2 babies abandoned...just some questions

[tara715]

My husband found 2 kittens - lovingly named Thelma and Louise - in our back yard on Saturday. The mama cat had been hanging around for months, but we had no idea she was pregnant. I have been bottle feeding these babies. Thelma is very active and vocal. Louise is active, vocal when hungry, but otherwise very timid.

2 days ago after their afternoon feeding I was stimulating Louise and she pooped an extremely long strand and the beginning of it was hard as a rock...it made sense that it may have been the first time she had gone big potty. She had been pretty lethargic and not eating very much...that all changed. Thelma has been peeing and pooping like a champ.

I think Louise was also dehydrated - that seems to have resolved - their urine is light yellow with barely any smell. Thelma weighs 10 oz and Louise weighs 9 ounces. Thelma has gained 2 ounces since Saturday - Louise has only gained 1. I have no idea how old they are. I'm assuming between 2 and 3.5 weeks.

Now that you have their info I want to make sure I"m doing everything I need to do. I just stimulated them, fed them 10 ml each, and stiumlated them again. I placed them back in their box (which has a heating pad on low so no chills) they are screaming at me lol. I know they are like children and want attention, but how do I know if they are just wanting attention of if something else is going on? Should I let them run around the house? What's the youngest you can start litter box training?

These are probably all fairly obvious answers, but I like specific guidlines lol.

Another question - Thelma will not latch on to the bottle - she just switches between the sides of her mouth biting it. I'm guessing she's teething - should I have something for them to chew on when they aren't eating?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - I've had cats all my life but am a first time 'mommy'.

 

[ondine]

It sounds like you are doing things right.  It might help get you more answer from the pros, though, if you post your questions in the Pregnant Cats and Kittens forum.  They really know what they are doing over there!

Because I am not too experienced with kittens, my first thought would be to get them to the vet, just to be safe.  Oh - and trap mom and have her spayed or else you'll have more kittens soon!

 

[tara715]

Thanks so much...I didn't look in the right place this morning for that particular forum. Unfortunately, we've only seen mom once since we found the kittens. She usually comes a few times a day to eat, but no luck. I plan on taking her to a no kill if I can trap her though.

 

[handsome kitty]

Sounds like you are doing a great job!  If the kittens are crying, they are hungry.  They probably need more food.

Teething starts closer to 3 weeks.  You can wet  a clean cloth and freeze it.  Let the kitten gnaw on the frozen cloth.  when it is damp, throw it in the wash and offer a new one.

 [article="32740"]Kitten Development Stages Illustrated Guide​[/article]  

They are too young to roam around yet.

Litter box training begins when the kittens start getting canned kitten food.  around 4 weeks.

 

[bellad]

Hi

What are you feeding them and how often are you giving them a feed? I am sure at 3 weeks mine were taking much more than 10mls, one of the fantastic experts will be able to calculate exactly how much is the minimum they should have in a 24 hour period if you can give them up to date weights.

Has the Mum cat definitely gone?

My kittens are 5 weeks today, we started litter training at 4 weeks when we started weaning them, I think until they start eating food they need help to go to the toilet.

Someone with much more knowledge than me will be able to come along with more info soon

 

[bellad]

Just checked on another thread and its 8ml of formula for every ounce of weight,

So the 10oz kitten needs a minimum of 80ml over a 24 hour period

9oz kitten needs a minimum of 72ml over 24 hours, hope I have got that right! My kittens are little piggys and always ate much more than the minimum amount but I always used that as a guide of what I had to get into them.

 

[tara715]

I'm feeding them canned milk replacer...10 ml every feeding. I decided to start feeding them every 2 hours or so, so I gave them 8 ml each about an hour ago. That's actually 96 ml a day if they continue eating as much. I'm wondering if they are older than I think and are just under weight. Their eyes are clear, ears are open (from what I can see), and they are somewhat playful.

 

[Sarthur2]

Okay, you need to make mush with canned pate-style wet cat food mixed with KMR, put it on a paper plate, and let them at it!

You'll need to introduce them to a small, kitten-sized litter pan, and put them in it before and after every meal.

They can probably eat kitten chow now if they have their baby teeth, so this and a dish of water need to be down for them 24/7.

They will eat the mush every 2-3 hours. They should begin to fill up on this and stop crying.

You can put a dish of KMR down and see if they lap it. You can also moisten their dry food with KMR. Kittens love it this way and it's easy to eat.

They need to get out of their box and begin playing, so they need to be in a room such as a bedroom where you can close the door so it's their main playroom until they get bigger. They need toy mice and balls to play with.

 

[Sarthur2]

Do you still see the mama cat around? Can you catch her and bring her in?

I imagine she is miserable without her babies. She was probably planning on returning to them. But do not put the babies back outside.

Either way, the mama kitty needs to be spayed or she will have another litter soon. See if you can entice her by putting food out for her.

If the babies are not ready for mush, they will be soon and you can continue with the bottle a bit longer. Feed them as much as they want! If they are crying they are hungry.

Can you post a picture of the kittens? That will help determine their age. Also, do they have baby teeth yet?

 

[StefanZ]

 
I'm feeding them canned milk replacer...10 ml every feeding. I decided to start feeding them every 2 hours or so, so I gave them 8 ml each about an hour ago. That's actually 96 ml a day if they continue eating as much. I'm wondering if they are older than I think and are just under weight. Their eyes are clear, ears are open (from what I can see), and they are somewhat playful.

Yes, they are surely at least 3 weeks, perhaps even 4.

I see you are thinking and doing the right way.   

 

[tara715]

They do have baby teeth. I bought kitten pate yesterday to mix with some formula. I offered it to both, one tried, the other just bit my finger. I will start giving them as much formula as they want and offer the mixture along side the formula. Just didn't want to overfeed them and cause bowel issues.

Mama cat hasn't been seen since Saturday evening. We have an outside cat, so there is always food out by the back door. We usually see her 3 to 4 times a day, but nothing since Saturday evening. I'm thinking that she may have had more kittens and had already moved them. My husband was cleaning out the back of an el camino that he is rebuilding - he picked up a metal pan and tossed it on the ground - then he heard the kittens. They were in the pan and he had no idea. He put them in a bucket until I could come help him (we have a 4 year old too =/) - I got a box and put them in it. We had to touch them - we live in the desert and that metal was extremely hot. We left them outside in the box until last night - I was going out every 4 hours to feed them, trying to stay away as much as possible for mama to come back - no hair in the box, no food had been eaten (I put a container of food in the general area that the babies were in hoping she would come eat.), and the babies were lethargic. I told my husband we had to bring them in so I could keep a closer watch. Even in just the last 12 hours they seem to be doing much better.

 

[Sarthur2]

Okay, then you have saved them, and thank you for trying to allow the mother to take them. You are probably guessing right that she was in the process of moving her kittens and is now with the others.

I'm glad to hear they are doing so much better. They would have died otherwise.

 

[tara715]

Thelma 1 (1).JPG

• tara715
• Aug 12, 2015

Thelma 2.JPG

• tara715
• Aug 12, 2015

Louise 1.JPG

• tara715
• Aug 12, 2015

Louise 2.JPG

• tara715
• Aug 12, 2015

sarthur2 - that is a toilet paper roll beside them. I just took these about 3 minutes ago

 

[Sarthur2]

Just adorable! I love the little mustache!

Around four weeks old with the baby teeth. They should transition nicely this week to the mush, at which point they should begin gaining weight. They should weigh close to one pound at four weeks, so they are underweight, though they look good!

Keep us posted as to how they are doing .

 

[tara715]

Just adorable! I love the little mustache!

Around weeks old with the baby teeth. They should transition nicely this week to the mush, at which point they should begin gaining weight. They should weigh close to one pound at four weeks, so they are underweight, though they look good!

Keep us posted as to how they are doing

.

How many weeks?   Thanks, it's nice to have that vote of approval!!

 

[handsome kitty]

You should weigh the kittens so you know how much to feed them.

they need 8ml of KMR per ounce during a 24 hour period.

 

[Sarthur2]

Four! I fixed it.

 

[Sarthur2]

How is mush feeding going and litter training?

It is a process that does not happen overnight. If they are not ready you can always wait a few more days or even another week.

 

[tara715]

So I have given them mush 3 times today along with milk. Just now before I fed them I put them in the litter box (metal pie plate with litter in it.) and the one with the mustache was extremely wobbly. Could that be because they just woke up? Also, how long should I have to stimulate them to go potty? The one mentioned above went poop in the litter today, but just now I had to stimulate both of them. Their poop seems like diarrhea at first but then gets more solid. I have a feeling I'm going to drive you all bonkers before this is all over with - I am very anal about stuff and will worry myself to death thinking I'm doing something wrong. You should have read the posts on the LeLecheLeague website when I had my daughter!! HA!!

 

[Sarthur2]

No worries! That's what we are here for, and everyone learns from each other's threads .

I think your little mustache kitten was wobbly because he just woke up.

That's great that he went poop in the litter, but if you're still needing to stimulate it could be that they're not quite ready to go on their own yet. Sometimes waiting a few more days or even a week can help.

How did they like their mush, and how much of it did they eat?

And I would continue with the bottles for awhile. They still need to suckle and are probably not ready to wean from the bottle yet. Kittens this age who have a mom begin eating solids but continue nursing for several weeks.

How much formula do they eat at each feeding?

Will you be getting up in the night with them? They will need it.

Do they seem full and go to sleep easily or are they still screaming?