Abandoned kitten....update...new pics on page 8

[Turkeyrangler]

It's been raining here all day and everything is flooded. At about 4pm I saw a feral cat that I've seen around here all winter walking through our woods with a kitten in it's mouth heading away from our house. A little while later I saw her return and followed her to a pile of construction debris from our bathroom remodel. She grabbed a kitten from under the pile and headed back in the woods. I was about 20 feet away. After she left I took a look and saw at least two more kittens under the pile. I'm guessing that she was moving them since it was really wet there. Well it's been three hours and she has not returned. I think I may have scared her off by being so close to the pile when she left with the other kitten. From what I can tell these kittens are very young. They do not appear to have there eyes open yet. I'm debating grabbing them since it will soon be dark and temps are supposed to drop into the 30's with the possibility of snow. If I do grab them what the heck do you do with kittens this young. What to feed, how to feed. Hoping someone can help me with this. I can put them in my brooder which is in the house and empty right now. Just got rid of the chicks I had in there today.

 

[FireTigeris]

What to feed.

KMR (kitten replcament formula)

How often?

Attempt to feed by syringe/cat bottle every 2 hours, after every feeding wipe in circular motion the anus and uriter to stimulate release of feces and urine.

Temperature 75-80*f should be good, they have fur. (they will let you know if they are distressed.)

http://www.kittenrescue.org/pages.php?pageid=15


(site may have better info then I do)

 

[M@M@2four]

Quote:
I second that--use KMR!!!

 

[Katy]

She'll more than likely come back for them if you leave them alone.

If she doesn't I've raised a lot of kittens on this formula: 2 cups milk, 1 tsp light corn syrup, 1 egg yolk, and a pinch of salt.

 

[Turkeyrangler]

She did come back about 20 minutes ago to get another kitten. Only one left for her to get. Looks like I won't need to intervene but I'll keep an eye on the situation tonight. My problem now is that these feral cats will around all summer while I'm trying to free range my birds. I saw the general area where she took them. I am sure I can find the new den (been a trapper for 30 years) and in a week or two I'll get the kittens and take them to the local no kill rescue for adoption. I will try to live trap the mother and turn her over as well.

 

[Akane]

Cats don't bother birds much. They might grab unattended chicks if they can get in brooders but hen raised chicks should be protected. They won't go after adult birds even bantams. Quail are occasionally an issue because the cats jumping on the cages can panic them in to killing themselves.

 

[Doc Henry]

Don't feed any kittens cows milk ever, use only milk replacer as listed above KMR is the most common and is well respected in the veterinary field. Goats milk would be the next best thing. Feral cats are most definately a problem everywhere I lost over 500 birds to them last year....Thats a problem. Not to mention the damage they do to the ecosystem as a feral species. No reason not to save the kittens just spay and neuter when they are healthy enough.

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Quote:
Well, I jumped off the deep end. I went out at midnight and found the mother had left a kitten. I brought it in. I'm just can't go to bed knowing that there is this very young kitten out in the yard alone, cold and probably hungry. She was cold and snuggled right up. It is not as young as I thought, but still really young. Eyes are open, but still the early blue eyes of a very young kitten. I'm guessing about 2 weeks maybe a bit more. Sorry Doc, but I mixed up some condensed milk (all I had), molasses, egg yolk and electrolytes. It took a little bit. Early as I can tomorrow I will be picking up some KMR or goats milk and that should work just fine. I used a dropper, had the kitten on her stomach and she (pretty sure it's female) took some in. I placed her in my chick brooder in an area that is about 75-80 degrees in a towel and set my alarm for about 4 hours. Going to be a long night I guess. Oh well. This is good for my soul, but maybe not my health. Dang, I'm getting old and a softy to boot. Going to do what I can to keep this kitten alive. She does seem pretty healthy so maybe hopefully she will be just fine.

I agree with you 100% doc. I need to deal with the feral cats I have here. They reek havoc on the song bird population. I don't want to kill them and if I can trap/find and remove them to adoption I will do that. I'm I hunter, but I don't like shooting cats or dogs unless I am out of options. I am rarely out of options. Here are a couple pics. How could I not do a rescue tonight??

Used the tweezers for perspective

How old do you think this kitten is??

 

[spiritdance]

Often, kittens that old will not adapt to actually suckling a dropper or bottle, as it just feels wrong to them. Since its eyes are open, I'd try to get it to lick some gruel made of kitten food soaked in kmr. If it will lick it, even off the end of a syringe, there's far less chance of getting fluid in its lungs from dropper feeding it. That can lead to pneumonia pretty quickly. If you can't get it to lick, just be sure you continue to feed it on its tummy and let it point its nose down as you squirt the milk in. That way, if it's not prepared to swallow a drop, it can let it run out instead of down its airway. It's messier that way, but safer for the kitty.

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Quote:
Great advice. Will do. I was worried about the pneumonia issue. I will follow the instructions I get on here from folks that know better than me. Can't seem to sleep so I'm watching a brooder with a cat in it...

Checked on her a little while ago and she seems to be sleeping and warm.