Orphaned Kitten

[Em8725]

Hi, does anyone have any experience with an orphaned kitten? They were found abandoned by their mum, in a friend of a friends garden. This one seems a little behind the others, and I have the time so am happy to help him. I’ve done a lot of reading and a vet has aged him at 5/6 weeks.

Does anyone have any tips? He’s so affectionate, and is bottle feeding at the moment, preparing to be weaned properly. Does anyone recommend a good wet food to make a slurry?

And how can I help him with grooming? He accidentally smooshed a bit of poo on his back legs and stinks but I don’t want to hurt him 😩

Thankyou!

Bump in the hope someone better comes along. Pics please! I’m sure you could clean him with a water wipe or flannel - just wet with the water warm water and have a dry one to softly mop off

Aargh -?that was completely nonsensical but hopefully you got the drift.

Bumping again x

I do know if you bathe him/her you need to put them on a heat pad after (maybe hot water bottle?) as they get really cold. This happend with one of my rescues. He was fine as we warned him up x

We raised a kitten from about 10 days old. We washed her with warm water and cotton wool. I think you can get special kitten milk now but she had goats milk. We started on solid food around 5/6 weeks and as she ate more solid food - kitten food mixed with milk - we put more milk in a bowl and less in the bottle.

Google shows quite a few pet sites with advice - especially regarding how to make them pee...
Good luck - and don’t forget a photo is required.

We used to wean ours on Royal Canin Babycat biscuits. They are so small and they used to love them. Or you could try any of the kitten pâtés- Lily's kitchen do a lovely one.
The most important thing is to weigh them daily to make sure they are gaining weight. It doesn't matter so much that they are small but that they are gaining every day. We used some kitchen scales and a bowl. Good luck x

Thankyou, his preferred heat source at the moment appears to be tucked into my dressing gown. He loves it in there 😂

He’s managing to wee and poo ok without help, so far only one hasn’t been in the litter tray which is amazing!

I’ll have a go mixing some of the milk with food tomorrow. I tried today but he wasn’t interested, maybe it’s the bowl he doesn’t like. I didn’t even think about weighing him, I’ll do that tomorrow too.

Have tried to attach a photo!

Look on YouTube for kittenxlady (hannah shaw)
One of her videos is helpfully titled “giving kittens an oopsie poopsie Butt bath”
She is an amazing resource!

Oh my ❤️❤️❤️
What is her name x

Sorry....his name ❤️❤️

Thankyou @Beetle76, I will check that out. I didn’t even think of youtube.

I’ve had cats before but never such a small one. He’s only just a bit bigger than my hand. At the moment he’s nameless, my children are naming him but haven’t thought of anything suitable yet.

Tonight is the first night away from his siblings and he cries every time he’s put back in his little bed/box. It looks like I’ve got a long night of being a pillow ahead of me. He’s obviously missing them, understandably. I’m worrying about him as if he’s a newborn baby 😂.

So very kind of you to take care of him 🥰 is he going to be a new family member? ❤️ He’s absolutely beautiful ❤️❤️

Oh my! He is gorgeous and I want him! .

@SappysCurry yes, he’s definitely staying with us. I am so in love with his little face ♥️

Oh he's so beautiful! I adopted my kitty when he was tiny too and he still loves the sort of grooming he had then. A clean toothbrush can be helpful btw, for mimicking mothers tongue and helping to clean fur.

@TaraR2020 this might be a stupid question, but a dry toothbrush? Or one that is damp? Thankyou, that’s a really helpful tip

Oh he’s gorgeous- have you tried a fluffy blanket wrapped around a hot water bottle or a wheat pad? Might help him settle. Otherwise you could fashion a baby along to carry him in.
We had kittens last year, they spend a lot of time in their first weeks snuggled up to mum.

You are doing a wonderful job!

Oh he's a little treasure. I agree the kitten lady is very good. I watched her feed a tiny kitten less that a,week old with a syringe.😍😍😍.

Oh, my heart 💔 so cute. I'm so jealous. Lovely you're looking after kitty x

@Em8725 a dry one :)

If he's really mucky and you need to bathe then nothing to stop you using it with water obviously.

I miss those tiny days!

Oh wow he is so beautiful 😻!! I am jealous. I grew up with a tiny kitten from when I was aged 2yo and she stuck by my side for 22 years and passed this year. They are so special. I hope his first night was ok!

Any chance you have a ddog op? When I fostered newborn dkittens ddog was the bum washer!! They need them licked to stimulate a poo /wee.
And I didn't love them THAT much!!

@Aprilshowersandhail ah no I don’t have a dog 😂. My MIL has a cat though, do you think it’s worth the hassle of trying to get them together?

He had a wonderful night, and woke me up really early this morning for a bottle of milk. I tried him on a mix of milk and cat food but he really wasn’t interested. I’m not sure how to persuade him.

If he’s running around the floor he makes a jump for my dressing gown and crawls up it to under my neck.

Well our new dkitten and dcat bonded in less than 2 weeks!.. Would mil be interested in keeping him? May bond too well!

@Aprilshowersandhail I might just nick MILs cat instead 😂This little baby is going nowhere, I feel so sorry for him that he was abandoned twice and he’s only 5/6 weeks old. He’s such a dear little thing 😭