It was early one morning, and I had been awake for all of three minutes. Suddenly my grown 21 year old, acting as if he was three, came bounding in the bedroom door with a bundle of something in his arm. He proceeded to explain that as he was leaving the house to go to the football game (Jaguar game which we won by the way!) and he saw something moving underneath our pecan tree. What he held in his arms was a soaking wet, shivering, frightened three week old kitten. The kitten was all black and after turning it over to inspect it, we found out it was a female.
In about three minutes, while I’m still taking care of the black kitten whom we named Onyx, my son came back in with another bundle in his arms. This one was striped and gray. We turned it over and it was a boy. We then named it Aries after the Greek god of war. Now I am trying to hold two soaking wet, shivering, frightened kittens. What in the heck does one do with three week old baby kittens that should still be nursing and being taken care of by their kitty mommy?
Luckily, my husband was still at Wal-Mart, so I proceeded to call him and he found kitty milk and a syringe to temporarily feed them with till we could call the vet. He purchased some Whiska Cat Milk. The poor guy tried, but this was not a good substitute for Mom’s milk.
The next morning, I called the veterinarian to find out what to do for my poor abandoned kitties. His advice, plus that of a couple of web sites will hopefully ensure that the two kittens grow to be healthy and socially adjusted, until we can find them a good home. Heaven knows we have three cats, and that is all we need.
My first concern was how to keep them warm. They were shivering. The vet stated that shivering was a good sign. Up to about three weeks, kittens do not have the capability of shivering and trying to provide their own body warmth. This meant that they were at least three weeks old. The vet did state however that probably for another week or so , the kittens would need extra warmth. He suggested buying a heating pad, and placing it on the lowest setting. His suggestion was to place the heating pad on the floor, put a towel over it, get a small box, and put a baby blanket or small towel in the box. This way, there would be some warmth coming from the heating pad, but not too much. He also suggested finding a box with part of a lid. He stated that the babies were still small enough to need a nesting site. I had never heard a kitten’s first home called a nesting site. So we proceeded to purchase the heating pad and bum a box off of the staff at Wal-Mart.
The next step was to find out what the kittens needed to eat. The best kitty formula is KMR Kitten formula. I found some at Walmart. If they don’t carry it, call your vet. We also found a small animal feeding bottle in the animal care section , but you can also purchase a preemie bottle. The formula should be heated to about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The amount that the kitty is feed changes of course depending on age. A one week old should eat 32 cc’s, a two week old should eat 54, a three week old should eat 80, and a four week old should eat 104 cc’s, and a five week old should eat 124 cc’s. At four weeks, softened cat food can be offered and by six weeks, the kitties can be weened altogether. It is also suggested that at about three weeks, you can add a small amount of baby food meat to the kitties bottle to promote the change from kitty milk to solid foods. The suggestion is to only use a half teaspoon or so. As the formula will be thicker, it might be necessary to take a sterilized needle and make the hole in the nipple a bit larger. Also, be sure and burp the kitty. This is no joke, everything I have read stated your kitten needs to be burped.
Now for the gross part. I always assumed Mommy cats liked their kittens hind ends to clean them after they kitty used the bathroom. The main point of the licking is to stimulate the kitty using the bathroom. Without this, the kitten might not use the bathroom and will end up with kidney problems and blocked intestines. So, you guessed it – you now have to do this job. Your tongue is not involved, so breath deep. Take a Kleenex that has been slightly dipped in baby oil, and stimulate the kittens hind end. Then of course clean up any urine or fecal matter the kitty leaves behind. Taking care of kitties is not all fun and joy!! It’s a nasty job but someone has to do it !
Hopefully, our kitties will be healthy and happy. They already are warming up to us and it has only been a couple of days. Now let’s hope I can give them away
instead of keeping them!
Reference:
- Veternarian
