Kittens are sweet and loveable, but they require special care when they are really young. Many feral cats give birth out in the wild, which may just be your backyard. If you find any of these kittens, deciding what to do is difficult. Mother cats may not be willing to come along with you. If they are too young to eat solid food, it can be tough to figure out how to keep the kittens healthy. It is best not to leave them out in the wild, as they may just be killed or grow up to have more kittens, which isn’t such a good thing in urban areas.
The first thing you should do if you find a very young kitten is to make sure it is warm. If there is nothing else you can think to do, keep it warm. A kitten who is too cold will die quickly. If you plan on taking it to an animal shelter or calling animal control, make sure it is warm enough to make it that far. Using heating pads isn’t the best option though, you don’t want to burn it. A towel or blanket inside a house is the best idea. If you plan on keeping it, there are other things you should do. It isn’t difficult to keep the kitten alive if you follow some simple steps.
In not too long the kitten is probably going to be hungry. If it can’t eat solid food, it will need to be fed kitten formula out of a kitten bottle. Do not give the kitten milk, it will get sick. Cats are allergic to dairy, it will make them sick in ways that are unpleasant for everybody. Kitten milk isn’t cheap, but it is available at pet stores, and many grocery stores. It will be located around the canned food, or kitten supplies if you’re in a pet store. The kitten bottles are also available in the same place. Once you have the formula for the kitten, warm it up in the bottle for about five seconds in your microwave. The nipple that comes with the baby bottle needs a larger hole in the top, otherwise the kitten won’t get anything from it. Feed the kitten the same way you feed a baby. It might get messy if the formula dribbles a bit on the kitten, but it is better than having the kitten starve. The kitten will need to be fed every three or four hours for several weeks, until they can drink a good amount at once. Let the kitten take as much as it wants, in the beginning it isn’t drinking very fast. The kitten will know when it has had enough. Feed it whenever it is hungry, it needs the nutrients when it is this young.
Kittens at even this age are old enough to use the litter box, so you don’t have to worry about that. Just keep a small pan, (maybe a pie pan), close to the kitten. Put the kitten in it once or twice, to make sure it knows what it is. Also, the kitten will probably start to get pretty dirty, unless it has its mother. If the kitten doesn’t have a mom to keep it clean, it will get dirty. It takes about a month or three weeks before the kitten will begin to clean itself at all really. Until then, they will be gross on their own. Buying litter made of recycled newspaper is better than clay litter, and will help the kitten stay far more clean. Clay litter will stick to the kitten, and matt into their fur. If this happens, you should try kitten wipes. These are similar to wet wipes, and they are formulated for cleaning off kittens who don’t have a mother to do so for them. These will also help to clean food off of them, which often gets into their fur in the same way.
If you keep the kitten for any amount of time, make sure the kitten seems to be growing. If it seems extremely lethargic or sick, or has pus in its eyes, it may need to see a vet. Seeing a vet quickly is a good idea either way is good idea, to make sure that the kitten is healthy. If the kitten isn’t growing, or isn’t eating, take it to the vet as well. If you ever find a kitten and want to help it out, that is what you should do.
