Kitten Advice please.

[Babyroobs]

I have been looking after a friends cats since Monday. One of them is a very young female cat who had 4 kittens 4 weeks ago. The cat was a stray who found her way to my friends house recently then gave birth.
The kittens are on the move, my dd and myself have been trying to handle them/ give them cuddles for a few minutes each day ( we are visiting twice a day). The smallest kitten has up until today been the most inquisitive and exploring. Today it seemed sleepy and not moving much ( although still walking about a little) I am worried it is perhaps not suckling properly and getting enough milk . It is hard to see if they are feeding ok as whenever I go round the cat runs away from the kittens and won't return to them til we have gone, she is quite nervous and obviuosly doesn't know me. I admit to knowing nothing about kittens and have just stepped in at the last minute to help as my friend had to help a relative recover from an op. I have come home and can't stop worrying about it. Any advice please? Mum cat is eating loads and looks well.

Could you try smallest kitten (the runt of the litter) with some kitten formula milk - this sudden hot weather will make tiny bodies more susceptible to dehydration, it could happen in hours.

Good luck.

• And get them all to the vets ASAP. They need Mum cat with them when you take them.

Why did your friend let her adolescent cat/kitten get pregnant at such a young age? Is friend a registered breeder? And then they bugger off to let you take responsibility?

But just to reiterate my point, the young wobbly one will probably die if you don't get vet treatment. Like RIGHT NOW. There are out of hours vets. Please don't let this kitten die.

...Sorry, am so worried about this, give your local Cats' Protection League for better advice. Or depending where you are based Celia Hammond

Op says the mother was a stray, Rubbish.

Yes to getting actual vet advice.

What are you feeding the kittens ? At 4 weeks they should be starting some kitten food (4 times a day - very small amounts ) Plus always make sure there's plenty to drink - could the kitten be dehydrated ? Definitely vet , or phone cat protection league for advice .

I would ring the vet.

Call cats protection - there will be a local help line number, they will give you advice. They might even have a fosterer who can take them until your friend is back.

Yes the kittens should be weaning about now.

Call your friend and ask which vet she uses, then get her to call that vet and give her credit card details so you don't get stuck with a bill.

Thanks everyone for the advise. We have taken the kitten to the vets this morning and it has a virus and ulcers in its mouth which I guess explains why it wasn't feeding well. Poorly kitten is being kept in the vetinary hospital and fed milk with a syringe and I have just returned from the vets and it is doing ok although still poorly. Fingers crossed it pulls through .Mum and the other kittens have all been checked over, weighed and we have kitten special formula milk in case the others are not feeding. One of the other kittens also has one small ulcer so we eed to carefully watch that one. Mum cat was a stray and was already heavily pregnant when my friend took her in. It is likely mum was never vaccinated ( she is very young possibly 6/7 months) so the vet said the kittens will have little immunity. We are just hoping they all make it. Thanks everyone for your advice.

Also friend is going to get cat neuteured as soon as she can but I think she has to wait until kittens are a little older?

Rubbish - I am shocked that my friend went away and left the kittens knowing I could only pop over a couple of times a day. She is back home now, and admits she is out of her depth with caring for these kittens. She will be back at work full time on monday for long days and I don't know how she will care for the poorly kitten if it still needs syringe feeding. I will help as much as I can but I think to realistically feed it as often as it will need I would need it at my home which would be away from its mum. Will the kitten start to re suckle form its mum if it gets better? I am so worried about all this even though it's not really my problem. I will certainly pass on your advice about the cat protection league. I can't honestly see how these kittens can be adequately cared for when someone is out of the house for 9/10 hours a day ?

This is awful. Those poor kittens need far more care than your friend will be able to give if she's out all day. Would she consider taking them to a rescue centre?

Definitely get on to your local Cats Protection asap. They generally have fosterers some of whom will be experienced with young kittens like this.
Whereabouts are you (roughly) if anyone on here knows of anywhere else who can help.

Thanks to those who have recommended fosterers, I will try to talk to her about that option tomorrow. Does anyone know whether , if she did have them fostered would she be able to have the mum cat back once the kittens are weaned and rehomed ? My friend does genuinely care about the cats ( she paid a very hefty vets bill for them today with more to pay for poorly kitten !) I just think she is unrealistic and hasn't really thought through what will happen in the next few weeks. The mum cat started coming into her home , my friend took it to the vets to see if it was microchipped as she didn't want to adopt the cat if it belonged to someone else. The vet then said the cat was pregnant and it gave birth a few days later .