Kitten question...urgent

[Jaguaress]

First, the one that still has the afterbirth attached needs to be taken care of immediately. Take some thread, or dental floss even, and tie it tightly around the cord attached to the afterbirth, about 1" or so from the kitten. Then tie tightly and knot a *second* string close to the kitten, maybe 1/4" or so - not right on the belly, though. Then cut the umbilical cord in-between the two knots you tied, close to the one nearest the belly. The afterbirth, cord and first knotted string will fall away, and the remaining cord with the knot will be like an infant's, in that it will dry up and fall off.

There are kits you can buy with baby bottles to feed such young kittens, as well as powdered formula that you can make for them. Kittens that age need to eat about every 2 hours, 24 hours a day, and they must be kept warm. If you put them in a box with a heating pad on low, leave enough room that they can get off of it if they get too warm. But kittens that age need to be watched carefully because they aren't quite aware enough to realize when they're in danger of being too hot, etc.. I always placed a thick layer of paper towels over the heating pad to keep it clean.

Also, kittens that age can't defecate on their own. The best thing to do is to hold the kitten with one hand, under the chest and belly, while using an unscented aloe vera baby wipe to gently wipe - in long, gentle strokes - from the belly side to the back side of the kitten, in order to stimulate it to "go." When they start pooping, gently rub underneath - which will be the belly side - to keep it coming. If it gets stuck, the kitten is dehydrated and you'll have to gently grab it with the wipe and gently pull it out. If you don't do all of this for the kitten, it will die. I always try to make them go before feeding, and then after feeding. I found it easiest to hold them over a bunch of paper towels, in order to catch the poop. Your kittens probably won't be doing much since they haven't eaten, so don't worry if nothing comes out. The important thing is to gently try. Be aware that if you try for too long, or apply too much friction, you can make the baby raw.

Definitely call around to vets in case they have staff that are willing to care for the kittens, if any made it overnight. Good luck.

Feel free to PM if you wish because I've hand raised just-born kittens, puppies and exotic cats in the past.

 

[saxet]

I would like to apologize to the kittens. For the fact that I never could catch their dam yet and that they were conceived. For the fact that I thought that their mother would come back for them and so I left them too long. And for the fact that in the end, I already lost them.

I imagined I heard more cries last night in the dark and in the rain, but try as I might, I could not verify or locate the possible sound over the giddy frogs that had emerged with our first good rain in well over 6 weeks. With daylight, I was out there looking again, because the dam did not look empty when I last saw her.
Thank you to the wonderful list members who are trying to reach out to these babies, so swiftly and with great advice, from all across the United States. I am sorry that I assumed too long that the dam would be back. I might have had more luck if I had stepped in immediately. Going out on 'patrol' again right now. Any sound (bird?) has me out the door this morning, at least until I need to go to work.

Ps. I have raised orphan pups before. It sounds like kittens are along the same lines. I will get to try that if I find the leftover litter?

PPs @ MaggieRae. 3 hours east of you.

 

[Jaguaress]

I'm so sorry...

It's a remote possibility that the mother came back for them, but there would be no way to know if any made it unless you see her walking with them at a later time.

The way the mother was neglecting them and spilling them all over, you would have had to immediately take charge of them, warming and feeding them right away. I've had good mothers and bad mothers, and - like it sounds happened here - new mothers who were freaked out by what was happening. My first litter that I helped with was when I was 16 or so, and I was as scared as she was. Once the kittens were clean, though, she was a good mother, but I've had many who didn't want a thing to do with their kittens once they were born so I had to take over their care.

You did the best you could with the information you had at the time. Even with the best hand-rearing, not all babies make it. At least now you have more information in case there's a next time. In the future, if ever you see a baby kitten or puppy still in the sack, it's possible to open it to let it breathe if you get to it soon enough. Rubbing them gently in a cloth stimulates them and cleans them if the mother doesn't. Then use the 2 threads technique outlined above to cut the baby's cord from the sack. Since you didn't expect this to happen, there's no way you could've prepared for the mother leaving such a mess for you to handle.

Certainly, if you see any kittens alive, scoop them up and attempt take care of them, but please don't exhaust yourself looking for them. Their cries would be weaker than you heard last night, and even if you found any, it would be highly improbable they'd be able to recover from the exposure. Stranger things have happened, but don't get your hopes up.

Again, I'm sorry that you had to go through that. You're wonderful for trying to tame, then place the ones you are caring for. And yes, kittens and puppies are very similar. In my experience, kittens seemed a bit more fragile at first, but it could have had to do with the type of puppies that I've raised.