rescused was a momma and 5 babiy girls who are on my siggy, it's very rewarding if you don't decide you NEED to keep them all I Love all mine

he looks like my kittens and they are a week old. Hes adorable, and good luck with him! I hope everything works out. If you feel overwhelmed contact a kitty rescue and talk to them.

Thanks for caring for that sweet little baby!

A better formula for him would be KMR milk replacer, it has more of the nutrients he needs and it worked well with 2 small kitten I cared for the other summer.

I think mom might of given him to you knowing you would care for him because she can't

I wasn't necessarily suggesting you turn the kitten over to them for adoption.

I was suggesting calling the rescue (and this would be something they'd probably handle during the week) and asking them if they had a lactating queen (with milk, already nursing other kittens) that they could give the kitten to so she could nurse from also. It is done very often quite successfully, and tends to result in a happier, healthier kitten and cat.

If you wanted to keep the kitten once it could be more on it's own, I'm sure they'd work with you. It's just a matter of perhaps finding a nursing cat to help the kitten.

Kittens are always much better off if fhey are nursing from a queen even if it's not their biological mother than they are being bottle fed. That should be the last resort.