We found........?

Question

We found 3 baby kittens.Their eyes aren't open,and they squeak rather than meow.We did look in the box,and it seems as if the mother has abandoned them.They are now escaping from the box,and my parents and I are worried.We don't know if they will live or not.Anything we could possibly do?Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

The mother is most likely somewhere near unless something has happened to prevent her from returning. The best thing for them is the mother cat. If you could catch her also and call your local animal shelter they will take them and take care of them. If the mother cat is truly gone and is not returning, animal shelters have fostering programs just for this reason. At this age they generally eat every two hours and will need to be fed that regularly. I don't know how long you have had them,but,it sounds like they are maybe a little dehydrated. If the mother is able to return she will and hopefully they can all be reunited.Try your local shelter,they have fostering volunteers that will take them into their homes and bottle feed them until they can be spayed and neutered and adopted. Good luck.

Answer 2

Heres a link I found to a pdf guide to raising orphaned kittens.
http://www.alleycat.org/pdf/kitten.pdf

I included other links below but the above one is one you can download, save, and print out. It is a good well written guide and includes some photos and good advice to dealing with a number of common problems one might run into with rescued kittens.

They need fed and they need warmth as soon as possible. Place a towel in the box and put a heating pad on low under about 2/3 of the towel, leaving an area for them to crawl to, to get off the heat when needed. Kittens under 3 weeks of age cannot control body temperature and can die just from becoming chilled.

it sounds like the kittens are getting weak and may need to be tube fed instead of bottle fed. If you don't know how to tube feed a kitten, your veterinarian can show you...

If you can even mix a little honey and water, or sugar and water and get them to swallow a little of it, that will help until you can give them something better to eat and until you can get advice from the vet and feeding tube and syringe(or a kitten nursing bottle if they are strong enough to bottlefeed)

The vet may know of another mother cat with a small litter or who lost her litter, who might be able to raise the kittens.

A formula I raised many kittens and puppies on is one I made of 8 ounces vanilla yogurt, 4 ounces evaporated milk, 4 ounces water, and a tablespoon of corn syrup. I would mix the formula and refrigerate it, and just take out and heat (in a separate container) the approximate amount I needed at each feeding.

Here are links to some guides on raising orphan kittens.

Very good guide on bottle and tube feeding as well as lots of other good information on hand raising kittens.
http://www.hdw-inc.com/tinykitten.htm

http://www.kittenrescue.org/handbook.htm
http://www.feralcat.com/raising.html


A wonderful book to get is Cat Owners Home Veterinary Handbook by Carlson and Giffin, get it from the library if you cant buy it. That book has a great section on raising kittens, including clear illustrations on how to tube feed kittens (which you may need to learn how to do, since the kittens sound like they are getting weak.)

Answer 3

you should take them to the vets so they can decide what to do with them.

you could also, with a vets halp, take care of them until they are old enough to be given away to new families that way you can choose who they go to and make sure that they go to a great home

you can keep them if u want

wait for the mother for awhile before doing anything, maybe the mother went away to find some food and got lost and is having a hard time finding her way back to her loving kittens, mother dogs may leave their pups but mother cats NEVER leave except for food

whatever you decide to do I'm sure it will be a good decision, just go with your instincts and what you feel is the right thing to do

Good luck!

Answer 4

they will live fine if you feed them correctly and keep them warm.

if their eyes are closed that means they are under two weeks old and need to be fed kitten formula (from petshop or vet) 5-6 times a day.

do NOT feed the kittens cows milk.. and they wont be able to eat cat food for at least another week.

heres a couple of sites that will help -

http://www.packrat-pro.com/kitties.htm#feeding
http://www.towncats.org/articles/article5.html
.

Answer 5

They do have baby formula for kittens. Even Wal-mart sells it.
While I am not much on people who just answer you question with, " consult an expert", there are rescues that can handle that sort of thing. If they havent even opened their eyes yet....wow. Going to be tough

Answer 6

I hate to be the barrier of bad news but the condition you've described does not seem good... But don't lose hope - my family once helped a kitten as young as yours and it grew up to be a WONDERFUL healthy cat. It is VERY important that you keep touching the kittens: hold them close to your body etc. Mammals need that and it make it more likely for them to survive.

Answer 7

Get a bigger box and call a cat rescue to take them off your hands. They will take care of them until they can be adopted.

Answer 8

Take them to the vets a soon as possible

Answer 9

See if there is a feline/cat rescue group near where you live. They might be able to help.

Answer 10

Go see your vet and get a formula - rear them by hand and they'll be just fone.