3 Week Old Orphan Baby - Mittens

[Blue Bug]

Hi everyone,
I'm new here and to bottle feeding.

4 days ago a friend called to say she found a litter of cold kittens under her barn and she could't have them because of her dog.
There were a total of 5 in the nest. Sadly 2 were already dead and 2 were barely alive. 1 was walking around. The healthier one is the reason they were found, she/he walked out into the open. My friend had no idea the litter was there before this and had never seen the mom cat.
Mom still has not been seen and we suspect something bad happened to her.

The first night we tried to warm the surviving 3. The two weak ones wouldn't take any milk. Tried getting a few drops in but they would turn away. They were weak but somehow made it through the night. I continued with syringe feeding and they seemed to gain a little strength, but still wouldn't take enough milk. We very sadly lost them both, it was so upsetting.

Little feisty one is still doing good. She is suckling really well and has a little pot belly. I had my vet look at her and she has no fever and no sign of respiratory infection. She needs a bath tonight though as she had a touch of diarrhea and has a very crusty rear end that I can't get clean with a damp paper towel.

I know to use only the blue Dawn dish soap, but am nervous about bathing her. I'm planning on using a large bowl with warm water and try to soften the crusty stuff to get it off her fur.
Does anyone have any pointers for bathing a very young kitten? And do's and dont's? After the bath I'll wrap her in a warmed towel and try to dry her off. I'll have a little space heater running close by to keep warm air moving.
Another problem I have is that she has some crusts around her mouth that are not coming off with the damp towel. I'm afraid to irritate her skin if I keep wiping. Could I dab a little coconut oil on there to soften the crusts and then wipe it off?

Little kitten, Mittens, has a large box with a heating pad in one corner. I have the heating pad covered with several layers. I also have some small stuffed toys in there, she loves to snuggle with them.

I've been feeding her every 3 to 4 hours. Sometimes she wants feeding sooner and will let me know by meowing. I have her with me at work during the day and it's working out good.

My little pup has been helping with snuggles for Mittens. The pup is always 100% supervised by me. When I have the pup with me Mittens is always more active and seems more content. Lucy, the pup, has been wonderful and very kind and gentle. She must sense that Mittens is a tiny baby. Lucy is only 4 months old herself lol. I'll try to attach a few photos if I can.

 

[StefanZ]

You are doing very good! Yes cocoa oil is useful. Coldpressed organic helps even on minor irritations and sores. What milk do you use?

Re bath: be sure she doesnt get chilled. So no draugh, and warmth also afterwards.

 

[Blue Bug]

Thank you. It has been a challenge for sure.

I put some coconut oil (the good stuff, organic cold pressed unrefined) on her mouth area and a few small crusty bits came away. I'll keep doing that until her little face is clean.

The milk replacer is KMR. She likes it just fine thankfully.

Another question; How much time should I be spending with her. I typically sit with her for 30 mins to an hour after feeding. She just bumbles around the room and such. She is starting to want to play a little so I have some small cat toys for her to try and bat at etc. I'm not allowing her to chew on my fingers, just immediately redirect to a toy. Her attention span lasts a second or two

I do worry about her being alone with no siblings or mom. Not sure how being alone affects her. But she is way too tiny and young to be anywhere other than her box when I'm not with her.

 

[StefanZ]

Re company; you are doing nicely as it is. Alone kitten isnt idealic, but in right circumstances, good enough. Here more than good enough. I also bet, he is mostly sleeping when you and the puppy are away.

After all, many do have cats from handraised, rescued kittens. Few of them are complaining.
You think also on the stuffed toys. And this friendly dog is a good help of course. Although its wise you do supervise their plays. He is a cub after all, and its easy to do something bad during play.



There is another matter I want to mention. Its too late here, but still good to know.
Something which is NOT common knowledge. That is why Im doing my "crusade", thankfully finding followers.

The use of glucose sugar / dextrose; especielly on weak kittens,

In practice it will be bought pedialyte or homemade pedialyte made of water, honey and a trifle salt.
Because in USA it seems to be difficult to find glucose sugar / dextrose proper, but honey does contain much. White caro syrup does too contain glucose sugar. And is used sometimes yes.

A weak or cold kitten cant digest food. So its often meaningsless to give it kmr before its warmed up. But glucose sugar doesnt need digesting, it goes straight into blood already in the mouth, and further in stomach and intestines too, of course.

So the trick with cold, weak, lethargic or even seemingly dying is to give them pedialyte, not kmr or goats milk. Even smearing honey sweetened water on lips and gums works giving some quick energy...

If they are dying for real so they are dying for real. but if they arent dying yet, its often the turnover. Or at least, buying some time till healing processes and for example antibiotic begins to work.

 

[tinydestroyer]

I bet this kitten is so happy you took it in! You and Lucy seem to be doing great with little Mittens. My bottle kitty, (her name is Lucy, actually,) was socialized just fine from interacting with us a few times a day, usually timed with feedings, and I'm sure that with all the love you're giving, it is more than enough. You seem to have the important bits down
- multiple feedings, keeping the cat warm, not letting them play with your hands - bit feel free to come back if you have any other questions. There's a ton of helpful cat-lovers here!

 

[Blue Bug]

I bet this kitten is so happy you took it in! You and Lucy seem to be doing great with little Mittens. My bottle kitty, (her name is Lucy, actually,) was socialized just fine from interacting with us a few times a day, usually timed with feedings, and I'm sure that with all the love you're giving, it is more than enough. You seem to have the important bits down
- multiple feedings, keeping the cat warm, not letting them play with your hands - bit feel free to come back if you have any other questions. There's a ton of helpful cat-lovers here!

She is still doing well. I only started weighing her yesterday after reading here that it's a great way to monitor progress.

Yesterday morning she was 324g, same time this morning she was 345g.

A gain of 21g is good!

I certainly do have lots of questions

When can she live outside her box? Do you wait until they start to climb out themselves? Her room is similar size to a small bathroom.

Should I start to introduce her to a small litter box soon?

She goes potty in the same place every time I take her out. It's a cubby box from the cat tree. I line it with paper towels and clean up each use. This morning she made tiny little scratching motions before going pee.

Currently I am feeding her every 4 hours. Should I stick with that schedule for a while or slowly start to increase the time between feedings?

I'm not exactly sure how old she is, but estimate somewhere around late 3 wks to maybe 4 wks.

 

[StefanZ]

Every 4 hours sounds fine. She will manage occasionally a longer break but kittens needs eating more often than adults. Take a longer night sleep if you want. But you are perh doing the bathroom in the middle of the night so it doesnt matter much?

Climbing out is natures way to show they are mature for next step.
But if she matures nicely being naturally "room broken" begin with the litter traing. Non clumping litter and shallow pane.

 

[kashmir64]

I did not see this thread until just now...sorry.
If she is peeing/pooping on her own, then you can introduce a cat box. Get a throwaway baking pan from the dollar store. The sides are not too high. Use only non-clumping litter.
If you can get goats milk, that would be awesome. Raw is best, but pasturized is good also. I personally like the 1 part KMR to 3 parts goats milk formula.
Does she still have diarrhea? If so, she may need to be put on Albon or Panacur depending. She could either have Coccidia or Giardia. Or it could just be her adjusting, keep an eye on it. If you need to clean her up, butt baths are fairly easy and the kitten won't be as apt to catch a chill. I gave one to each kitten every day when they had Giardia. Just make sure you completely dry and warm her afterwards.
You said you are feeding 4 times a day. Is this throughout the night also? She needs this. At her age (I'm guessing 4 weeks judging by the picture) she should be fed every 3-4 hours.

You are doing very well. She is so adorable.

 

[kashmir64]

ow to use only the blue Dawn dish soap,

Just a note. I used Johnson's Baby Wash on mine. It's very mild and you don't need more than a fingertip of it.

 

[Blue Bug]

I did not see this thread until just now...sorry.
If she is peeing/pooping on her own, then you can introduce a cat box. Get a throwaway baking pan from the dollar store. The sides are not too high. Use only non-clumping litter.
If you can get goats milk, that would be awesome. Raw is best, but pasturized is good also. I personally like the 1 part KMR to 3 parts goats milk formula.
Does she still have diarrhea? If so, she may need to be put on Albon or Panacur depending. She could either have Coccidia or Giardia. Or it could just be her adjusting, keep an eye on it. If you need to clean her up, butt baths are fairly easy and the kitten won't be as apt to catch a chill. I gave one to each kitten every day when they had Giardia. Just make sure you completely dry and warm her afterwards.
You said you are feeding 4 times a day. Is this throughout the night also? She needs this. At her age (I'm guessing 4 weeks judging by the picture) she should be fed every 3-4 hours.

You are doing very well. She is so adorable.

Thank you for all the advice!

She is getting fed round the clock every 4 hours and drinking well at each feeding.
I was unable to source any goats milk.. my friend has kids due in 4 weeks, too late by then. Kitten seems to be doing well with the KMR. She is not showing any interest in real food just yet.
The diarrhea has gone and stools are formed but soft.

She took to the litter box immediately, I put her in and scraped around with my fingers and she copied and went pee
She has been using the litter box for two days now. I did get non clumping and the roasting pan.

I finally got most of her little face clean. It looks a bit tender around her mouth so I've put some coconut oil on to help sooth the skin. Her rear end is nice and clean, it took a bath to get her that way and she was really good during the bath.

She is becoming more active each day and playing lots with the puppy.

 

[Blue Bug]

Here are her weights, taken at the same time each day:
11/23 - 324g
11/24 - 345g
11/25 - 370g
11/26 - 389g
11/27 - 406g

And a quick video of her playing with my, very patient, 4 month old puppy:

 

[Blue Bug]

End of playtime

 

[kashmir64]

I'm glad to see she's doing well. She's so adorable.
That dog must have some schnauzer in him. They are the most patient dogs I've ever known.

 

[Sarthur2]

How sweet! Her poop will be like soft serve ice cream while she is on formula. She looks a couple of weeks too young for soft food yet anyway. Keep up the nice job!

 

[35 year catdad]

Hi everyone,
I'm new here and to bottle feeding.

4 days ago a friend called to say she found a litter of cold kittens under her barn and she could't have them because of her dog.
There were a total of 5 in the nest. Sadly 2 were already dead and 2 were barely alive. 1 was walking around. The healthier one is the reason they were found, she/he walked out into the open. My friend had no idea the litter was there before this and had never seen the mom cat.
Mom still has not been seen and we suspect something bad happened to her.

The first night we tried to warm the surviving 3. The two weak ones wouldn't take any milk. Tried getting a few drops in but they would turn away. They were weak but somehow made it through the night. I continued with syringe feeding and they seemed to gain a little strength, but still wouldn't take enough milk. We very sadly lost them both, it was so upsetting.

Little feisty one is still doing good. She is suckling really well and has a little pot belly. I had my vet look at her and she has no fever and no sign of respiratory infection. She needs a bath tonight though as she had a touch of diarrhea and has a very crusty rear end that I can't get clean with a damp paper towel.

I know to use only the blue Dawn dish soap, but am nervous about bathing her. I'm planning on using a large bowl with warm water and try to soften the crusty stuff to get it off her fur.
Does anyone have any pointers for bathing a very young kitten? And do's and dont's? After the bath I'll wrap her in a warmed towel and try to dry her off. I'll have a little space heater running close by to keep warm air moving.
Another problem I have is that she has some crusts around her mouth that are not coming off with the damp towel. I'm afraid to irritate her skin if I keep wiping. Could I dab a little coconut oil on there to soften the crusts and then wipe it off?

Little kitten, Mittens, has a large box with a heating pad in one corner. I have the heating pad covered with several layers. I also have some small stuffed toys in there, she loves to snuggle with them.

I've been feeding her every 3 to 4 hours. Sometimes she wants feeding sooner and will let me know by meowing. I have her with me at work during the day and it's working out good.

My little pup has been helping with snuggles for Mittens. The pup is always 100% supervised by me. When I have the pup with me Mittens is always more active and seems more content. Lucy, the pup, has been wonderful and very kind and gentle. She must sense that Mittens is a tiny baby. Lucy is only 4 months old herself lol. I'll try to attach a few photos if I can.

 

[35 year catdad]

this is off the cute scale I LUV the dogs doo
looks like my hair lately in da moanin'
wow they are tiny and sooo much work Thanks for helping them! I use that reflective expensive foil insulation under blankets/towels its about 1/8 thick and really keeps them warm. good luck

 

[Blue Bug]

A quick update in little kitten!

She weighed in at 1.5 lb's this morning Very happy that she continues to grow and gain weight.
She is way more playful and is running and jumping. She can climb up on the sofa and chairs and has made herself right at home. She is also eating some kitten wet pate food. Still wants her bottle at times, but is slowly starting to wean off it.
Sje is also using a little box 100% of the time... such an independent little thing.
She and the young puppy are the very best of friends. I think they consider each other a sibling. They are either playing together or snuggled up sleeping together.

I'll attach a few photos... they are too adorable..

 

[Sarthur2]

Furry friends - so precious!

 

[ileen]

It's hard to tell how much the kitty is growing because the puppy is growing too. I had a miniature schnauzer growing up, and I agree about the patient thing. Does kitty have a name now? Did kitty ever try to nurse from Lucy?

 

[tinydestroyer]

A quick update in little kitten!

She weighed in at 1.5 lb's this morning Very happy that she continues to grow and gain weight.
She is way more playful and is running and jumping. She can climb up on the sofa and chairs and has made herself right at home. She is also eating some kitten wet pate food. Still wants her bottle at times, but is slowly starting to wean off it.
Sje is also using a little box 100% of the time... such an independent little thing.
She and the young puppy are the very best of friends. I think they consider each other a sibling. They are either playing together or snuggled up sleeping together.

I'll attach a few photos... they are too adorable..

I'm so happy to hear how well Mittens is doing! You'll know when she's done with the bottle. My Lucy bit off the tip to her bottle and then was more and more ravenous for her wet food, which I was giving supplementally.
It's amazing how friendly Mittens and puppy Lucy are being towards one another. They are so adorable! It makes all the difference in the world down the road, when you don't have to worry about them being aggressive towards one another as they get older and more independent. Mine are best of friends, and I routinely come home to them cuddling on the couch.