Are These Kittens Abandoned?

[ccarterdavis]

Hi all! I've been feeding a YOUNG feral that showed up pregnant, and she gave birth under my house a couple of weeks ago. Last night, my husband and I could hear loud mewing from the kittens, and when we went out to investigate we found them out in the yard. Their eyes are mostly open, but they are barely stumbling around. Since it was raining and they were cold we picked them up, dried them off, and held them for a while to warm them up, then put them back under the house thinking the mom had just gone rambling. This morning they are still out, still mewing. The mother was around this morning, I tried to move the food dish closer to the kittens, and now she won't go near the food. We saw a third kitten last night, but as it didn't come out far and went right back under the house we left it alone. Any advice? Has she decided to abandon these babies?

 

[Sarthur2]

It’s difficult to say. She may be out scrounging for food and be with the kittens at night. If you provide food maybe she will stick around.

But the babies are apparently hungry. Take them in if you are prepared to hand raise them. Do you have KMR and a syringe? You could feed them and put them back and see what happens for a day.

Syringe Feeding — Kitten Lady

 

[ccarterdavis]

I don't, but I'm willing to go get some, I'm just waiting for the pet stores to open in about 1/2 an hour. Poor things must be starving.

 

[Sarthur2]

Okay! They’ll need feeding every 3 hours. Watch the video for instructions. Be very careful so they do not get milk in their lungs.

Make a nest in a box for them. Put a heating pad on low under the blanket or a rice sock microwaved and wrapped in a towel.

Can you catch mama cat?

 

[ccarterdavis]

I do have a trap, I was going to wait until the kittens were older (need to at least get her spayed) but I can try. She's one of 3 feral moms with litters that hangs around my house, so I've been waiting to trap because I don't want to get a kitten by mistake.

 

[Sarthur2]

Take care of the kittens first. You can set a trap for mom in the evening. If you can get her, you’d need to sequester her with her kittens in a separate room until she can be spayed when they wean.

 

[Kflowers]

Mom has been gone a really long time. There is a good chance that mom cat has been run over, or is trapped somewhere she can't escape. If she returns think how happy the little family will be to be reunited.

 

[ccarterdavis]

Afternoon update: I've syringe fed twice (still getting the hang of it but getting better) and they're napping. The cat I think is the mom came around for feeding time, and when I tried to put the kittens out for her, she ran off and wouldn't have anything to do with them. I'm thinking that she has rejected the pair, as we still haven't seen or heard the third since last night so I assume it's being fed. I know this happens sometimes. I'm going to continue to care for them and maybe she'll change her mind, but I have put them in a box they can't get out of so at least they're not roaming around in the yard. I'm really concerned about some of our birds of prey (I live near the beach) getting them, so I think this is a little safer.

 

[Kflowers]

since mom ran you might consider keeping the box in the house. You're right about the birds of prey.

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, go ahead and move the kittens into the house.

Also, are you able to look under the house for the third one?

How old are the kittens? Can you post a picture?

Thanks for helping them!

C ccarterdavis

 

[ccarterdavis]

Still can't find the third kitten! I've done everything I can think of, mom is still hanging around but I can't get her to lead me to the baby. Little bits are moving a little better today. Hard to get a pic of them, but here's little boy below:

 

[Kflowers]

You don't hear it calling. Do you have a crawl space under your house?

The vet might be able to tell if she's nursing any kittens.

 

[Sarthur2]

Do you have them inside now? How much and how often are they eating?

 

[ccarterdavis]

yes, I've got about 6 inches of clearance between my (very) old house and the ground. I know it's in there somewhere. She looks like she's still nursing. Today I took the babies out and let them whine a bit, hoping it would call #3 out, but sadly that didn't work. I'll keep looking and trying! I'm feeding them roughly every 3 hours right now. I've been feeding about 1 1/2 tsp every time. (sometimes they take a little less, I don't want to force it). I've been reading a ton of articles online to make sure I'm giving them enough.

 

[ccarterdavis]

(and I brought them inside yesterday, sorry)

 

[ccarterdavis]

Morning update: there are at least 4 kittens we got #3 last night, mom was apparently moving them and we scared her by opening the front door. She left a kitten behind and after an hour of crying and calling we brought it in because it was dangerously close to our electrical wiring and air conditioner. She did take the 4th with her, so she's still somewhat caring for one of them. You can tell she is incredibly inexperienced, all 3 so far have been filthy, minimal cleaning up of afterbirth, and of course totally covered in fleas. I know it's preferable for kittens to stay with mom but I am probably going for kitten 4 in a couple of days, we have too many predators for these little ones to just hang out in the open and our neighborhood owl was hooting awfully close to our house last night.
Any tricks about getting rid of fleas? Lemon Joy has worked great but of course they just crawl onto their heads, and the flea comb doesn't help for the ears.

 

[Sarthur2]

You can put a tiny drop or two of Advantage II for Kittens on the back of their necks. It’s not recommended until they are 5 weeks, but the fleas sucking on them are worse.

It’s good that mom is still around. I hope you can trap her ASAP so she can nurse all her babies. She can also get spayed, wormed, and flea treated.

Is she eating the food you put out for her daily? Start putting it in the trap but don’t set it yet.

 

[catapault]

Put a dab of Vaseline on a fingertip and gently wipe over kitten's eye. Reflexively, the eye will close and there will be a Vaseline barrier to keep soap suds from eyes. Then smear a little Vaseline around kitten's neck. Then when you bathe kitten the fleas cannot get on their head. Any few fleas that might already be on the head can be flea combed off, finger-picked off.

Lemon Joy may be good but most reccommendations seem to be for blue Dawn.

You are doing a very good thing, caring for these pretty babies

 

[Kflowers]

When you get the 4th kitten you can put them in a tiny cage and put that inside a larger cage/trap and catch the mom that way.

you're doing good, you really are. I know it's hard. Don't give up on the mom. It's very hard for an outside cat with limited places to hide her kits to keep them clean. The safest places are under house where it's very dusty. the nest is in the dust, she can't collect anything to line the nest that isn't dusty. One thing is sure she cares about her kits, so I think you'll be able to catch her and deal with the milk situation and get her spayed.

 

[war&wisdom]

Here's a video from the Kitten Lady on giving flea baths to young kittens: