Orphaned Kitten Help

[Shananna]

I am new to the blog, and I am new ro cat-care as well, so I don't know much about how all these things work (sorry for that).
So I adopted it a few days ago. The mother was a stray cat and gave birth really close to my house. After a while she left and didn't come back for days, she abandoned them. Sadly, this one is the only one that survived, so I took the responsobility of taking care of it.
I am feeding it goat milk since formulas are not available here but the vet said it is fine. It eats about three times a day and sleeps a lot (15-20 hours). After feeding she seems playful and walks around the room (it still crawls and walks really wobbly). I try to make her poo/pee but sadly she just pees. Since I got her she hasn't pooed. The belly seems bigger right after eating which I think is normally and gets normal a while later.
I am concerned about her constantly sucking on my hands even after being fed.

Please give me advice.
Thank you,
Ana.

 

[talkingpeanut]

How old is this kitten? It does not sound like you are feeding nearly enough.

 

[Shananna]

About a week old. But is sleeps a lot. Shall I wake it up in order to feed it? I know that the feeding schedule is every 2 hours but it sleeps

 

[kashmir64]

Doesn't matter if s(he's) asleep. Wake it up. It may be older than you think if it's wobbling. Are the eyes open? Ears up or still curled down? Make sure you have a heating pad on low or a hot water bottle covered with a towel for warmth. At this age they cannot regulate their own body heat. Can you weigh it? Show pictures and we can asses the situation better.

 

[Sarthur2]

Shananna

Yes, wake the kitten to feed it every 2 hours.

Can you give us the kitten's weight? Weigh with a kitchen scale in grams. The kitten needs to gain 6-10 grams per day. I can tell you how much to feed if I know the weight.

How many mLs have you been feeding at a time?

Do you have a heat source for the kitten, such as a heating pad set on low under a blanket, or a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel and placed nearby?

Kittens must stay warm and cannot regulate their own body temperature for the first 3 weeks.

Continue stimulating the kitten to go pee and poop. It will poop eventually.

Can you post a picture of the kitten for us please?

Thank you for saving the kitten!

 

[Shananna]

Here she is ^-^ such a cute ball of fur.
I'm going through my fourth day as a cat owner. She did poop today, unfortunately she needed a bit time to relax since the new environment surely fas terrirying. I started feeding her every two hours about 6 ml each feeding. I am putting a warm bag of salt next to her and she enjoys it!

@kashmir Eyes are open, but ears are not fully up.

@sarthur Yup. The pic is up, and I will measure her today and I will post the weight ^_^



Thank you all a lot! Cats are truly wonderfull things <3

 

[Sarthur2]

She is precious!

She will feel better and grow better being fed every 2 hours.

In another week you can extend that to every 3 hours.

At 4 weeks old she can eat every 4 hours.

I will look forward to seeing her weight!

 

[kashmir64]

Looks like you're doing well, but Sarthur2 needs the weight.
I'm going to take a rough guess at around 10 days old.

 

[Shananna]

She is precious!

She will feel better and grow better being fed every 2 hours.

In another week you can extend that to every 3 hours.

At 4 weeks old she can eat every 4 hours.

I will look forward to seeing her weight!

@sarthur She weights 280 grams ~ 300 grams. She is really playful and walks around, but her back feet are a bit weaker that the front ones. Shall I be concerned? And Also, Is the constant meowing while moving around normal? The questions might sound silly, but I am really paying attention to everything

kashmir64 Thank you a lot! The vet said so as well, he guessed the age at just above a week ^-^

 

[kashmir64]

Her muscles will mature and develop as she does. At this age it's more of a scoot than a wobble. If, however, she cannot hold herself up at all or move her back legs, then this could be an issue.

 

[Sarthur2]

Shananna

Kittens at this age do not yet walk well. They crawl first, then toddle, then walk. Their skills improve weekly.

You mught want to put a stuffed toy in the nest for her to cuddle with since she has no litter mates.

At 300 grams she needs a total of 84 mLs of formula each 24-hour period, which means about 7 mLs every 2 hours.

When kittens are full they will usually sleep, so she may be meowing from hunger. Or she may be looking for comfort from a mother figure since she is alone. That's why a soft, stuffed toy might help.

This chart may help you:

Kitten Development Stages - Illustrated Guide

 

[Shananna]

Okay, I am slowly developing into a surrogate mother.
I guess she is just seeking for attention since whenever I pick her up or just put my hand nearby she calms down immidiately. Also she rejected a stuffed animal but instead she's in love with a wool jumper and cuddles with it. She sometimes even sucks it, but it started smelling. The kitty itself doesn't smell at all. What might cause the odor?


@kashmir Sarthur2 THANK YOU A LOT!

 

[IndyJones]

Wool sometimes has a "wet dog" smell to it because it is hair of a sheep. But if that's what she likes I wouldn't be too worried.

 

[kashmir64]

It's probably just the smell of kitten and/or milk from her suckling it. Throw it in the washer (no soap or fabric softner). Give her something else while this is drying.

 

[IndyJones]

All wet hair even human hair will have a smell. That's part of why hair dressers smell.

 

[Sarthur2]

I would let her suckle on the sweater. It won't hurt anything. Just wash it once in awhile.

 

[catsknowme]

Awww, she is so cute! She is definitely very young and her back legs will be wobbly. My best successes have been with using goat milk base for the formula. I use the "kitten glop" recipe from Hissy's website www.kitten-rescue.com. for my rescues, I allow them to eat as much as they like and I use rubber nipples with the FourPaws pet nursers. I also give my kittens their bottles until they self-wean so they don't develop the annoying habit of blanket-sucking later; many of my feral kittens are either orphaned, abandoned or sick, so they come with "abandonment/traumatic" issues and need extra comfort and nurturing. Bless you for rescuing a tiny baby in need!
I forgot to mention that it is normal for some kittens to skip a few days between poops, especially because their bodies use the goat milk so efficiently - goat milk lacks the lactose and casein of cow milk. And welcome to TCS and to the rewarding position of kitten-guardian!

 

[IndyJones]

Problem with goat milk is it is very hard to find where I am. Also the sale of raw milk of any kind is prohibited here because of the e coli risks associated with it.

IDK. I did use the libertè goats milk yogurt for Hector when she was having problems but it's pasteurized.

 

[kashmir64]

I've used pasteurized when I couldn't get raw. You can buy it at Walmart. It's not quite as good as raw, but it does work well.

 

[IndyJones]

I don't shop at Walmart for personal reasons. But I do know the yogurt helped Hector when she was weak from not eating. I got it at the local grocery store.

The vet said she had low blood sugar and vitamin deficiency from not eating and the goat milk in the yogurt along with the good bacteria found in it would help her get her strength back.