Help with feral kitten

[buzzy]

My neighbours found a feral kitten under their bath

four days ago (there is an outside pipe coming in through a largeish hole in the wall)and have taken him under their wing. He is fairly friendly and they have been feeding him cows milk mixed with a little human powdered formula, on demand every few hours. He is very cute, hisses at their dogs like crazy and is currently taken everywhere by the Mom of the family in a basket so she can feed him consistently. Our local vet is away for 10 days and the nearest one is 5 hours away so advice is not to hand.
Are they feeding him the right stuff? (bearing in mind that in Zambia there are no readymade cat formulas or anything available). We are also unsure how old he is so I have included a picture of him in a margarine tub to give an idea of size. (VERY cute) he eats ravenously and knows exactly what the syringe is for now. As you can see he doesn't look too underweight so his Mom must have abandoned him very recently. What else should they be doing at this stage until the vet comes back?

 

[princess purr]

he looks around three weeks old. Human milk and formula is NOT GOOD for cats. They sell KMR at most petstores petstores, that will be very good for him. I would switch to that ASAP. You might want to try mixing the kmr with alittle kitten for and get some kitten can food and see if he will eat it. Some kitties starting eating younger then others. If you cant get the kitten formula there is something called kitten glop that you can feed. Let me see if I can find the link to how to make it. Is he going potty okay on his own?

 

[princess purr]

here is the link, good luck with the baby!

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ht=kitten+glop

 

[hissy]

Well bearing in mind your location, it sounds like you are doing everything necessary for this kitten, (that is awfully cute by the way) If you have access to goats milk, that would be far better than cows milk for him. With the vet 10 days away from you- you want to try and keep him warm (not sure about the weather in your part of the world right now) You want to keep him hydrated, so he moves his bowels. If you can boil some meat and feed him some broth to get liquid into him- this will help him as well. He really does need a vet, but as you say, you don't exactly have a lot of clinics nearby.

If he allows you to touch him, then he needs to be stimulated to move his bowels, this is done gently in a circular motion first on his tummy then around his genitals to his anus with warm water and a soft cloth. You want to duplicate the motion of a momcat licking her young in your motion, and the warm water just makes this happen the quickest. Does he have a name?

 

[buzzy]

Thanks for all the advice . There are no petstores here or any way really to get this formula so kitten glop it will have to be. Can you tell me what clear Karo syrup is? if we can't get it, is it essential? Any substitute?

The cutie kitten was named "Max" today - and right from the beginning he has had his back end gently rubbed with cotton wool soaked in warm water - as I've heard of that before. He seems to be fine potty wise,and has even learned to go on a piece of newspaper in the corner of the kitchen . It is quite hot here right now so he is not cold , although he has his own bed -in- a -basket and piece of fleecy blanket if he is.

He also started playing today, with a piece of ribbon he found dangling off my friend's dressing gown. He is just so adorable.She tells me he has a funny way of "meeking", purring, biting and clawing all at the same time when he is trying to feed from the syringe.

As soon as the vet is back he will be thoroughly checked out, I suppose it is just a case of keeping him healthy and happy 'till we know what else to do. They are definitely going to keep him and are already talking about maybe getting him a friend!

 

[hissy]

He sounds wonderful, but I would caution you that ribbon playing should be supervised. Little kitties love ribbon and string, reminds them of mice tails! They will try to eat it, and that can be deadly, especially with a vet so far away.

Karo syrup is not necessary for a kitty- just gives them an extra energy boost. If you have fish nearby, you can boil fish heads and give the kitty the broth as well. Sounds like he doesn't need to be kept to warm! I hope he will continue to grow and play and add delight to your life!

 

[valanhb]

This is the Light Corn Syrup. Here are the Ingredients: Light corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, salt, vanilla. It is used in making candy and sweet glazes, and also has laxative properties if taken straight in the right amounts. (We had to give my godson Corn Syrup when he was constipated as a baby - and it worked almost too well. LOL Unfortunately it worked when we were all at a wedding, but that's another story.

).

For more information the website is http://www.karosyrup.com/index.htm