BEAUTIFUL GORLS OR ANYONE ADVICE NEEDED!!!

[iliketosleep]

I have just found out that my cat has given birth at the back of my garden behind the fence, i do not know how old they are but mum is no where to be seen and hasnt been for a couple of days. I have brought the kittens in and got them tucked up to try and raise their body temperature as they were really cold, and i have also fed 2 of them a full syringe of warm milk. But the 2 dont seem to know what to do and just spit the milk straight back out. The one in particular seemed very ill but now it is a bit warmer it is livening up. I hope i am doing the right thing and will continue to keep feeding the kittens around maybe once an hour? Poor little things

Can't you ring you local NSPCA and ask them, I would be worried that your cat wouldn't be able to find them and would go missing, can you post someone on kitty look out to 'redirect' her.

Ok are you sure mum is not around?? She may well be popping back and forth but can't now as they have moved. How long have they been indoors without mum? If poss find her and bring her in. If she is away from them for more than a few hours you need special puppy/kitten milk and a proper feeding syringe every couple of hours day and night for the next few weeks!! You could ring the local cats protection league and ask if there are any cats with kittens who can be surrogate mothers but this all needs to be done very quickly.

mum wouldn't have abandoned them. she is probably havnig a roam which is quite normal.
make sure you dnot give them cows milk as most cats are lactose intolerant.

do keep an eye out for mum though as she will be very worried indeed if she returns to no babies

ive been back and fourth outside calling her shaking cats food boxes etc etc i cant really do anything tonight to be honest as i suffered a miscarriage last night and am physicaly drained, i have a surrogate mum for them in my other cat who had kittens 3 weeks ago but she isnt doing the whole mother routine now that they are all warmed up they are alot better im just a bit worried on the feeding front, that they are not getting enough

You need to get hold of some Lactol or Cimicat milk for them, or if your own mother cat will let you express a little bit of milk from her to feed to them. If she is adopting them and letting them feed from her that is the most ideal solution all around. If she gets really grumpy with them be warned she may harm them, so be careful to monitor how she is behaving around them and if necessary only let them mix when supervised. Meantime fleecy blankets/thick towels to snuggle into and a hot water bottle (well wrapped so they cant burn themselves) in one end so that they can get onto that area, or move away as they need to control their temp. If they are a little bit weak then some glucose or sugary water would help temporarily. Dont overdo how much you give of that though. You could even dip a finger in some icing sugar then wipe a little powder into the mouth of the kittens now and again. Cows milk (as has been said) is not great for kittens due to the lactose in it so foster milk is much better. If you have goats milk in the house but no lactol/cimicat then that is a better very short term option, but is not a long term option.
Feeding every hour or so in the day is ideal - get a foster bottle. At night you need to feed every couple of hours or so, more if they start squeaking for it. Once they have fed you need to get a little moist cotton wool and wipe their bottoms - it stimulates them to wee and poo.

The likelyhood is that mum has been about within the last 2 days - they would have died in that period of time if she hadn't been about (assuming they are that old). If they are being quite noisy, try putting them in a secure box with warmth down the garden for her to hear for a short time now and again. She may come back to them and do her thing then.

Good luck - I'll check back a bit later in case you have any more questions

oh thankyou thats brilliant i knew you would have the answer and sorry for shouting beautiful gorls . They seem very settled with foster mum at the moment and she seems quite content to have them there which i am over the moon about, they are now warm and have little podgy tummies so i presume they are feeding well. It did seem like they didnt know how to feed when i first put them there. The only thing i think foster mum hasnt done is stimulate them down below so i will do that, after all she has basically got 8 kids to deal with

Sounds like things are going well for them. I'm sure the foster mum will be licking at them in no time and you can leave her to it!

PS - are you considering speying after all this stress?!

Oh thats great that you have a foster mum who is feeding them
Any sign of mum yet?

no still no sign of mum and yes spaying definatly!!!!!!!!!!! oh and the poorly one that lay there barely breathing is now barging into the scrum pushing the rest out of the way and just generally being naughty noisy and wriggly so glad this has had a happy ending, i was so scared!!

Oh such a shame mum is not back, but at least they are doing well

She'll be back some time soon, though she may well not want to know her kittens when she does. Is she a first time mum? May be why she left them if so.
Glad the foster mum has accepted them so well. Make sure she is getting plenty of food and some cat milk for mum too as her calcium demands are going to be high nursing so many kittens. Kitten food is actually better for "mum" right now as it is higher in energy.