Three Day Old Abandoned Kitten from Kat « Daily Kitten Chat Forum

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Three Day Old Abandoned Kitten from Kat

(16 posts)

Started 2 years ago by jcat
Latest reply from NJKatwoman

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Hi, Kat, I hope you don't mind me reposting your original post from two of the other threads so that hopefully more TDKers will see it...

A new poster called Kat has posted this on both the 'New Here' and the '10-Day-Old Constipated Kitten' threads:

Three day old abandoned kitten:
Three days ago, I discovered three kittens on the porch of an home where the owner had left quickly. These three kittens were squalling, and flies were swarming around them. They had some disgusting and smelly mass attached to them, and they were all trying desperately to get away from it, but they were all still attached to it. It turns out, it was the placenta. It was probably the Mother cat's first litter, and she didn't know what to do. I rushed them over to a local animal care clinic, and Dr. Roberts got the kittens seperated, tied their umbilical cords, and even picked a few maggots off of one of the kittens. She got them to take a little formula, they all suckled. But sadly, two of them passed away yesterday, and I am trying valiently to keep the last little fighter alive. My problem is that he's not pooping. I have been giving him the powdered KMR that the Dr. gave me, and I was using a little bottle. I have since switched to a syringe, because the baby is fighting taking the bottle. Every couple of hours or so, I get a little bit of formula in him, and I rub him all over, including his little bottom. He finally got out the tiniest little ball of something, but I'm concerned because I thought he'd have more pee and poop. I don't want to lose this baby, too. He's a little squealer, and protests loudly when I try to feed him, and massage him.
I was grateful that the Vet didn't charge me a dime, I have been out of work since last October, and am in a bad way. The last little bit of formula that I gave him, I put two drops of olive oil in it...I'm sure the amount that he ingested was incredibly scant. Can anyone give me some advice as to how I can help this scrappy baby pull through? Thank you all very much!

Posted 2 years ago by jcat #
Hi, Kat, thank you so much for trying to save this little baby. I'm glad he's a squealer -- shows he's got some energy left at least. Those kitten sites I mentioned on the other thread have some very good advice:

http://www.kittenrescue.org/pages.php?pageid=15
http://www.fanciers.com/cat-faqs/orphans.shtml
http://www.feralcat.com/raising.html

Also, little kittens don't need to poop every day, and he probably won't for a day or two if he hasn't been getting fed until now (and other TDKers warn it will probably be stinky when he does!) If he doesn't poop within, say, two more days, it might be time to get back to the vet and ask his advice but bear in mind he's not taking in very much at the moment and probably hasn't for a while. If you click on the pink tags 'poop' and 'constipation', in the top right hand corner, you will see previous threads and advice on this subject.

Probably the most important thing, apart from the feeding every few hours, is to keep him warm. Kittens this age can't regulate their own body heat and he would normally be cuddled up to his mum and littermates. Best way is to hold him to you, wrapped in a warm towel or sweater but if that's not possible, put him in a box with a hot water bottle that you've wrapped in a towel so it's not too hot (or a heating pad, if you've got one). Make sure there's enough room in the box so he can crawl off it if he gets too hot.

You also need to make sure he doesn't get dehydrated. The test for this (the tent test) is to pick up a fold of skin on the scruff of his neck and let go. If it snaps back immediately, he is not dehydrated. But if the skin takes a little while to go back down or, worse, it stays up in a 'tent', then the kitten is dehydrated, which is dangerous. You might also want to try mixing his formula with pedialyte rather than water, to help keep him hydrated.

Please keep checking back, as Caroline suggested on the other threads. As she says, we have some very wise kitten foster mums on here and I'm sure they will want to help, but they may not be on till the holiday weekend's over. Good luck with this little one but bear in mind that they are very fragile at this age, and some of these poor babies don't make it. Hopefully your young battler will but you also need to be prepared.

Posted 2 years ago by jcat #
Bumping.

Posted 2 years ago by Moonshadow_NZ #
Thank you all for your help! He is eating well, and starts squalling when he wants to eat. His consumption really increased over the past day. The only poop I could see were two teeny tiny little balls, they were sort of mustard colored. Now, I just fed him at 9:25 pm, and its not 9:55, and I can hear him crying in the box. Usually, when he starts crying, I give him some formula.
He's peeing well, just not pooping as well as I think he should be for the amount of formula that he is ingesting. This is my first time ever trying to bottle feed a baby kitten, and since two of his mates just passed away two days ago, I don't want to experience that tragedy again. I did post a video up on YouTube showing him, and me bottle feeding him. I'm not trying to spam or promote my YT channel, but it's the only place I know where I can share videos so easily. If you wish, you are welcome to view the video, and then tell me what I am doing wrong. He is very difficult to get a nipple in his mouth, what with all of the squealing and squirming, but he does take in formula once I can get the nipple in. I would just feel a LOT better if he would take a good healthy poop! Those tiny little balls just don't seem very normal to me. Is there something that I can give him to make him "go"? Thank you all so very much!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYfllxreTSI

Posted 2 years ago by NJKatwoman #
I'm in loooove....he's absolutely deicious.
Seems to me you know more about taking care of this little blessing than I , so I have not much to add, except, I wonder if the amount of poops he's making may be appropiate for his size, tiny. Lol
I will pray to St Francis especially for this little baby. I'll have to think about a name. All of mine have a middle name , I suggest Blessing for a middle name.
God bless you for giving him/he a chance.

Posted 2 years ago by Tigerlilly #
i'm also praying he survives. he's definently a fighter....

Posted 2 years ago by CSBM #
Oooohhhh, he IS a purrito! Bless him!

Posted 2 years ago by jcat #
He is so tiny and so cute. The nipple seems a little big for him; do they come in sizes or is that the right size? He's so little and so squirmy; I just loved watching him.

Posted 2 years ago by CheetahBoysmommy #
Thank you everyone, for such kind words! Cheetahboysmommy, you are a genius!
It never occurred to me to see if they make smaller nipples for the bottle...the bottle is the one that the vet gave to me. A smaller nipple might just be the ticket! He is getting formula, but sometimes, I have to gently squeeze the bottle to ensure that he's getting some in. And last night, he scared the bejeebers out of me...I thought perhaps he had aspirated some formula, but it turns out, he started to PURR!!! I didn't even know a four day old baby could PURR!!! I was delighted. I held his warm, squirmy little body up to my face, and my ear, to listen as closely as I could. Uh oh, he's starting to cry now, he must "hear" me thinking about him! He did a little more poop this morning, after his first feeding, which was only a couple of hours ago...could he possibly be hungry again, already? He is my first newborn, so I am really a nervous mommy!

Posted 2 years ago by NJKatwoman #
How much are you feeding him?
I fed orphan babies, not this small though, they were 3 weeks old, and I always had to give the bottle a little squeeze to help the milk come out.

Posted 2 years ago by Tigerlilly #
I only found one size nipple when I was taking care of mine; it would be nice if there were smaller ones.
Other ooption is a syringe or dropper. Here is a good resource:
http://www.nettally.com/rlgotts/HandFeed.htm

Posted 2 years ago by Tigerlilly #
12:30 pm, EST. Well, I am happy to report that little "Brutus" finally took a poopie! It was approx 3/4 of an inch in length, not too firm, not too smooshy, and I swear, I was so happy to see it, that I would have gold plated the thing if I could have! lmao! He is very difficult to feed...I thought by now, he would recognize the nipple and start suckling right away. I really have to work to get it into his little mouth, with him squirming and squalling the whole time.
Finally, after getting formula all over his face, I squeeze some into the corner of his mouth...it takes a little while, but I can get food into him.
When he's really full, he will fall asleep in my hand, otherwise, if I put him back into his warm box, he mews and cries for a little bit...So, I don't know what that means...if he were still hungry, wouldn't he have eaten more?
Whew! God Bless all of you folks who do newborn rescue all of the time...
It's a difficult task for sure!

Posted 2 years ago by NJKatwoman #
Of all the things we love on this thread, poop seems to be very close to the top. We worry about it, we rejoice when it happens, if there was a place where you could get the little offering gold-plated, we would know exactly where to send you.

He probably cries when you put him back into his box because he wants to be with his mommy (you). Can you fashion a sling so you can carry him around a little bit after he's eaten? I've know people who carried very young kittens in their bra, but whether that works depends on how much 'frontage' you have. Older kittens can be put into a regular baby sling, but I'm not sure you could put such a tiny baby into one.

If you watch a mama cat with her newborns, you'll see that when they finish eating they just sort of stay attached and fall asleep against the mama's fur. When they go into a deeper sleep they will wiggle around and won't always be in contact with her.

Posted 2 years ago by CheetahBoysmommy #
Hi cheetahboysmommy! Thank you for that wonderful suggestion! I'm afraid I wasn't blessed w/ bigguns, just a big heart! lol! I can try the sling idea...
if he doesn't get too squirmy, it might just work. Today, after giving him a little formula, he kept trying to crawl up my neck, and nuzzle and suckle in my hair. Strange, I thought, being that it was so difficult to get him to suckle on the nipple. And when I hold him to my face, he will stick his little nose into my nostril, like he's trying to inhale my scent. Funny little baby! How sad that he misses the mother he never knew, except for the time he spent in her womb. She birthed these babies, and left them to die, all entangled up in umbilical cords and a mass of placenta. I'm honored to be chosen to be his Mommy for now. I will try the sling idea, and will let you know how that works out. Thank you so much!!!

Posted 2 years ago by NJKatwoman #
What I did with my 3 week olds, they were bigger, squirmed more and had little needle points to scratch, was wrap them up in a small light weight towel( so it would not be too bulky) such that only their little head was out (just like a purrito,Lol) and then hold them upright to feed.
Hurray for poops...well done little Brutus:), and Mama

Posted 2 years ago by Tigerlilly #
Hi Tigerlily! Yes, I usually wrap him up like a Purritto! lol! But my oh my, the squealing and squalling that goes on...you'd think I was torturing him, when all I'm trying to do is feed him. sigh. Tough nite with him last nite.
I fed him around 11 pm. I set my clock for 3:15 am to wake him for a feeding.
Got a little formula in him, but no poop out of him. Put him back in the box, and a few minutes later, he's mewing and crying. Gave him a little more formula, more tummy rubs, etc. Back in the box...more mewing and crying. It took three feedings before he finally went back to sleep without crying.
Fed him again at 9 am. Tried the warm washcloth and tummy/bottom rubs, and he squalled something terrible. Can't get him to poop again. He last pooped yesterday afternoon, and it kind of squirted out a yellow mustard color.
I really can't tell if his belly is "hard" so to speak. After he eats, it's quite round, and I gently manipulate it, and I even massaged Vaseline onto his little bum to get him to poop again. A lot of squealing. He HATES having his bottom rubbed. I'm worried. Should I be? He's also a VERY sound sleeper,
and if I wake him to feed him, he protests by crying. A few times, he "over-reacted", practically jumping from one side of the box to the other, and squalling like a stuck pig, as to say, "WTF!!! I WAS SLEEPING FOR CRYING OUT LOUD"!!! And of course, always vocal. How long can a kitten go without pooping before it becomes dangerous?
Would he stop eating if he were sick? He's 6 days old today, and he did pee a little. I'm feeding him KMR, and today his weight was 115.9 grams. A little over 4 ounces. After waking him this morning at 3:15, it was nearly 4:30 am before he finally settled down and went back to sleep.

Posted 2 years ago by NJKatwoman #

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