Found Kittens Unsure Of What To Feed

amethyst

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Not sure if this should go under kitten care or stray care. My husband found a litter of kittens in a shipping crate at work and is on his way home with them. The mother is nowhere to be found and it's going to get down to around 4C (39F) tonight. I'm not sure the local grocery store has wet kitten food, so would adult wet food be ok? I'm not sure on age.

Here is the photos my husband sent...

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Jewely

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Yes, Something like Friskies pate would be fine. They are adorable! Thank you so much for saving them. Others will follow to help you. And, yes, this is the right forum!
 

maggie101

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Read directions on the can for how much is recommended for kitten I think its 2 cans a for one kitten? 5.5 oz. They do look 4-5 weeks old so hopefully someone else will give more info. I took care of 5 week kittens and they ate canned and loved their friskies!
 
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amethyst

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Ok, thanks for the replies so far, I have friskies pate already it's what my other cats eat for wet food. I can't remember though, are kittens not suppose to have the fish flavors? I can just stick with the poultry ones for now if so.

I'm not sure I'll get to keep them, but at least they wont starve or freeze to death.
 

ArchyCat

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Can you find kitten food? Both dry and tinned? They're have a higher calorie density than adult, plus extra protein. The kittens will need both because they are growing, and are much more active than adult cats. The recommendations I read, is that kittens should not be switched to adult food until they stop growing, generally at one year of age.

Thanks for the rescue!
 

maggie101

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Fish is not good for cats. Because of mercury and bacteria. Always check the ingredients. Even if the can says chicken, some companies add fish
 
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amethyst

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Well they are home now, and starving! They feel thin and empty so I don't think the mother is around anymore. They are a lot smaller then they look in the pics. I'm guess around 3-4 weeks. Apparently there was 6 total, another person took one and my husband took the other 5. My husband picked up some kitten chow on the way home (but I'm not sure they can eat it yet) and will look at the livestock/pet feed store tomorrow if he gets off early enough to see if they have any wet kitten food. Otherwise I will need to go into the city to get wet food at a pet store. Since my husband already picked up the dry kitten food could we just wet that for them?

Trying to get pics of them, but I gave them food (a can of chicken friskies pate and a can of turkey and giblets pate) and they definitely perked up a lot and are very vocal and active now (wobbly but active). I've got them set up in a large dog kennel.
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Jewely

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Yes, you can wet the kitten chow, or just mix it with the pate. If they are that young and thin, they would benefit from some kitten milk replacer (kmr) or even full fat goat’s milk that you can serve them in a separate dish to lap up. They look like they will be very cozy now!
 

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Ideally, they need wet cat food and also kitten formula to lap six times a day, which is every four hours. You can see if they will lap the kitten milk; if not, soak the dry kitten chow in the milk like a bowl of cereal and see if they will eat that, plus wet food.

Let us know how they are doing! They are precious. Thank you for saving them!
 

Willowy

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I like Fancy Feast Kitten for the little ones. Mixed with KMR, goat's milk, or just canned evaporated milk (straight from the can not diluted). And of course leave a bowl of Kitten Chow down all the time.

I think they look to be about 5 weeks old but undernourished.
 

maggie101

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When Peaches was 5 weeks old,very tiny, I gave her wellness core chicken,Turkey,and Turkey liver. Now 7 yrs old. More expensive 7 yrs ago. She was tons of fun. Still is. She liked the cats meow electric toy,ping pong balls,wand toys( no feathers) though she could only jump a centimeter. She would shake her little booty and pounce. Also liked stuffed animals. Get a 3 way tunnel
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I come late to the feast. You can of course begin with the adult wet food, but later on switch to the one for kittens. More nourishments and more taurine - they do need this added taurine.

You can add goats milk or kmr is you wish, no problem with this, even if its not strictly necessary.

They had luck although they lost their momma. At this age they are easy to foster, you raise and foster them essentially as any orphaned kitten, you dont need to think much they were homeless, fosterwise (even if your vet will have more work with deworming etc).
You and your hubby are giving them their life twice, literally. Saving their lives, AND fostering them so they will easily find good adoptions homes...

Dont let them meet your resident cats, unless the resident are themselves ex homeless, or at least fully vaccinated and used to go outside so you are sure their immune system is really first grade.
Let them kittens be in a quarantine of sorts, till you are entirely sure they are healthy and deparasitaded...
 
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amethyst

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Thank you for the food suggestions. Unfortunately my options at the moment are mostly limited to the grocery store which is why I wasn't sure the best thing to offer for food. I don't drive or even have a car and live a half hour out of town, so I have to rely on my husband to get things on his way home from work until the weekend. The feed store in town might have some stuff, but they open after and close before he is going through town, unless he can leave work early. :doh: Even if I order online we can't get the mail until Saturday when my husband is off (the joys of living in the middle of nowhere, no home postal/package delivery). The closest actual pet stores are in the city, about a 2 hour drive away from home, we wont be able to take that drive until after payday at the end of the month.

I come late to the feast. You can of course begin with the adult wet food, but later on switch to the one for kittens. More nourishments and more taurine - they do need this added taurine.

You can add goats milk or kmr is you wish, no problem with this, even if its not strictly necessary.

They had luck although they lost their momma. At this age they are easy to foster, you raise and foster them essentially as any orphaned kitten, you dont need to think much they were homeless, fosterwise (even if your vet will have more work with deworming etc).
You and your hubby are giving them their life twice, literally. Saving their lives, AND fostering them so they will easily find good adoptions homes...

Dont let them meet your resident cats, unless the resident are themselves ex homeless, or at least fully vaccinated and used to go outside so you are sure their immune system is really first grade.
Let them kittens be in a quarantine of sorts, till you are entirely sure they are healthy and deparasitaded...
I'm currently keeping them in my home office room. My other cats can't get in, but up until recently most were indoor/outdoor cats anyway. I lost a cat in July, likely a coyote got her, so I kind of freaked and quickly built a catio so now they all go "out" but contained. Living out in the country (surrounded by hay and grain fields) even inside they regularly kill and eat mice so they get dewormer.

These are not the first orphaned kittens, but last time was over 12 years ago and I was able to get to the vet right away to get them kmr and dewormer, but life has changed since.
 
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amethyst

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They move too much when awake to get good photos of them so I took a little video. I put a towel down this morning to help with clean up (there was poop and food all over the place :rolleyes:), changed out the box of a small carrier, and took the toys out since they just seem to be a tripping hazard right now. I'll put the toys back in later when they seem a bit more able to actually play.

 

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How precious! They really are young. Are they able to lap the milk and eat wet food on their own well enough to get the nutrition they need?

Have you heard anything about the kitten that your husband’s friend took home? It would benefit from being with its litter mates for a few more weeks unless it’s doing well by itself.
 
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amethyst

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How precious! They really are young. Are they able to lap the milk and eat wet food on their own well enough to get the nutrition they need?

Have you heard anything about the kitten that your husband’s friend took home? It would benefit from being with its litter mates for a few more weeks unless it’s doing well by itself.
They seem to suck up food, so as long as I make it watery they seem ok. I tried just wetting the dry kitten food until it was puffy and they wouldn't/couldn't eat it, I had to soak it until it's mush to get them to eat it. This last meal i just made up for them is mushed dry kitten chow in water mixed with wet food. They don't seem to be eating that much, but their tummies feel full when they finish. I don't have any milk yet, my husband will look when he goes through town tonight, in about 4 hours. They are able to lap up water so I think they should be able to lap up milk.

I don't know about the one that my husband's coworker took, I think he was going to ask at work today, but I do feel bad for it. Since they came from an area with a stray cat overpopulation problem though and it already has a home (they plan to keep it) it might be best to just leave it if it's doing ok. The person does have other older cats so hopefully it will work out. It would be too easy for the coworker to just find another kitten rather then waiting and then that one loses it's home.
 
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StefanZ

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They will do OK on the food you have at hand for several days, even if its food for adult cats.
Main thing you switch to kitten food when you can... Or at least, get home taurine powder and sprinkle on.

We had a situation, kitten was pickly / finickly, and ate just adult food. After a couple of months it turned out to be blind. Why, we cant know, but its fully possible because the lack of taurine, as there often isnt enough with taurine in adult food...
 
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