Urgent... found 6, 2 days old kittens.. how can I help??

[sunnykew]

Woohooo... we caught her...

With help from some people we managed to get her into the makeshift trap.. I have covered it up with cloth and placed some food for her to eat...

She is traumatised.. I feel so sorry.. but I guess this is best for her.. I will take a picture and upload shortly..

Now I can go to office and come back in the evening to take her to the vet..

The only thing next now is that I need to somehow move her to the carrier.. this box we have made is big and bulky.. difficult to carry..

How many times should we be feeding the kittens in a day?

 

[catwoman707]

Nice job!!

Yes, I can't begin to tell you how many times I have felt just terrible for them once caught, I know they feel complete betrayal

Keep remembering the big picture, it will get you through this, and she will be okay.

If we see a pic of what she is in it will help advise how to get her in a carrier, but worse comes to worse, she may have to go in the box, then can be brought home in a carrier so she has no chance of escaping, because at this point, once she escapes there will be no chance of getting her again honestly.

Also, how old are the kittens now?

Okay looks like about 5 weeks.

They will eat a good 4 times a day, canned pate food with KMR mushed in to it, or goat's milk is good.

As much as they want to eat each time, after a time or two you will know how much to feed them.

They can eat kitten dry food, but with some kittens newly weaned they don't eat enough and can start going downhill easily, so I would def go with the canned pates for now.

 

[Norachan]

Oh, well done! You're very good at this.

I think it will be a lot easier to take her to the vet in the box she is in now rather than try to move her to a carrier. As catwoman said, if she gets out now you'll never be able to trap her again. So even if you need a couple of friends to help you move the box onto a truck to get her to the vet don't let her out!

Once she's been spayed you can bring her home in a carrier and let her stay in the closet for a few days to recover. There will no longer be the urgency of trying to befriend her before she gets pregnant, so you can let her take her own sweet time about forgiving you for trapping her. And she will forgive you. They always appreciate regular food and a safe place to sleep. She won't bear and grudges.

Now is a good time to bring the kittens indoors so you can get them properly socialised for their new homes. @catwoman707  I think the kittens are closer to 9 weeks old now. Wasn't this thread started in May? So they're at the perfect age to be on solid food and be regularly handled, I think.

 

[sunnykew]

The kittens are 1 month old now.. it's been 4 weeks since I started this post.. they are still very young.. they are eating not their own and drinking water on their own.. do you think I should seperate them from the mother now itself? I have kept them all in a carrier and have given them some dry food from time to time..

I will be taking the mother to the vets in less than an hour and will take her in the box itself and not try to move to the carrier.. she seems comfortable now in the box and is even talking to me without hissing or showing anger.. she know she is now at our mercy..

I did plan to bring her back from the vets and keep her in the closet at least for the first two or three days to wear off the anesthesia effect and also the sutures.. should I keep the kittens back with her.. they will try to feed from her then..

 

[sunnykew]

I mean they are eating on their own now

 

[sunnykew]

Picture of the box

Correction she is now meowing loudly again and hissing at me

20160809_175709.jpg

• sunnykew
• Aug 9, 2016

 

[mazie]

Stand strong, you know you are doing the right thing and I know this waiting till it's time to take her to the vet is driving YOU crazy!!  What time is her apt with the vet?  She will be fine.  You can't blame her for reacting like this, just know that  she does not know any better.  Her life will be so much calmer, settled and ultimately happier after the procedure.  Congrats in getting mom secured!!

 

[Norachan]

She might be happier if the box was completely covered, so she can't see out at all. Cat's usually feel less vulnerable if they are hidden from view.

 

[Norachan]

4 weeks old is a bit young to be taken away from their mother, but if you think you can find homes for the kittens it would be better to bring them indoors and handle them as much as possible now. As long as you keep them all together until they are at least 2 months old they will learn cat-manners from each other. By this I mean they will be friendly towards other cats, know how to play, know not to bite and scratch etc. Kittens learn a lot from playing with their siblings.

If you want to put them back with Mum you should bring them indoors and set up a cat room for the whole family. They shouldn't be allowed to go out. You don't want her taking the kittens to another place and them possibly getting lost or hurt. Not when you've done so well with them.

How is the spay surgery done in India? Is the incision in the belly or on the flank? With a flank spay it is possible for the mother to keep nursing her kittens after being spayed. Some mother cats do manage to do this with a belly spay too, but of course it's painful for them.

(Sorry, I have a habit of reading dates backwards. I thought your thread was started in May. 

)

 

[sunnykew]

So I have just gotten back from the vets. The mother is being operated upon as I type this. The process here so very different.. once the procedure is done I need to bring her back as the vet does not have any place to keep her. Which means I will need to keep her secured indoors for a few days..

I know the kittens are little young.. the vet suggests that we ideally should keep the kittens away until she heals a little.. coz they could damage the incision.. the incision is in the belly as I understand..

I do plan to make some room for all of them to stay indoors etc.. but if I do find homes for the kittens I would give them away..

PS the box was covered with a cloth.. I just to put it away to take the picture

 

[sunnykew]

What do I do the with food for the kittens... I guess they will eat every 2-3 hours.. and it's night time here.. should I just out a whole lot of food for them to eat.. also I see one of them doesn't seem to be eating when I put the food.. but may be eats once I close the closet door.

I don't have a room available until Thursday.. till such time I will have to keep the kittens in the closet and the mother in the box itself..

May be Thursday once the room is available I can put them there

They are so filthy and full of fleas

 

[catwoman707]

What do I do the with food for the kittens... I guess they will eat every 2-3 hours.. and it's night time here.. should I just out a whole lot of food for them to eat.. also I see one of them doesn't seem to be eating when I put the food.. but may be eats once I close the closet door.

I don't have a room available until Thursday.. till such time I will have to keep the kittens in the closet and the mother in the box itself..

May be Thursday once the room is available I can put them there

They are so filthy and full of fleas

Okay so going back through this thread, on 7-6 their eyes were opened. The closest guesstimate I come up with is they were born approx June 26-27th, making them 6 weeks old now.

The reason it's so important to know is developmentally, if they are in fact developed enough to eat on their own.

The answer in short is yes, however there are always a couple of smaller ones that will lag behind the others.

Another issue is what they are eating, they will not be able to eat enough dry food to stay healthy, and really must get canned pate and adding kitten milk replacer is best if you can.

Especially while they are first learning to eat on their own.

They will need a shallow plate with the canned mushed up with some KMR added, and they will surround the dish and suck it up until they figure out lapping it up.

Without the right food to learn from there may be some who don't eat the dry and will be in danger of getting weak and dying, and it happens very fast, within a day actually.

So the sooner they get canned the better.

Due to their age now I would not put them back with mom, she loves and wants them but for her own good and healing will be much better off separate.

She also needs canned pate food, especially right after her surgery.

As far as fleas and dirty, well fleas will cause them to be anemic, so you will want to get rid of that problem asap. Once they start eating canned and are still learning, they will have food all over them! So bathing is a good thing too.

If you have Dawn dish soap, the blue one, this is great for bathing.

But here are some things that are extremely important to know that will get them flea free and clean and healthy.

You will need the soap, a washcloth and towels, and also a warm box or container to put the clean kittens, once all are bathed leave them there while you clean/change up bedding in the carrier/box you will be keeping them in to get rid of random freeloaders

Run the faucet hot water until it reaches it's hottest, then turn it down and turn cold on, until the temp is good and warm but not hot, doing this way is so it doesn't get hotter while bathing.

Take 1 kitten at a time, and before wetting you will need to create a thick soap ring around the entire neck, as high up behind ears and head as possible, using the washcloth, wetting it and putting soap on it, make swirls all around the neck. This creates a barrier from the fleas, who will quickly run up in to kittens eyes, ears, nose, etc. which we don't want.

Once the ring is made, proceed to wet the body and soap it up, be sure to get underarms and legs/chest areas well.

You will start to see fleas going down the drain, and red or pink water, which is flea poop/dried blood.

The longer you work each kitten the more fleas will drop off.

There are always bigger fleas that will not let go for some time, it can take as long as 15 minutes for a flea to let go and drown, also when wet it is easier to see hiding fleas that you can pick off and send down the drain.

I hold kitten by the scruff and turn over on to the palm of my hand to bathe since the kitten will relax with the warm water, and be able to see fleas best.

Rinse soap well including the neck ring, use the washcloth to wipe face/ears off, and wrap in a towel.

Dry as good as possible, place in clean box that has soft cozy bedding while you wash the others.

Even using a lamp to warm the box is good, but you said the rainy weather there is a bit chilly and we don't want them to get cold.

Once all are washed and towel dried well, if you don't have an easy way to keep them warm while they dry then I suggest using a blow dryer on them all at once.

Just turn it on and blow the box of kittens together, it will blow toasty warm air all around them and will dry in no time.

Just be sure not to hold it over them without constantly moving it, or they might get burnt by the heat on their skin.

That's it!

That is, until the next feeding time Kittens are very messy when first learning to eat......

I would flea treat mom asap too.

 

[sunnykew]

I have left some food for them and I am sure by the morning mom would be fully awake.. I plan to release her as she had pooped all over the box and I cannot leave her in there..

About the kittens they are super scared. I will be watchful of the one who I said was not eating.. will get some kitten canned food.. don't have any choice but to keep them in the closet till Thursday. I get one room free by then and I can place them in there.. it's night now and will need to wait for the morning to plan the rest of the things

This is a crazy experience and I have learnt so much about these creatures..

 

[catwoman707]

A bit worrisome that the kittens are so scared, I think when you get them settled in Thursday they will really need human interaction as often as possible, perhaps their new families will want them early since they are done with mom.

This will be a big plus on getting them as social as possible.

 

[Norachan]

I have left some food for them and I am sure by the morning mom would be fully awake.. I plan to release her as she had pooped all over the box and I cannot leave her in there..

About the kittens they are super scared. I will be watchful of the one who I said was not eating.. will get some kitten canned food.. don't have any choice but to keep them in the closet till Thursday. I get one room free by then and I can place them in there.. it's night now and will need to wait for the morning to plan the rest of the things

This is a crazy experience and I have learnt so much about these creatures..

I've found the easiest way to win over nervous kittens is to play with them. Their urge to play is so strong at that age they often forget to be scared.

Try going into the room with them and sitting quietly on the floor, back against a wall and your legs stretched out in front of you. Spread a blanket over your legs so they don't realise that your legs are part of you. Don't make direct eye contact with them. Talk to them in a soft, murmering voice. You'll need a wand toy, a piece of yarn with a feather tied to the end will do in a pinch.

Gently dangle the toy near them to get their attention and try to get them to play with it. Once they've started trying to grab the toy you can use it to coax them closer to you. They'll soon start clambering over your legs as they try to pounce on the toy.

No need to try to touch them just yet. Give them a while to learn that you are the nice guy that brings them food and plays with them.

Make sure you don't leave the wand toy in the room with them as kittens can get tangled up in them.

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[Norachan]

How's everything going @SunnyKew  ? Any chance of an update?

 

[sunnykew]

Norachan

Hi Folks,

Have been super busy lately hence was not able to update all of you..

The last few days have been a steady development of trust for us. The kittens are growing well and spending a lot of time playing with each other and their mother is around them.. Looks like her milk has pretty much dried up..

I have kept them safely in a empty house in my colony after seeking permission from the owner, which also has a nice backyard..

The mother and the kittens are super comfortable with me around and wait for me to come with food. So much so that at times when I get late the mother comes to my door step meowing so loudly asking for food and follows me quietly to her kittens, let's them eat first and sits to eat from herself..

I am so touched by being a witness to this whole thing.. a new respect for these guys..

Clearly she has forgotten all about the spaying episode.. even the kittens come out instantly I go there and one of them is eating off my hands.. I will continue to work with the kittens to make them more and more comfortable with human contact..

The only sad thing so far is that no one has come forward to adopt the kittens which worries me as in a few weeks the would not as easy to work with and be taken in as pets

 

[catwoman707]

What a great update! Much progress is being made for sure, and all because of you and your care, warms your heart huh?

Yes, best to stay vigilant on finding new homes for them, the sooner the better for all.

Cats make such lovely companions, I would have a big house full of them if I could...