Is it possible to keep newborn kittens (1 day) alive without momma.....Help!!

[wingstone]

came across 4 newborns this morning beside the mailbox, less than a foot from the road, at the time I put up a barrier so they could not crawl onto the road, checked this afternoon and momma has not been back, they are barely cleaned up after birth and they were covered in red ants and cold to the touch, they have been brought in and cleaned up, put in a box then fed milk replacer with a eyedropper....what else can i do

 

[1Teacherchick]

I have raised kittens from that age. Keep them warm, give them something to snuggle, feed them kitten milk replacement every 2 hours at first, then you can lengthen the time between gradually, as they get older. I used a little bottle from the feed store. After you feed them, wet a washcloth with warm water and stroke their tummies from the chest area down to the anus, as if it were a momma cat's tongue licking them. This stimulates them to urinate and defecate. Then you have to wash it off of them. After the first couple of weeks or so, they should go on their own. That is the time to start putting them in a litter box after each feeding to teach them that this is where they do that. When they start to crawl around, just keep them safe and out of trouble. They should be fine.

The two I raised by hand were the sweetest most cuddly cats ever! They thought I was the momma!
Good luck!

 

[1Teacherchick]

Here is a good website for any other problems.

http://www.luckycatadoptions.org/Hand Raising Orphan Kittens.pdf

 

[wingstone]

Thank you for the response, all 4 are eating and seem to be doing good, and we found momma, unfortunately she had been hit by a car, we think she may have been in the process of moving them to the barn. (found a 5th kitten in the barn, but that 1 didn't make it)....my daughter is going to pick them up and take them to her house she is currently unemployed and has the time to take care of them....hopefully we will be able to find them good homes, I hate to have to put them back outside as farm cats, if they can survive this they deserve better.

 

[wingstone]

Update... These are the 2 survivors out of 4.

 

[Ally Rose]

My cousin found an abandoned kitten and took it in. They went to the vet and got special soft food for it and its doing well without its mother. I think those last two kittens will be fine. Good luck

 

[3forfree]

I had a mama cat get hit by a car and we raised 6 babies by hand. The vet told us to mix warm milk and can cat food in a blender so it was just a mush. Then put the cats nose and mouth in it until it starts coughing and then take it out. It will lick the mush off it's face, then do it again until it eats on it's own. Good luck with yours. Ours cuddled with one of our dogs, and thought he was it's mom and followed him everywhere.

 

[Kaitie09]

Around the time that mine start to chew the bottle, I will get baby rice cereal. I start with a little cereal and add milk replacer to it. Over the next few days I add more and more cereal until it is a complete mush, and them switch it over to wet food. They know the taste of the milk so they will try pretty hard to figure out how to eat it out of a bowl the first time. Make sure you put it on paper towels and not somewhere with carpet, because they get very messy.