Abandoned Newborn Kittens Care
Be very careful when handling a newborn kitten.
Abandoned newborn kittens care. Welcome to the abandoned kitten care guide. However kittens born to feral mothers should be taken away if possible at about four weeks old. Outdoor or stray moms sometimes scatter their kittens to avoid predation. First of all many people come upon litters of kittens outdoors and assume they ve been abandoned when in fact mom is nearby probably hunting.
Ideally kittens should not be taken from the mother until they are five to six weeks of age. So a kitten weighing 3 ounces will need about 24 ounces of milk replacement every 24 hours. Like a human baby a newborn kitten will need to be fed frequently approximately every two to three hours. Place some flour around the kitten while it is sleeping.
Observe the kitten from a distance for 1 or 2 hours to make sure the mother has not come back. Kitten season is around the corner and if you re anything like me you might soon find yourself crossing paths with a little mewing orphan or two or six. If the kittens seem well fed are in a safe place and fall asleep after crying for a short while mom is probably around. Buy powdered cat milk replacer.
For assistance with an abandoned kitten please contact your local veterinarian or animal rescue organization. Newborn kittens are fragile and even a small child could cause serious harm to a kitten. You want to be 100 sure that the kitten is actually abandoned. You can use a box or small crate with plenty of dry clean bedding.
Some tnr folks like me do it all themselves even though this greatly reduces numbers of cats fixed. Make sure you change the bedding frequently so it doesn t get too soiled. If you have children who will be handling your kittens teach them how to be gentle and never allow them to hold the kittens unless they are being supervised. Some tnr volunteers stick to trapping only and deliver young kittens to rescues.
Abandoned kittens will be dirty and the nest will be soiled and they will cry continuously because they re hungry. This is the cat equivalent of infant formula with the same composition milk from the kittens mother. Do not feed cow s milk since the sugar or lactose will likely upset the kittens stomachs. As a rule of thumb for every ounce of kitten body weight he or she needs 8 ccs of formula.
If you are committed to helping the newborn kittens and become their surrogate mother then you will need to provide a safe warm home for them.