KittenAid

Caring for Abandoned Kittens

Shh! What was that? There, under the porch! A litter of newborn kittens! Now what do you do?

The first critical step is to determine whether these precious babies really need your intervention. Do not approach the nest if the mother cat is present, unless you are already familiar with her and she trusts you. Feline moms are as protective as human moms, and may attack if they feel their offspring are threatened.

If the mother cat is caring for the kittens well and they are in no immediate danger, they are best left alone. Check the kittens to see that they look clean, and are sleeping contentedly. If the mother is not present, she may be a neighbor’s cat who has gone home for dinner or she may be a stray out hunting food. If you suspect the mother is feral or a stray, you might provide healthy food to lessen the chance of illness or disease being transmitted to the kittens from the mother’s killing and eating mice or birds.

Abandoned kittens will cry continuously due to hunger, and will appear dirty and unkempt. Once you have determined that the mother cat is not returning to the nest, you will need to decide whether you can assume her duties. The age and general health of the kittens may influence this decision. The younger the kittens, the more round the clock care they will need if they are to survive and grow into healthy adult cats. If they are seriously ill, they will likely require veterinary care.

Assuming the kittens are relatively healthy, the minimum you must provide are shelter, food and water. Kittens must be protected from the elements. A large cardboard box placed in a quiet corner away from drafts makes a fine nest. The sides of the box should be high enough so that the kittens cannot fall out as they learn to walk. The box can be lined with clean old towels, but these will need to be changed and washed often. Several layers of newspaper can make clean up easier, but kittens lose body heat quickly, so it may be necessary to provide additional warmth to the nest if newspapers are used. An infra-red lamp placed at least three feet above the box can help.

Never give cow’s milk to kittens. Kittens have specific nutritional needs which are not met by cow’s milk. Furthermore, cow’s milk may give them diarrhea which can lead to dehydration, and this can occur very quickly in such small bodies. Formula specially developed for kittens is available from pet shops, along with bottles and other necessities. Food is available to meet kittens’ needs at various stages in their development.

Kittens should eat about a quarter of an ounce of formula for each ounce of their body weight. (A kitten who weighs 4 oz will eat about 1 oz of formula per day.) However, kittens’ tummies are obviously very small, so they can’t eat their entire daily requirement at once. Up until they’re a week old, kittens need to be fed every 2 – 3 hours. At two weeks, they should eat every 4 – 6 hours. After three weeks they can start to learn to eat 3 times a day, changing to twice a day at 6 months.

Kittens can start to be weaned at about 4 weeks. The first step in getting them off the bottle is to get them to lick formula from your finger or a spoon. Once they learn that you can begin to introduce them to liquid formula placed on a low, flat plate. At this point their baby teeth will be starting come in, and you can begin mixing small amounts of canned food with the formula. Meat flavored baby food can be used, but it must not have any onion in the ingredients.

Be sure to make any changes to the kittens’ diet slowly, gradually adding solids while decreasing liquids. Kittens will need to eat soft solids until about 8 weeks of age, when their teeth become strong enough to chew. Even then, many vets recommend wet food along with dry to maintain proper hydration. No matter how you end up feeding, be sure to offer plenty of clean fresh water every day.