Hi I'm new to the Daily Kitten, and I'm hand raising a new kitten that my boyfriend found in a warehouse without any mother in sight. We'd like to keep her and raise her since we think she has a good chance. I would like any advice anyone can give me. I've already had some very helpful advice from some of my kitten/cat fostering friends, but I would greatly appreciate the advice anyway. My only problem is she doesn't seem to pee, she has peed twice before I had her [she's was with my boyfriend when he found her and I'm not sure if it was in fright or she felt like peeing]. Thanks, and any advice is appreciated.
Daily Kitten Chat Forum » General Chat
Duchess - our child with fur
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Posted 1 year ago by Duchess&&Gabriel #
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Welcome to TDK, Liz! Hand-raising a kitten is a lot of work, but is very rewarding! I am sure you will get lots of great advice here.... just keep checking back to see what others may have posted. The weekends can be a little slow, and it is a holiday in the US - Good luck and post a picture when you can!
Posted 1 year ago by nawlins catmom #
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Hi Liz,here is a good blog with almost all you need to know about hand raising kittens.
http://feral-kitten-rescue.blogspot.com/2008/10/feral-kitten-how-to-story.html
Has pics too. :) If you have any questions feel free to come back,we're not vets but there are many knowledgeable people here. Love to hear more about your kitten and we love pics here too. :) -
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Buttercup, Liz is my daughter, and the kitten is walking and climbing, with eyes open and ears erect. We think she is ~3 weeks... maybe the runt, as she is tiny... A loud voice, however! Liz is feeding her with KMR right now, but I think is going to try the kitten food tomorrow... I am sure she will be back soon and respond... the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!
Posted 1 year ago by nawlins catmom #
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Thanks Buttercup this was a great article, it mentioned some more things I didn't realize. I really appreciate it. I haven't been rubbing her down with the slightly wet cloth. Nor with the heating pad....Should I put one in? I've been trying to keep her pretty warm, but I'm afraid she may slip under the heating pad and touch it. She's a very adventurous kitten.
Posted 1 year ago by Duchess&&Gabriel #
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Hi, DM, Duchess sounds like a real cutie and she looks like a beautiful wee bundle of fur. If your mum hasn't already told you, try the kitten food on a very shallow dish or plate, warmed slightly and drizzled with KMR -- and be prepared for a big mess :-)
Kittens seem to love heating pads (or hot water bottles wrapped in towels but then you have to refill them...) and as long as there is room for her to crawl off if she gets too hot, she should be fine. The blog Buttercup gave you is lovely, isn't it? I'll add a couple of websites, just in case you feel like overloading on information ;-)
http://www.messybeast.com/handrear.htm
http://www.kittenrescue.org/pages.php?pageid=15
http://www.fanciers.com/cat-faqs/orphans.shtmlLook forward to hearing much more about Duchess and seeing more pix!
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JCat, thanks for the encouragement and for the additional links! How close are you to Christchurch? Any ill effects in your area from the earthquake? Stay safe!
Posted 1 year ago by nawlins catmom #
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Thanks JCat for all of the information!! Very helpful, I appreciated it very much. I am a little worried about the peeing though, I haven't been able to read all articles yet but I will tomorrow. I cannot tell if she has peed or not, but I don't want to force her either [one of the article says not to because of skin damage] I'm hoping she has since it's been over a day since I know she has peed [she may be peeing in the towel and I can't tell]. but that is my biggest conern.
Buttercup: thanks for your support, it's very kind, I'm new at the hand raising, but with all of the advice and the actual hands on learning. Although I must admit, she is truly a cutie.
Posted 1 year ago by Duchess&&Gabriel #
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She's been drinking a lot, well at least I think she is. Although it says she's needs to be fed every 4 hours, she seems to want to eat more often. And when she is fed, she definitely drinks, [granted she has a little belly] it does look like it is full. She also seems to be a much happier kitten. Can kitten pee not smell at this age?
Posted 1 year ago by Duchess&&Gabriel #
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According to Skyron, kitten pee is very hard to notice, it is clear, dries fast and doesn't smell so she could very well be peeing in the towels. She is very, very lucky to have you!
BC, you're way too kind! :-) Skyron and Anncetera are the hand-raising experts. I've only raised a handful and work at the shelter and I totally rely on advice from the experts too. Of course I don't mind you passing it on and you don't have to attribute it, we're all just trying to help the kitties.
Nawlins Catmom, thank you so much for being concerned! I am at the bottom of the North Island, and Christchurch (which is our biggest city after Auckland) is halfway down the South Island, and the two islands are separated by Cook Strait. (A very deep stretch of water that takes three hours to cross by boat.) So MS, KK and I are a long way away. But I guess we all have friends and family down there so we're all very relieved no one has been killed. There is a lot of damage but nothing that can't be coped with :-)
Duchess' Mom, you are very, very welcome. People who rescue and hand-raise kittens are our heroes :-)
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you could try putting her in a litterbox and doing scratch-motions with her feet. Usually when I have a 3+ week old baby that refuses to pee when stimulated, its because momma-cat has potty trained them already. Just please dont use clumping litter, it will cause a blockage in her intestines, as kittens ALWAYS eat the litter the first time they see it. Let us know how it goes?
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Welcome to TDK DM!!! How are you today? You know you have resources and support here, also you have a pretty fantastic Mom! I sure am glad you are here. I hand raised Deuter and his brother--they are now 16lbs. (Deuter) and 20lbs. (Nike). With some time and TLC Duchess will be a wonderful part of your family.
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Hi DM, welcome to TDK! I've been TDK/Facebook friends with your Mum for a wee while now, nice to have you as part of our family :o)
Posted 1 year ago by MadcatwomanintheUK #
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Hi, DM - I just wanted to add my welcome to TDK. I have never hand raised a kitten but it looks like you've already gotten a lot of very good advice!
Posted 1 year ago by WillowandWindismom #
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FYI, Duchess continues to do well, according to DM, is set up with heating pad and doting caregivers. I am sure DM will post an update later today. Thanks for all your support! I am so proud of her, taking this on! Thank goodness her class schedule this semester is spaced out, so she can pop in to take care of her once the work/school week starts up again after the long weekend!
Posted 1 year ago by nawlins catmom #
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I know, my little girl is growing up fast! In a good way....
Posted 1 year ago by nawlins catmom #
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Everyone thank you so mich the support I will sign in a little later for a more lengthy update. But so far Duchess seems to be a happy kitten she is currently sleeping on the heating pad with her little head sticking out. She's so adorable. But thanks again the support I get from here means very mich to me and more than I can explain or show.
Posted 1 year ago by Duchess&&Gabriel #
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Welcome DM! Duchess is such a little cutie!
Posted 1 year ago by roxysmommy #
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Every one thanks again. I ha e a quick question. Duchess made a huge poop. I'm going to have to start her on litterbox soon. But it looks like she still has some poop on her butt and I can seem to get it off. I don't want to rub aggressively on her butt because she is young and it's very delicate there. Are there any ways to help with this she was very squirmy during this entire process. Thanks for any suggestions. And thank you all for being so welcoming.
Posted 1 year ago by Duchess&&Gabriel #
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If you are not comfortable dipping her little behind in the warm water, you can try just holding a rag/washcloth wetted with warm water to her bottom. Repeat a few times, and that should help loosen it up... Poop is a good thing, here at TDK we have maany who do a happy dance for poop! lol
Posted 1 year ago by nawlins catmom #
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Well last night I’ve confirmed she definitely doesn’t need the stimulation of peeing and pooing, she pooed a huge amount last night. I am going to try the litter pan today and eating the actual kitten wet food, she’s a very adventurous kitten. She has the grass is always greener syndrome, always wanting to see the other side. She’s a pretty good walker, so we think she may be older than we were told, and it will always be hard to guess a kitten’s age. we think she may be the runt of her family. She walks very steadly with an occasional stumble. She is a very loud meower.
Today I did get a good sleep she is a good sleeper and when we see her is when she meows for food.
JCat, thanks for all of the information very informative, I’ve read all of the articles now. Buttercup thanks fro the information on the peeing, most of the time I found out that she peed when a towel was wet, along with JCat, that was helpful too.
Skyron, the litter box idea is a good idea a couple of people have said that.
Soxsmom, hearing that your kittens are happy and healthy now gives me a lot reassurance, but the more and more I am with Duchess I think she really is older, so Im hoping she got more of mommy’s nutrients than we originally thought.
Madcatwoman, thanks for the support. But that’s great that you have been friends with my mothers.Kilroy thanks, Duchess is so adorable, and very fluffy now
nawlins cat mom thanks for updating everyone when Icouldnt.
Anyway, we are going to upgrade Duchess to a much bigger area so she can have her own litter box, with her little plate of food which we are going to try today and a stuff animal that she can maybe cuddle up to or wrestle, or walk all over its face. Duchess has a fascination on walking on her Daddy’s face.
Sorry for the long post guys just wanted to update yall on our kitten.
Posted 1 year ago by Duchess&&Gabriel #
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