4 Kittens and one Mom

Home The Daily Kitten Cat Chat Forum Purrs 4 Kittens and one Mom

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 38 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #822437
    BlushingKitten
    Participant

    Hi, I’m new to the forums but have been seeking out help for two days on these 4 kittens that my friend happened to bring to me. Before they were born out in the cold in a hole. There are 3 calicos, and one black and white. Unfortunately, the worst happened last night, our little black kitten passed away. He refused to nurse and laid apart from the other kittens. We tried to encourage him to nurse but he just would lay on his Momma. It’s heart breaking, and I feel as though its my fault. I’ve never fostered kittens. I’ve only had my one cat Kallie have kittens and they all thrived and were healthy. These kittens are struggling for their lives. So I’ve taken it upon myself to do everything I can so they don’t perish like their little brother/sister. Right now they’re in my garage in a large cage, covered in blankets (so the air doesn’t enter the cage, it has a lot of holes). As well as a pillow and blankets inside the cage with a rice sock. We’ve also placed a heater near them, not directly on them but enough so the surrounding area is a bit more warmer.

    These kittens are around 2 weeks and a few days old. Some have their eyes open while others are just beginning to open theirs. They’re stumbling around the cage. I want to bottle feed them because their Mother appears to only be producing milk in two of her nipples. Which forces the other two kittens to struggle for milk. As such I feel as though they aren’t gaining enough weight.

    My questions:

    Is KMR the best formula to use? How do I warm it up to body temperature? And where do I get a bottle that will fit in its little mouth? Also, what do I use to weigh them? I know one is underweight because she’s so tiny! Though she’s fiesty when it comes to feeding time.

    How much do I give them to eat? How do I tilt them so they don’t suffocate?

    I’d appreciate anyones help! I’m getting sick worrying about them!

    #822443
    katzenjammer
    Participant

    Hi Paige,
    So sorry for you loss of the black kit. ๐Ÿ™
    Unfortunately I have no experience in this area. But I am bumping this thread in the hope that our resident experts/advisors as Buttons, Rachel, KZ and Jcat will be able to help. Anyone else with advice, please chime in.

    #822450
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Hi Paige, bless you for trying to save these little kittens! I am going to give you some links you will need to read to help with the kittens. You can find bottles at Walmart, or TSC or a pet store. Try not to use Hartz KMR, any other KMR is good, like Pet Ag. Make sure you feed mama well and keep her with the kittens so she can at least try and feed them some. Make sure you keep them warm, or if you can bring them inside and keep them confined to a separate room with their mother, that would be best especially if you are somewhere where it’s cold outside right now.
    http://www.safehavenforcats.com/newborn.htm http://www.messybeast.com If you have any questions or concerns, we are here to help you. Good luck and keep us posted!

    #822462
    Moonshadow_NZ
    Moderator

    Hi Paige, here is our go to page on TDK

    Links for kitten-raising sites, eg Messybeast


    There is great information on there.

    #822470
    Cheri Hoyt
    Participant

    hugs for Mama and the remaining kittens…

    #822472
    Buttons
    Moderator

    I’m so sorry you lost one kitten ๐Ÿ™ it’s so hard to raise kittens sometimes. Especially when mom cat needs help. All links provided are a great start to knowing what’s best for kittens. From your post I assume it’s three calicos left. This would mean that all three are girls as 99% of all calicos are in fact female .. Sure it mentions in thread but pasteurised goats milk is also a great alternative to KRM and as already mentioned steer clear of any Hartz products. Mom cat will need an enormous amount of food right now to keep up with the production. Of milk so if you can start giving her all the food she wants and kitten food is the best as it’s high in calories. Maybe she isn’t producing enough milk if she’s not eating a lot. The only time I recommend “free feeding” is with nursing mothers or mothers about to give birth. Your doing a great job and just know even the most knowledgable cat owners can loose kittens even if your doing everything right.

    Sometimes the litters with a tough start to life don’t have the best odds but once they get to 8 weeks+ the risks of complications are greatly reduced .. As for the bottles and teeth needed for the kittens any vet or good pet shop should be able to help there. And warm temp is just as simple as placing bottle in a bowl of hot water for a few mins and checking temp on wrist just like you’d do for a baby ๐Ÿ™‚

    #822476
    BlushingKitten
    Participant

    Thanks Katzenja. ๐Ÿ˜ฅ I don’t deal with a animal deaths well and this one took a toll on me. I don’t know what bumping is but thank you!

    #822479
    Moonshadow_NZ
    Moderator

    Paige I forgot to say how sorry I was that the little black kitten went over the Rainbow Bridge to the Meadow.
    Bumping is when we post to keep a thread at or near the top of the topics for others to see.
    https://rainbowsbridge.com/poem.htm

    #822480
    katzenjammer
    Participant

    You’re most welcome Paige,
    Most of us here have at one time or another had to say goodbye (for now) to our furries. We try our best to support each other. For the too short time that he was with you your kitty knew your love and caring and this counts for so much. Hope the the advice that other TDKers provided helps. Bumping means responding so that others are made more aware of a particular post, drawing attention to it. Take care and please keep us updated.
    KJ

    #822536
    BlushingKitten
    Participant

    Thank you Buttons! In my head I always imagined fostering kittens to be “fun” but now I realize there’s a lot of worry and work involved as well as a chance you might lose one of the kittens. ๐Ÿ™ The Mom cat is doing great, and we’re lucky she doesn’t mind us messing with them. There are 3 calicos and a black and white one! But another problem has arisen. :/ The smallest calico, which looks as small as the black kitten did, is refusing to eat. We’ve tried bottle feeding and she wont grip it and ducks away. And also a dropper, I know you’re not supposed to force feed, but we did try to get a few drops in because we’re really worried she’ll die as well ๐Ÿ™ Do you have any tips on what else we can do? I want to take her to the vet because I heard of tube feeding, I just don’t know the costs, and my Mother isn’t easy to convince to take them to the vet (she says nature will take its course, on the other hand I’m the one who wants to bottle feed, warm them up a lot and take them to the vet if necessary.) I knew about Hartz so we got Just Born! Thank you, I appreciate the kindness of strangers! ๐Ÿ™‚ And the Mom is eating a TON! If anything I hope to at least one of them can find their forever home ๐Ÿ™ And you make sure its like luke warm right?

    #822538
    BlushingKitten
    Participant

    Thank you Kittyzee! I’m a huge cat lover so I couldn’t deny trying to save these little guys. ๐Ÿ™ We’ve gotten two bottles and some Just Born formula! They stay with Mom at all times. Unfortunately, one of the kittens is refusing to nurse and won’t even suckle the bottle when we give it to her. I’m afraid she won’t make it as well. ๐Ÿ™ She shys away from the nipple, we did get a few drops in her and have been trying several times. Today, we’re going to try every 2 hours. I know you’re not supposed to force feed her, but I don’t want to lose her. ๐Ÿ™ We have them in the garage, I’ve begged my mother to bring them in but we have SO many animals and people in the house that we don’t have a separate room for them. I’m trying hard to keep it warm and at least 3 of them appear to be healthy and growing.

    #822539
    BlushingKitten
    Participant

    Thank you for the video Moonshadow! I’ve been watching countless videos on YT and have no idea how they get the kitten to drink from the bottle! ๐Ÿ™ I’m having so much difficulty! Especially with the little trooper we’re dealing with that is very weak and looks underfed ๐Ÿ™ Thank you for all the information as well I’ll be sure to look through it!

    #822540
    BlushingKitten
    Participant

    Thank you Cheri! ๐Ÿ™‚ I appreciate it!

    #822543
    BlushingKitten
    Participant

    Thank you Moonshadow! : ) I’ve never heard of the Rainbow bridge, but I hope there’s such a thing for our lost furries. ๐Ÿ™ I always think of “Starclan” when a cat passes, if you’ve ever heard of Warrior Cats, it’s where the cats go when they pass away. And I hope little Blackstar, is up there right now playing with all the other furries. <3

    #822544
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Paige, by all means if you have to force feed her to get nutrition into her, then do it. Even if it’s a few drops every few minutes or so. There is a paste called Nutrical you can rub on their gums to give them a boost, or karo syrup when things are looking dire. I have raised many kittens, I have lost many also, each one is special and I remember every one. It’s never easy, but such is the life of a rescuer. Good luck, my prayers and good thoughts are with you!

    #822549
    BlushingKitten
    Participant

    We’re going to!! Anything to give the little one a chance! Nutrical? I’ll look into it! I don’t have Karo syrup on hand but I have Bob White’s Crystal white Light Corn syrup. Is that the same thing?? I’d hate to give it the wrong thing and make it worse ๐Ÿ™ How do you deal with the losses? I feel so anxious every day not knowing if this little one is going to survive! Thank you so much! I appreciate your prayers ๐Ÿ™ !!

    #822616
    BlushingKitten
    Participant

    The little calico girl is still refusing the kitten formula, but she has started to go for her Mother’s nipple a few times and every hour or so we try to feed her again. So that’s improvement from yesterday! : ) Unfortunately, I don’t think she’s getting enough nutrients to gain weight. Do you guys have any suggestions? I did the Karo on her gums yesterday. I was wondering how many times I can do that without harming her. And if its a good idea to use it every day?

    #822618
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Yes you can use it everyday. Sometimes kittens just fail to thrive no matter what you do, and yes, it’s heartbreaking. It’s called “fading kitten syndrome”. Add a few drops of it to her formula and maybe she can get it in her that way. The kittens need to be kept warm, really warm or they can’t digest the food that you give them. That’s why kittens lay in a pile on top of each other even in warm weather, to stay warm. I don’t know where you are located, but here in Ohio it’s cold outside, too cold for kittens to survive. I think that’s why most cats have kittens in the spring: their heat cycles are triggered by light (length of day) and temperature and then when the kittens are born, it’s warmer than in winter. Obviously, that’s not always the case, hence cats having kittens in the very cold temperatures of late fall, winter, and early spring.
    Don’t worry about weighing them. Give them all they want to eat, and you can warm the milk by mixing it with warm water. If you checked out the links I gave you, they are full of valuable info on raising kittens.

    #822620
    BlushingKitten
    Participant

    Okay! I’ll be doing that for now on. I just know its really sticky so I thought it’d be bad to put it in their mouth incase it like closes it up. (I think of almost everything that could go wrong). People keep telling me that ๐Ÿ™ It’s so sad, and I think thats what happened to the little black one. But we’re doing everything we can to help them. How do I warm them up? We placed a heater next to their cage in the garage and have blankets inside and outside the cage. I’ve begged my Mother to let them inside but she refuses and we’ve been fighting a lot about it. She just doesn’t understand that it’s still too cold out there for them. If only you could call her lol.. its like she ignores everything I say, because I have a tendency to overreact. I live in Ohio also! Yes, its freezing out, so its sad knowing there are litters being born in this cold weather. :/ Mix the formula with warm water? Thank you again for responding! This thread really helped me and I appreciate everyone who’s taken the time out of their day to respond.

    #822625
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    I have put a heating pad on low under blankets to keep them warm. You have to have a spot big enough that if they get too warm then they can crawl off of it. I don’t know how you will do this in the garage, since now it’s about 27 degrees right now. Try draping towels over the cage to block the wind, at this point, it’s about all you can do unless you can convince your mom to let you bring them in. Do you have a dog kennel/cage that they could be kept in inside for now? I have done this before, with a litter box in there for the mother. Just a suggestion, I hope all goes well for you and the kittens!

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 38 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.