Help with hand reared kittens please!

[citlalmina]

This is my first forum post, so I'd like to say Hello to everyone! I own to cats which I both rescued at around 3mo. old, Citlalmina and Thelonious, they are now 7 and 8 years old and I absolutely adore them! I've also spent some time over the years rescuing and fostering cats and some kittens, so I am familiar with cat care but this time I'm faced with a very tricky pair of hand reared babies and would like to ask for any advice I can get from you.

I am helping out a friend take care of a couple of kittens that she's had to hand rear, literally from day 1. They are now at 21 days of age and look a bit small to me, barely any fat in both but one is fatter than the other one. They are crying for food every three hours - on formula at the moment - and basically crying all the time when they aren't eating or sleeping, which makes me worried as a previous litter I rescued at 1month never cried as much.

Amongst other doubts, my main concern right now is that the biggest one is trying to suckle from his siblings' back knees and its little pee hole which seems to be a bit swollen. there's barely any fur around the knees and feels a bit scabby. My only solution so far is to separate them because the little one will urinate when the other one tries to suckle, then I suppose he feels cold and hurting and cries and can't really sleep. But I am worried them not sleeping together makes it harder for them to warm up. What should I do, is there anything I can rub on the little one to make his skin better?

Also, they shiver a lot and don't do much other than walk around a little bit and then just look for a nook to shiver and cry more. The box they are sleeping in is quite warm, I'm putting a lamp close to it, lots of padding and a bag of warm uncooked rice under the blankies, only problem is I have to change padding every three hours after they've gotten it wet.

They do, however, feel strong. They struggle and pull with their tiny and super sharp claws when I stimulate them to pee/poo, My hands are shredded! They crawl up to me too, and their teeth are starting to come out, they tend to try to chew the teat of their bottles, which makes me think they are ready for some wet food or dry food soaked in formula?

Oh, another thing, I don't think they can see very well yet, which seems weird to me, shouldn't their pupils be able to dilate by now?

I've only had them since Friday, but I'm guessing they haven't been appropriately taken care of and I hope I can get them in a better shape over the next few days. I'm taking them to the vet tomorrow but will appreciate any advice you have!!

Thanks!

 

[kimberly001]

Hi

I hand raised 4 kitties after their mom died when they were 4 days old. I tried cat replacement formula, which they wouldn't drink. I went to grocery store, purchased a can of goats milk and watered it down and they couldn't get enough of it.
I also had to assist in poop/pee, I took vegetable oil and rubbed around the area. I found that once they started acting hungry all the time, I took some hard kittie food and soften in the microwave along with some water, cut the nipple out of the little bottle and mixed a little along with the 1/2 goats milk and 1/2 water.At times they would appear to be constipated and I added a tiny drop of vegetable oil to mixture, which seem to help them eliminate They are 2 years old now and doing fine. As far as the eyes are concerned, you need to ask the vet.Hope this helps. Kim

 

[citlalmina]

Thanks Kim! Trying out some dry soaked food seems like a good idea at this point, will try tomorrow morning with some of their formula and kitten Purina see how it goes down. 

I've wrapped them in individual blankies and both have been sound asleep for a few hours now, next hour will be the real test as this is when I suppose the larger one gets hungry and suckles on the little one, making everyone wet and whiny and hungrier.

Also I've bought baby wipes with aloe vera to rub their tummies and wipe them, will warm them up before using though.

I'll keep updating, and again thanks for sharing Kim!

 

[levi68]

Hi there,

It's a hard but rewarding job to raise orphans. I have done a few litters. One of five boys who would suckle on each others privates. I will say now, that you should separate them when you are not there to supervise. It will only get worse. Drinking urine is bad for them and as you've mentioned, their privates can get very sore.

Make sure you keep the room warm and there are pet safe heating pads available but the rice packs sound good too. They will need to be even warmer without each other. It takes to much energy to generate heat and they need it just to survive.

I am actually handraising four kittens who are the exact age: 3 weeks today.

First thing you need to do is buy a set of kitchen scales and weigh them daily.

Although hard kitten food is good if your in a pinch, you should really buy a high end kitten food. Royal Canin sells wet "baby cat" food. Your vet should have some quality kitten food, ask him. I mix the KMR or goat's milk in with the wet food so it's the consistancy of baby food.

Make sure you warm it up slightly before feeding.

Let us know what the vet says and what their weights are... good luck!!

I forgot to add that they will be thinking about using a litter box soon. You can buy low plastic food savers at the dollar store that are perfect. Three of my kittens have already used it but of course not every time. Use corn husk bits or NON clumping litter as they tend to try and eat it when first introduced. To encourage them, place some of their poop in it and then place them in and let them smell. They will soon start to dig around.
 

 

[Willowy]

I do start orphans on solids around 3 weeks (as soon as their little teeth start poking through), usually Fancy Feast Kitten turkey flavor (it's the smoothest I've found, so it mixes well with the formula, and easy to find). Put it in a shallow dish, and expect a big mess! Place a little in their mouths to get them started. They'll start using a litterbox soon after starting solids, so have a shallow pan available.

Ask the vet about a safe de-wormer and dose for babies that age/size. They can't grow if the worms are eating all their food. Ick!

 

[citlalmina]

I've been to the vet today. She says that the kittens are looking good even if they are smaller than should be and a bit underweight. They're going to start on solid food tomorrow, Royal Canin she said it's some kind of transition food between milk and proper solid which I will have to mix with formula. They pooped and peed all over me while she was checking their hearts lol, but was good because the vet was able to see and told me it's a bit runnier than usual but will probably change with the solid mix. Oh, they're also having something called nutri gel? supposed to help them catch up in their growth.

Thanks for the advice on the food and litter tray Willowy, will start trying with a small foil pan in a couple of days. Also will ask the vet about the dewormer, though they might be too young yet for it, last litter I fostered only got started on it at 2 months old.

She wasn't too happy about them sleeping separately but did admit the little one's skin is way to irritated and just told me to make sure there's only a blanky in between them -not cardboard or plastic, so that they can still share some warmth. 

About the eyes she said they're doing ok, being hand reared they're a bit behind in most aspects of their development but she said their hearts sounded good and they're pretty strong and alert - not to say vocal, man do they have good lungs! so it's all a matter of keeping on providing good care  

Here's a quick snap of the little gremlins, who thankfully have been asleep soundly since we came back from the vet.

ff98c604890211e29b3722000a1fa50e_7.jpg

• citlalmina
• Mar 11, 2013

Cheers everyone!

 

[StefanZ]

Also will ask the vet about the dewormer, though they might be too young yet for it, last litter I fostered only got started on it at 2 months old.

There are dewormers which can be used even earlier, and are quite mild.

Panacur in Great Britain, Banminth in Sweden. So ask your vet what she recommend in your country, and prescribe if necessary.

Many breeders dont deworm them before 8 weeks, but it is becuase their mom is surely dewormed / pure inside. So deworming such kittens is essentially a safety procedure, not really really necessary.

But kittens who come from moms allowed to go out, perhaps not properly dewormed - they MUST be dewormed, and preferably, earlier than 8 weeks.

 

[orientalslave]

This page tells you a lot about worms - the worms small kittens get are roundworms, and Panacur in the UK is licenced for kittens from 2 weeks old:

http://www.fabcats.org/owners/worming/info.html

We can buy Panacur online, the usual one for kittens is a paste in a tube with notches to make it easy to give the right does.  You do need to know how much the kittens weigh for any wormer, so if you don't have any scales you will need to get some.  I have a set of electronic kitchen scales that weigh in grams for small ones, and electronic bathroom scales would be fine for larger kittens - again I would weigh in kg.

From one of the online retailers of Panacur:

• Easy worming for young puppies and kittens (under 12 weeks) one tube treats 6kg (approx 13lbs)
• Cats and small breeds of dog One tube treats 9kg (approx 20lbs) of adult animal
• Panacur contains Fenbendazole and is suitable for both cats and dogs, including unweaned puppies and kittens from two weeks of age. Repeat worming at 5, 8 and 12 weeks of age
• It is good practice to worm the bitch or queen a the same intervals as the puppies and kittens, granules liquid and tablets are available
• An untreated pup or kitten will shed literally millions of infective eggs which are a hazard to other animals and children
• Safeguards children from Toxocara (Roundworm) infection which can lead to blindness- ask your optician
• It is effective against many round, hook and tapeworms Such as Toxocara, Toxascaris, Anyclostma, Trichuris, Uncinaria, and Taenia species., and Giardia infections in dogs, and lungworm in both cats and dogs in accordance with the instructions provided.
• The only licensed treatment of Giardia use with appropriate dosage levels