How do you care for kittens that are less than a week old? The mother cat has disappeared.?

Question

How much do you feed them by droplet? How often?

Answer 1

Your local vet will be able to supply you with the correct milk powder. The kittens will need to be fed every few hours. Approx 100 mls per feed from memory but the milk powder will have instructions as to how much to give the kittens.

They should be gaining weight at 100 grms per week at this young age. There eyes will open when they are 10 days old.

You can start to encouragement them to lap the milk and some soft solids at approx 5 weeks old.

Also you will need to help them toilet. Basically you get a wet cotton bud and wipe the area gently until they wee. (The mum cats lick them).

Good on you for taking care of them and the best of luck!

Answer 2

i have bottle raised over 1,000 orphaned kittens. i am an orphaned kitten rescuer in nyc and have been doing exactly this for the past 17 years.

i also suggest that you bring them with you to a veterinarian as he will demonstrate what you should do.

you will need to go to Petland (preferably) because they have the Four Paws Pet Nurser which is the better brand of bottle since the nipples are tapered as opposed to rounded. it is not bulbous at the tip, it's a little more pointy. you will also need some KMR POWDER as that is the formula they should eat. the powdered KMR is better than the liquid because it is less likely to give them diarrhea. initially, for the first 24 hours, you should feed them every 2 hours and be sure to stimulate their genitals so that they will pee. feed them, stimulate them and offer each one the bottle again after theyve peed. do one kitten at a time so you can keep a good idea how much each is eating.

keep in mind that the kittens will stop peeing as soon as you stop rubbing their genitals even if their bladders are not yet empty so be sure that they have finished peeing before you stop stimulating them.

*****very important******** NEVER FEED A KITTEN ANYTHING WHILE IT IS ON IT'S BACK. you must be sure that they are on their stomachs when they eat, similiar to the position which they would use while nursing from their mother. if you try to put them on their backs like a human baby would eat, the formula will easily go into their lungs and they will develop aspiration pnemonia which will kill them. this is why a bottle is much better than an eye dropper or syringe because they can suck on the bottle and swallow rythmically while they suckle. DO NOT ALLOW THEM TO ROLL THE NIPPLE AROUND IN THEIR MOUTHS, get the nipple in through the side of their mouth and immediately center it in the middle. ONLY squeeze the bottle once and gently so they can taste the milk and they should quickly "latch on" to the nipple with their mouths and suckle normally. occassionally, it takes one or two meals before they really get it. dont force them. they will spit the nipple out when theyre full once they get the hang of suckling the nipple.

after 24 hours, if they are all suckling well and eating, peeing normally, you should move them to a 4 hour schedule. feeding too frequently or inconsistently will cause diarrhea and diarrhea will quickly kill a small kitten. if they are sleeping when it's time to feed them, wake them up to eat. within a day or two, they will know their schedule and awaken right on time. if you are sleeping when it's time for them to eat, you must wake up to feed them because like i said, if you feed them 2 hours, then 4 hours, then back to 2 hours, etc., they will not survive as they WILL get diarrhea.

when you are done feeding each one, lay it on it's stomach and pet and rub it's back and sides so it will burp. as they get a little bigger, they will burp when you turn them on their sides to pee and poop them. they will need to be peed until they are about 4 - 4 1/2 weeks old. by the time they are 3 weeks old, they should be on a 6 hour schedule.

do not add anything to the formula and make sure it's always fresh and warm.

as another poster mentioned, their eyes will crack at the corner at 10 days and will probably open all of the way that same day.

please feel free to email me as they mature and i will tell you when and how to start weaning them, what kind of litter and food is safe and healthy for them, etc.


good luck. you are their only hope for survival and they will show you their gratitude 10 fold.

Answer 3

You need to be very dedicated to hand rasie a litter of kittens. They need to be fed a special formula that she can get from a vet every few hours. It has been a while since I hand raised a litter, and can not remember the specifics of times and amounts. Check with your vet for this, as I do not want ot give you wrong information. After every feeding, the kittens need to be stimulated. Using a warm wet wash cloth, gently rub the kittens to stimulate going to the bathroom. You need to rub both areas until they go! The kittens also need to be washed several times a day in the same manner.

They need to be kept warm. We used to put a heating pad at the bottom of a box and set it on low. Next, cover it with a couple small towels, shirts, etc. Make sure it is not too hot to the touch! Also, set an alarm clock (the old kind with the bells on top or any other kind that ticks loud enough to be heard) outside of the box. This mimicks the mother's heartbeat.

If you have never hand raised a litter before, keep in mind that it is very hard and time consuming work, but very well worth it. It is very common to lose at least one of them. So, if one does die, do not give up. Keep trying for the sake of the other little ones! Good luck, and never hesitate to contact a vet with any questions.

***Edit*** Please do not give them cows milk at this young of an age. Their systems can not handle that and they need to be fed a special formula until they are ready to be weened. At this time, you can start wit bread in a dish and milk that has been highly diluted with water. Gradually decrease the water and up the milk. You can then go to kitten food, and dillute that the same way should they have problems eating it at firsy.

Answer 4

Go to walmart and buy kitten formula and a tiny baby bottle in the pet section. Follow the directions and bottle feed. It may take a day or two for the kitten to learn how to nurse. After each bottle take a warm wet papertowel and pat gently the cats genital area until it pees and poops. This is necessary and not so bad. The mother usually licks it.

Keep the kitten in a confined small area in a box with a warm blanket. The kitten needs a bottle many times a day.

Touch it a lot and nuzzle it with your face. Try not to leave it alone-give it to someone else to care for if you must leave.

Answer 5

Kittens need to be fed every 2 hours for the next 3-4 weeks. They should get a commercial kitten milk formula and get about 10-15mL/100g body weight of formula per feeding for the first week, 15-20mL/100g the second week, and 20-25mL/100g the third week. After that, the kittens should be able to eat until they are full. They should gain 50-100grams weekly and by the fourth week you should be able to mix some wet kitten food with the formula on a plate and get them learning how to eat on their own. They usually figure it out in a hurry and then you can actually get some sleep! Make sure you keep them nice and warm, especially for the first 4 weeks, as they aren't able to maintain their own body heat at first.
Another really important aspect of kitten care is to stimulate them to urinate/defecate after feeding. All you have to do is wipe a warm, wet cloth over their anal/genital openings gently until they do their business. By about 3 weeks of age, they should be able to do it themselves.
This is quite a big undertaking, especially if you've got a few kittens to deal with. I'm really glad there are people out there like you who are willing to do it. All the best of luck!

Answer 6

Call your local veterinarian right away - I always had kittens where momma stayed around. It probably won't hurt to give them a bit of milk by droplet - not forcing it but as much as they will accept. Find out what vets recommend - they might have like a kitten formula or something. Poor little guys - good thing you're around!! MOM!

Answer 7

Its really actually easy ..all you have to do is go the store like albertsons or a pet store and get kitten formula, if you want someting cheaper then you get the can of dried milk and just add warm water .. to get thm to eat you can either use a surenge or a kitten bottle and wrap them up in a towel and feed them ...after they eat then you just take them and rub their butts with a warm towel and if they dont go and their constipated then just rub their tummy for awhile and try again ... once they are old enough to walk then leave a plate of wet food or dried kitten food and soften it up with kitten formula and leave it down no longer than 2 hours and keep doing that and they will start eating .4-5 weeks old you can start training them to use the litter box.. they learn fast ...after that just play with them and handle them often so they6 get used to being handled .. ..

Answer 8

You can get the special milk at a pet food supplier and some grocery stores and the directions for feeding are on the can. Kittens eat alot- get ready for some allnighters.

Answer 9

You need to ask a vet, because there`s certain things you have to do. Such as rubbing there little pee pee place so they can pee. you do this with a warm wet rag. the mother licks them so they can pee. also you need to fed them every few hours, that means during the night to. You have to buy the certain milk for kittens. So to get the right instructions from a vet.

Answer 10

You can take them to a animal shelter...Or a SPCA location if you don't have time other than that go see a vet because he may give you special directions other than get the bottle and kitten mile from Petco or Pet smart...he or she may give you something to put in milk to help them get more iron and nutrients to help them grow