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!

2 weeks in.

Get in touch with your local CP they usually have a helpline.

Oh and have you forgotten the rule?

Oops should have read the entire thing

@Aprilshowersandhail oh look! 😍

He’s really come out of his shell this morning and is chasing my children around the house. He’s running after their legs and only stops when they stop.

Hopefully all the running will make him hungry. I’m going to pop out for a hot water bottle today.

DP “didn’t want a cat” but has gleefully shown me his Amazon purchase this morning of the most enormous cat tree I’ve ever seen.

Ahhhh ok this is now my favourite thread for as long as it lasts. You and your DP sound like the most fabulous foster-kitty-parents ever.
Keep us posted on his name and progress OP - with more pix if poss.
🥰

Ok. We are taking little Frank (the kids named him) to the vet today for a check up and to see if he’s due any vaccinations and to see if he can have the worm and flea treatments.

He’s eaten quite a bit this morning, mainly off my fingers so I think he needs teaching to eat from a bowl.

He’s still curled up in my dressing gown, and follows me around if I dare to put him on the floor. If I stand still he sits on my slipper until I pick him up. I’ve been putting him down every 15/30 minutes because he has to get used to being a cat and not a baby 😂

Few months in.

You could try putting his food on a flattish plate instead of a bowl and sort of spread the food out at the edge of the plate.

Frank! Great choice.

Awwww. What a happy thread!

Oh this is just the cutest thread ever. The worming is important at that age for sure. I agree that you could try a small flat plate to feed him on as well. If he’s chasing their legs some mouse and bird toys on sticks will work really well, that’s his hunting instinct to jump at anything that moves kicking in. It’s super cute now but less so when they’re a year old with big teeth 😆 You might find that he goes mad in the early morning or evening. Mine used to climb up the curtains at 10 weeks old! Have you tried bird videos for cats on YouTube? My cat absolutely loves those, he’s entertained for hours staring at them 😁

You sound like you’re doing a great job OP. Frank is an adorable name as well.

We have a frog on a stick toy that I got yesterday because he loves jumping at things, they didn’t have birds or mice so we went for the frog. He adores it.

Will have another go at feeding soon. He’s had little and often this morning so I’ll try a flat plate of the food and milk later.

Last night I put his box in my room and contemplated putting his box my side of the bed but it is next to the curtains so I’m glad I decided against it 😂

Frank is a brilliant name :)

You could see if the vets have a dog crate they could lend you for a couple of weeks, useful for night time....bed, bowls, litter etc all go inside and you know he's safe til morning.

I think it was at around 6/7 weeks out kittens started to show interest in ‘proper’ food. They were still supplemental feeding from
Mum up to around 12 weeks. They didn’t need it but wanted it.
I’ve no idea if that’s any help, but it’s a blatant go at place marking.

@Bargebill19 that’s really helpful, Thankyou. I’m going to go and find some smooth food that I can mix with the milk to wean, and go from there.

The house looks like a bomb has gone off because there’s cat paraphernalia everywhere.

DP is “supervising” him having a sleep (read that as cuddling him to sleep😂) so I’m going to blitz and get ready for the vet 😊

We used a child’s soft playpen - cheap from amazon to attempt to contain our 3 hooligans. Just an idea if a crate cannot be found. They did destroy it eventually, and now love clean laundry, a pile of blankets and various cat beds.

Dog crate is coming tonight, another friend has one she’s not using.

I need to get a different litter but will wait for the vets advice. I’m absolutely convinced he thinks he’s a parrot. He’s spent most of today on my shoulder ♥️

Do you really need a crate at night? Crating kittens just seems wrong to me.

We've always just kept new kittens in one room with food and litter at night until they get used to free run of the house (usually within a week or two).

And Frank is very cute

@Grumpyoldpersonwithcats I’m not thrilled about it but although we have a small house, the rooms aren’t that small - and we took the doors off whilst renovating downstairs😬. There’s so many places he could get stuck like behind the sofa. Whilst we come up with a plan he will have to be contained at night.

He’s honestly so so small, approximately the size of my hand. I don’t think a crate would harm/hinder him. It’ll be safer for him until we have a plan.

It all happened as a bit of a whirlwind. I got a call at 12.15 yesterday saying could I help, and by 12.30 he was here.

What is it with men who don’t want cats and then go all soppy over them?. Mine used to miss his lunch break to go home to check on the cat instead. The cat would run to the window to see if I was coming and then lose interest in him.

Do they know what happened to mum cat, it’s unusual for them to abandon kittens. Something’s gone very wrong there.

Could you not take one of his siblings too so he has a friend?

So his siblings are “unavailable”. I’m not too impressed with the way things have been handled but that’s a story for another day.

Mum didn’t return. I think the kittens themselves were abandoned by a human, or maybe mum was a stray and wasn’t eating enough to feed them? I’m not sure, these are just theories.

Vets went fine, they sent me on my way with a cat carrier and some food to try him on. They are happy for him to stay with me. He’s too small to be wormed. They saw him for free, and want me to take him back next week to check his weight is going up as expected.

I’m going to warm the food with a little milk as he’s not interested at all, but I know cats can be really fussy. My old girl was a Sheba cat one week, and then whiskas the next 🙄

What is it with men who don’t want cats and then go all soppy over them?.

It the special secret power of our kitty overlords. You tube is full of, 'he didn't want a cat' men.

You have a lovely kind vet.
They are tiny aren’t they, they soon grow.

Vets are very nice aren’t they?, they could’ve charged you for that.

He’ll eat meat when he’s ready, you won’t be bottle feeding him forever. Although that would be unbearably cute, especially if his ears waggle as he suckles.