I need serious help!

[zozma]

I have NO idea what I'm doing! We have seven kittens left by the stray mother. NOBODY in this area (Taft California) is helping us in any way. When they were first born several weeks ago, we called every shelter and vet in the area and in Bakersfield but the only person who would take them is the ASPCA and they said there was a high chance they would just be put down. But we don't know what we're doing and I'm afraid they're going to end up dying on us.

We have read and googled everything about caring for four week old kittens that we can but we are only two people and most of the time, it is JUST ME taking care of them. Seven is too many for me. I keep getting frustrated with them because I will feed one and stimulate it and the whole time, there are six more crying and begging for food and attention and the cycle just continues. It really gets to me and I'm a very anxious person as it is. I feel like I have no time to do anything but care for cats and it's wigging me out. And what to do with them all when they get even bigger? We have THREE cats of our own, we can't keep even one more, let alone SEVEN!

The vets will not take them and no shelter in the local area will; they all say they have no room and offer no help whatsoever. We can't even find a local helper or friend to take and foster HALF of them to lessen the burden on us. Seven is just too many to take care of all the time!

I'm really at my wit's end and terrified they aren't all eating enough and I'm terrified somebody is going to die. I need help!

 

[catnamedpanda]

Welcome to the site, you will find lots of helpful information here.

First of all thank you for taking in and caring for these kittens. Yes 7 kittens is a lot, I have been there with you. Good news is you are almost done, you said they are 4 weeks old right. At this age you can start to introduce them to solid food, offer them wet kitten food mixed with some formula. Dip their little noses gently in it to get their interest, feed them some off your finger and "lead" them to the bowl, put it on their paws, or smear a bit in their mouths. I would keep offering them solids whenever you feed them. You can start to leave dry food out for them to sample as well. As for stimulating they should start if they have not already gained control over their pottying and will need to start litter training. For my kittens I use a shallow pan, sometimes a cookie sheet so the kittens can easily get in and out of it.

Im sure there is more advice that can be offered but i cant think of it at the moment. I am sure there will be others along to give you some more advice as well.

 

[catmom5]

I just searched for "no-kill cat rescues Taft California" and found some links. I would suggest that you might start making contact with some of those. They might not be able to help, but they might know someone who can.

Don't give up - as hard as it is, you're through the most intensive part of their care. You're doing a wonderful thing for these kittens.

I agree that it's probably time to start some wet food and litter training. The worst part of that is that they tend to be mess eaters (but great fun to watch). When you start with the litter training, I believe that there are some litters that don't work for kittens (cause they eat everything) so hopefully someone here will talk about that.

Bless your heart - don't give up now.
 

 

[zozma]

I have tried those shelters. One of them kept saying they would pick them up and the fiance took days off work to wait for them--they never showed. There is a place called Unity Thrift that will take them but only when they are litter trained and eating hard food on their own. This morning, I placed down a plate of dry kitten food mixed in with some of the KMR. Some of them really seem to like it. Most of them just walk in it. Most of them are taking plain KMR from the saucer now. One of them still won't eat unless it's on the bottle (I still feed them all with the bottle, too, until they walk away). It's the runt and is still only 8 oz in size so I'm worried about it. The others are between 10 and 14.

We found an excellent no-cage, no-kill shelter in Fresno but it turns out it costs 5000 dollars for each cat surrendered. We don't have enough to even surrender one. It looks like a wonderful place, though.

One of them pooped in the litter box and another one peed in it.

I did get a litter that's non-clumping at a vet's suggestion.

I'm confused by the feeding charts, though. It says 1 oz per 4 oz of body weight, but is that for every feeding or every DAY? How much should they be eating per feeding and how much per day? (Separately) Also, how much should they poop?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

As far as the "how much to feed, how much should they be pooping questions", you might want to post under the Pregnant Cats/Kitten Care Forum to get more people who have experience with kittens to see your post.

You said one rescue group was willing to take them but never picked them up?  Could you take the kittens to them?  I'm not talking about the one where you have to pay, but the one you first mentioned where they never showed up.  Also, was that a typo where you said it cost $5000 per cat

to surrender to the no-kill shelter in Fresno?????  Maybe was that supposed to be $50?  Did you explain that you rescued these kittens...that the mother was not actually yours? 

Again, thank you for rescuing them, and it sounds like they are coming along nicely (already eating on their own somewhat, and trying to use the litter box

)  Now you're time can be freed up a little bit to concentrate on that littlest one

 

[zozma]

I just wanted to update real quick. More of them are using the litter box, so it seems they are fine in that regard. Thank heaven! The littlest one is still not eating from the saucer. The rest of them are and some are eating the dry kitten food, as long as we break it up a little in the blender. I don't quite understand why they make kitten food so hard and large... but I think by next week, they will be able to eat it. As I said, the littlest one is still not eating from the saucer nor is he/she trying to eat the dry food so it is still exclusively on the bottle. I can't tell their genders apart.

http://www.cathouseonthekings.com/

And no, it's not a typo. The shelter requires 5000 dollars (five thousand). It is not in Fresno exactly, but near it. It's the one I linked above.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Holy cow! ....well, I was reading their FAQ's, and someone asked where their cats come from, and here is what they said "We rescue cats from local animal shelters where they would otherwise be euthanized".  It also says they try to assist people who want to surrender cats to them rather than accepting the cats.    Did you actually call them?   Sounds like they might be a good resource, if nothing else.

So glad things are moving along nicely with most of those babies

    Good job

 

[feralvr]

I just wanted to update real quick. More of them are using the litter box, so it seems they are fine in that regard. Thank heaven! The littlest one is still not eating from the saucer. The rest of them are and some are eating the dry kitten food, as long as we break it up a little in the blender. I don't quite understand why they make kitten food so hard and large... but I think by next week, they will be able to eat it. As I said, the littlest one is still not eating from the saucer nor is he/she trying to eat the dry food so it is still exclusively on the bottle. I can't tell their genders apart.
http://www.cathouseonthekings.com/
And no, it's not a typo. The shelter requires 5000 dollars (five thousand). It is not in Fresno exactly, but near it. It's the one I linked above.

First off, I hope the kittens are doing well :cross: As Sally suggested, you might want to post a thread in Pregnant Cats and Kitten Care Forum. Loads of helpful and knowledgeable people in that forum to help with raising kittens.

I am in shock over the surrender fee to Cat House. I guess they take their plight very seriously and they take care of the cat's for life. I can't imagine many people being able to afford that :shocker: Anyway, good luck with everything! Thank you for saving these kittens :heart3:

 

[zozma]

I haven't contacted them yet. We have an arrangement with a shop here in town, it's a little mom and pop feed store. They'll keep the kittens in their shop once they are seven weeks old and take two or three at a time until they are all adopted out. I think it might take a while, but I have my fingers crossed that they'll be okay and go to great homes.

As of today, they are all five weeks old. They are steadily gaining weight and eating wet cat food mixed with dry food. Some of them don't even want the KMR anymore (should I force them to eat it anyway?), but four of them still drink it and one of them still drinks the KMR exclusively and snubs his nose at the food. I don't like the wet food for them, though. It makes their poop the same color as the food and it's very unsavory looking and smelling, as opposed to their normal poops on the KMR. Is this normal? Should I buy a different brand? It is Friskies chicken in gravy. The dry food is Purina Kitten Chow. We don't have a whole lot of money or a Petco or Petsmart in town, so we can't be very choosy. The Purina was actually the only dry brand of kitten-specific food we could find.

Anyway, that aside, nobody is throwing up and they are all very active. When I let them out of the bathroom, they run and climb and meow and play fight with one another. So all seven are doing good so far.

I would really love to be able to send them to the Cat House. It looks like a wonderful place... But I hope they all find good homes here in town. They are all lovely kittens with unique personalities and very loving little guys.