Posted: 5/5/2010 4:47:02 PM EDT
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Alright, I know you guys are a bunch of savages, but I also know you have a soft spot for kittens.
We moved to the country a year ago and got an outside cat to help with mice. She doesn't come in cause the wife is allergic. Anyway, she just had a litter of kittens today. 5 of them seem really healthy and are nursing. One was just laying off to the side and we though it was dead. But it's not. She didn't seem to have cleaned this one up much. Probably because she can tell it's not thriving. So what do I do? I wrapped it in a blanket and brought it in the house. It's breathing, but that's about it. It will try and squeak every so often. Is there anything we can or should do? |
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(1) Take it to your vet. Right away.
(2) Have your "outside cat" spayed, and do it NOW. Just as soon as she weans her kittens she'll be back in heat again, and you'll have another load of kittens to find homes for. There are too many homeless cats in the world already. Don't let your cat add to that number. |
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Got to the pet store (Petco Petsmart) and get some artificial kittens milk. Follow the instructions on the label.
http://cats.about.com/od/newbornkittens/Newborn_Kittens_Orphans_Feral_Litters.htm Also, read this page (annoying though it may be) for info about proper feeding position so you don't put milk in the lungs by accident! 
http://www.safehavenforcats.com/newborn.htm |
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Make sure the kitten stays warm. You can do this by wrapping it in a towel and rubbing it gently, and putting it in a box with a towel and the other kittens. Make sure it stays warm, too. You can do this with a heating pad under the box, or a heat lamp. Make sure it doesn't get too hot, either, or you can kill them. I think 88°F is recommended for the first week.
If you have a pet store in a nearby town, get some kitteh milk replacement and some eyedroppers to feed it. It's recommended to warm the formula, too, before you give it to them. Take it to the vet, too when you have a chance. |
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Quoted:
(1) Take it to your vet. Right away. (2) Have your "outside cat" spayed, and do it NOW. Just as soon as she weans her kittens she'll be back in heat again, and you'll have another load of kittens to find homes for. There are too many homeless cats in the world already. Don't let your cat add to that number. Everything and anything in the world can kill a cat (I swear most of the "diseases" they get are fatal. ) So they pop out kittens like no one's business! If you don't want a relatively endless supply of kittens, have her spayed. If you need help finding a cost effective solution let us know. There's lots out there.
The kitten should go to your vet if you can afford it. Keep in mind momma cat may have left it b/c there's too much wrong for it to survive. 
Good luck! |
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Yes , you can help it , and it will thrive and be happy.
There is formula for kittens much like the stuff for babies. It's available at grocery stores , pet stores , wally-world etc. It's called "KMR". Your local shelter can help too. Dropper feeding every few hours or so for the first couple weeks. Keep it warm , they are very temp sensitive at that stage , they need to be quite warm. You can dropper feed it water till tomorrow when you get formula. Do Not give it regular milk , bad for kittens. the kitty can choke if being fed while on it's back. Contact your shelter , they will be glad to help. Get that mommy spayed and any kittens you decide to keep after 2lbs or so. Otherwise , the cycle continues and the problems associated with feral cats arrise. Our cats are rescue cats and one of them started out just like yours. They are great members of our family now. 
-JC |
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Lethargic newborn kittens can often be "revived" with warmth and a vigorous (for a newborn kitten) rubbing. Lay it on its side on your lap on a towel. Use another slightly damp towel or wash cloth and stroke from the nose to the tail to clean it a bit, then switch to a dry towel to dry it. Wet clumped fur does not help with insulation. Then, pretend you are a hairdresser teasing some punk kid's hair up with hairspray, the point is to stimulate it and apply slight pressure to move blood around and pump a little air into it's lungs. Sometimes blowing on their face helps. If it starts to wail, you are making progress. Keep it on a human body for warmth as much as possible until mom is feeding it. Know that often a kitten has internal or developmental problems and will die anyway. A little milk won't hurt. Keep the cat birthing nest intact, you may need a bit of the scent there to reintroduce the kitten. ** As soon as it perks up, get it back to it's mom or you will have an inside bottle fed kitten!** Then get momma fixed. |
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I have a puppy that I had to tube feed (run a tube down his throat to his stomach) and inject fluids in his back for a few weeks because he got pulled from his mother early. It's a lot of work to keep a small animal in that condition alive. If it dies on you, don't get down on yourself. There's a chance that it was fucked before you found it. At that age, the shortest amount of time being malnourished can cause irreperable damage. Good luck with the kittens.
Help control the pet population, have your pets spayed or neutered. |
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Quoted:
Got to the pet store (Petco Petsmart) and get some artificial kittens milk. Follow the instructions on the label. http://cats.about.com/od/newbornkittens/Newborn_Kittens_Orphans_Feral_Litters.htm Also, read this page (annoying though it may be) for info about proper feeding position so you don't put milk in the lungs by accident!
http://www.safehavenforcats.com/newborn.htm Some Walmart stores carry the substitute milk. Some of my best -and biggest & toughest- cats started out as runts. There's not necc. anything wrong with the kitten either ~sometimes there are just too many by the mother's estimation, and she let's one go. Best of luck |
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Quoted:
Yes we are getting the mom fixed. We will go to the pet store and buy some of that milk right now. I'm not taking it to the vet, but we will try our best to keep it warm and revive it. Will mom take it back if it cleans up and starts eating? Mom is going to let whoever wants to eat, eat. After she feels they've eaten enough, she'll leave to go do whatever and come back later. If its too weak, it won't eat. You asked for help and we told you. No vet and its guaranteed its going to die. I've gone through this shit way too many times to not know what i'm talking about.
And yes, if you aint gonna take the baby to the vet then you better make sure you take momma because you'll probably be posting the same question in 2 months. NVM. |
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Quoted:
Yes we are getting the mom fixed. We will go to the pet store and buy some of that milk right now. I'm not taking it to the vet, but we will try our best to keep it warm and revive it. Will mom take it back if it cleans up and starts eating? The mom MAY take it back. Someone earlier had good advice about keeping the nest smell on it. But it may not get suckling time , so keep an eye open. -JC |
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Yes we are getting the mom fixed. We will go to the pet store and buy some of that milk right now. I'm not taking it to the vet, but we will try our best to keep it warm and revive it. Will mom take it back if it cleans up and starts eating? My GSD played mother to my puppy when I brought him home. She'd let him snuggle up to her for warmth, when he was new here, he wouldn't take kibble out of the bowl, so she would take pieces to him across the room before she ate. Now that he's a little more grown up, she treats him like a dog. Mouths him if he gets out of line (he's only 4 pounds, so it's actually really cute how she pins him to the floor with her mouth), and for a dog that wouldn't eat on his own for the first few weeks of life, he sure is a hellion now. Every now and then he'll try to run her away from her food bowl, never works though. I used to work at Petland (prior to learning about puppy mills), and as a result, had a lot of puppies come through underage. It's sad when they get taken from their parents early just to turn a profit, because a lot of times, they just don't make it. Hang in there with the little guy. |
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Quoted:
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Yes we are getting the mom fixed. We will go to the pet store and buy some of that milk right now. I'm not taking it to the vet, but we will try our best to keep it warm and revive it. Will mom take it back if it cleans up and starts eating? My GSD played mother to my puppy when I brought him home. She'd let him snuggle up to her for warmth, when he was new here, he wouldn't take kibble out of the bowl, so she would take pieces to him across the room before she ate. Now that he's a little more grown up, she treats him like a dog. Mouths him if he gets out of line (he's only 4 pounds, so it's actually really cute how she pins him to the floor with her mouth), and for a dog that wouldn't eat on his own for the first few weeks of life, he sure is a hellion now. Every now and then he'll try to run her away from her food bowl, never works though. I used to work at Petland (prior to learning about puppy mills), and as a result, had a lot of puppies come through underage. It's sad when they get taken from their parents early just to turn a profit, because a lot of times, they just don't make it. Hang in there with the little guy. Dogs can be more motherly, cats can be downright bitches! Pun intended. I'm serious, I've had two mothers in years past that have had kittens and completely abandoned them. My advice to new cat owners. 1. Don't get a female if you aint gonna spay her. Aside from getting preggers, the "heat" meows are annoying. 2. Don't get a male if you don't want to deal with "spray". Their horny meows are annoying as hell too. |
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Quoted:
Yes we are getting the mom fixed. We will go to the pet store and buy some of that milk right now. I'm not taking it to the vet, but we will try our best to keep it warm and revive it. Will mom take it back if it cleans up and starts eating? Maybe. There will be a lot of competition for attention and the mother's milk, so I'd be watchful of the little guy. I have an older red tabby that thinks my younger, gray tortie is her kitten and will go up and try and grab the scruff of the tortie's neck. Even though the tortie is bigger than the red tabby 
So, who knows. Maybe a happy story, but if I were you I'd prepare in case that mama doesn't take it back. |