babysitting a friend's 3.5 week kitten today - please don't let it die on my watch

[geekgirl]

My friend and her dh are farmers, and there's a (very) feral cat which has kittens in her barn all the bloody time - she's tried to catch it many times (to have it spayed) but it is extremely wary and when she has got hold of it it goes absolutely mental, biting & scratching for dear life. Unfortunately said cat is useless at putting her kittens in a sensible place and several litters have perished as a result of being put into an ancient cavity wall .
My df now usually attempts to move the litter to safe place if she finds them and hopes that either the mummy cat will cooperate (not this time), or that the kittens will be ok hand-reared.

Anyway... so much to the back story. She's got a tiny kitten which she has been hand-rearing for a week. It's doing fine and gaining weight. Today they're all off to a funeral, and she's asked me to babysit it for the day. It (or rather, he! ) will need bottle feeding and bum wiping [nervous] - please don't let me do anything wrong! I saw him a couple of days ago and he's just so tiny and fragile-looking.

(just to add - we have this kitten's big brother, the sole survivor of last summer's litter. He's a beautiful and utterly good-natured tom. It's hard to believe his parents are completely wild beasts )

[bella29]

Good luck - you'll be fine!

[NomDePlume]

You'll be fine. Just follow their instructions and try not to panic

[geekgirl]

well, the little fella's just been picked up again. All went well He drank from his bottle, weed when his behind was being wiped and had lots of cuddles with dd1 (who is now in tears - "But WHY can't we keep him??")

Phew!

[bella29]

Well done, geekgirl

[NutterlyUts]

(with regard to mum, it might be worth ringing local shelter with regard to a cat trap to catch mum if she wants her spayed)

[geekgirl]

Nutterly, I was wondering that too. Problem is, my df has 20 cats of her own (farm cats rather than pets as such but all neutered/spayed) - I wonder what the chances are of actually catching this particular one.
Will suggest it to her though. I think she's getting quite desperate.