Litter of kittens found..paging experts please!

[Cailleach]

Whilst out and about this afternoon I have found a litter of six kittens in a clump of ivy in the garden of a derelict house.

I estimate them to be about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks old. Their eyes are all open and they look in good shape, other than being totally filthy and riddled with fleas.

Being the soft stupid sod devoted cat lover I am I sat in the garden for three hours at a discreet distance from the nest and waited for the mother to return. Nada. So I packed them into my rucksack, brought them home via the vet (who kindly checked them over), gave them a bath (they were black-bright and stank of urine) and settled them in a box with a hot water bottle / towel.

I have kitten formula from the vet and have fed them about 3-4ml each from a syringe. They all fed well and promptly piddled all over me, which was encouraging, if a bit grim-smelling.

I know to feed them about that much every two hours, to rub their bellies to stimulate their bowels, to keep them warm etc etc. Is there anything else I need to do?

Yours, in anticipation of precious little sleep over the next few weeks,

C
x

Good stuff.

I meant only that if 3 of the Fearsome Four are soon weaned, they won't need milk fed soon. (They'll probably need wiped with a damp cloth if they get mucky at the beginning but it could be the end of most of your servitude.)

I think we all have our fingers crossed for the other two, particularly the runt who seems to be struggling more. I'd try grey baby on a wee bit of food slop as soon as you think she's steady enough on her pins.

Good luck to them all - and get yourself some sleep.

Cailleach you are doing so well. I am checking daily for updates! Still crossing fingers for the runt to pull through, but better news about the grey & great news on the 4 stronger ones.

Cailleach, have just read the thread, you are being amazing

Will you be seriously looking for homes for them? I long for a silver tabby...

Good luck tonight with the poorly ones, good to hear the others are trying out the kitten food now.

The tabbies look more like blue tabbies than silver to me (dark grey markings on lighter grey, rather than black on very light grey). Totally gorgeous in any case

Time to name them, I think?

Hello folks... I'm afraid I have some bad news...the runt didn't make it through the night. I had a horrible feeling that she wouldn't.

Despite me getting fluids into her hourly she got weaker and weaker and died sometime around midnight.

I was gutted as I fought so hard for her... but there it is. We buried her in the flowerbed this morning and the kids sobbed their little hearts out, as did I.

Strange how they worm their little way into your hearts so fast, isn't it?

But we have good news too: grey baby is much improved, so much so that she has gone back in the main pen with her siblings. She is still weak and it's a battle to get food into her but I will keep slogging along with it.

They have been to the vets this morning for worming. The vet checked them over and said they were fine, even grey baby. He was a lovely old chap who reassured me about the runt and said that the kittens are approximately 1/3 smaller than they should be at this age and that this just shows you what a rough start they have had. So really it's not surprising that we've lost one.

Hey ho! Right, off to do more washing etc.

x

C

I'm sorry, Cailleach. You gave her the best possible chance, and kept her safe, warm and loved. Good to hear the others are doing well x

So sorry, Cailleach but that does happen with runts and you did absolutely the best you could for her. The most experienced fosters in the world often can't save them.

Good news about the others, though, and grey baby in particular.

Oh dear, I'm so sorry. Poor kitten, and your poor children . You're doing your best, as proved by the fact that the grey has improved. At least the kitten had a lovely last week or so, cuddled and looked after so well.

Thanks guys :)

The receptionist at the vet was lovely too...she often fosters kittens and puppies and says that with larger litters, one often dies. She has years of experience doing this but still occasionally loses one.

Hey ho!

The kittens are charging round their pen as we speak, playing with things and having a good time.

One of them has just used the litter tray! I didn't even show her what to do, she just jumped in, dug around and piddled so proud

x

C

Poor little runt but you know you couldn't have done any more than you did, & at least she was safe & warm for her last few days

Thank you, TheOne - I know, I tried my hardest. At least she was warm and comfy. She died curled up to grey baby, nice and cosy and quiet.

On a lighter note, three of the kittens have now got the hang of this "solid food" thing. Basically I am making a mush out of kitten food and milk for them, and setting it down in the pen.

They take a flying leap onto the plate and do the breaststroke in it, gobbling away until most of it is either a) on them b) on the floor / pen walls C) in their tummies.

When they're finished they stagger back into their box and try and clean themselves. It's hysterical to watch.

Am pleased though as although I am giving them supplementary milk, they don't really want it now.

The other silver tabby just wants milk, but hey...I can wait.

x

C

Oh they'll be mucky pups for a good few days yet. Hope you've got a damp flannel close by!

Yep, they get a good rub down :)

I can't work the grey baby out: she hates being fed but loves having a bath and being hair-dryer-ed dry....The Bloke reckons she's not quite right in the head.

She will fit in well here then ;)

Ah - so she's being kept then?

I'm so sorry about the tiny one

It is funny when the babes jump in the foodbowl - they make a loud, gross slurping noise like cute furry brain sucking zombies.

The cleanup afterwards isn't so fun and I end up with gravy coated kittens a lot of the time. The kitchen looks like some sort of meat grenade has gone off.

The hair dryer thing is cute. My nan used to have a cat that enjoyed being hoovered - that would be SO USEFUL.

Cozie don't tempt me! Honestly if I won the lottery tomorrow I would move to a big house and keep them all :)

Look mine are firmly of the commonly-held feline belief that hoovers eat cats. Even the profoundly-deaf one scarpers when she sees it.

awww sorry to hear about the tiny one its something that happens with hand reared kittens and sad as it is she had love and didnt die in a clump of ivy in the cold but it still hurts, and even established rescues lose kittens sometimes but good news that the others are taking to food as that will lessen how often you will have to feed them with supplement milk

As I thought. She's being kept. (You just may not realize it yet.)

I'm sorry to hear about the little one but I'm glad to hear that the others are doing well.

So sorry to hear about the runt but you did your very best for her and she was warm, loved & well-fed

Great news about the others

Quick update whilst time permits...

Grey baby is much better although still a bit wobbly on her pins. At feeding time just now she actually ran out of her box to greet me!

She is also feeding a bit better, although only for the first 5mls or so: the rest of it has to be forced down her. Hey ho! I will take what I can get.

The rest are all fine: chirpy and lively and LOUD!

x

C

at her running to you

Great news, Cailleach, thanks for the update

Morning all!

As I type this is have a very lively grey baby on my lap who has just asked her her second feed of the morning.

Not only is she playful and alert, she is eating more normally and I am not having to force her to feed. She still gets tired easily but I think we're getting there now.

The others are all in good shape: three are weaning, but one silver tabby just doesn't get it, which is frustrating :S

I am alternating milk feeds with meat feeds to ensure they get enough fluids.

Little black kitten is beginning to resemble a football!

x
C

Maybe try a small amount of kitten kibble for silver tabby to see if she takes to that better? I confess that I'm not a great fan of dry food for kits because I like to know they're getting their good liquid but she's what - 5/6 weeks old now? Perhaps that would suit. In moderation and with plenty water close by - or maybe even moistened a bit.

Great news about grey baby.