The Care of Orphan Kittens - Part 1
By Betty Sleep
Those who are involved in fostering, rescue, or breeding, have all at some time faced the problem of dealing with orphaned or rejected kittens, with no substitute mother on hand. Anyone finding themselves in this dilemma would be wise to seek out a nursing mother who is amenable to adding one or two to her brood, if it does not overstress her.
Too many nursing babies can rapidly deplete a queen’s fat stores, and make more demands on her body than she is able to handle.
It is wise, particularly with rescues, or with purebreds who go to a household pet mother, to make sure she is negative for feline leukemia, first. If the kittens themselves are feral, or found abandoned out of doors, you may want to consult a vet about the possibilities that they are feline leukemia positive, and whether the owner of the substitute mother cat, wants to take that risk.
The first important factor to affect how you deal with these kittens, is how old they are. It is not the age that is important, but whether or not they had the opportunity to nurse from their mother, and receive in the first 48 hours, the colostrum that provides them with initial immunity to some of the cat world’s bugs.
If your orphans are more than a couple of days old, which is very difficult to determine, you may be able to risk integrating them with an accepting female cat whose litter is young themselves. Generally speaking, these efforts are most successful if the adopting litter is under two weeks old. After that, the queen may not be as welcoming, and the difference in sizes may be a problem in crowding the box, or laying on the smaller babies.
If your orphans are obvious newborns, they are best segregated from the rest of any cat population in the environment, if you don’t have a willing “wet nurse”. They will have no immunity, and particularly in shelter/foster/rescue environments, they are easy prey to latent or shedding viruses.
Then comes the hard work. Anyone with children will remember the all night feedings. Hand raising orphan kittens isn’t a lot different. You can forget sleeping for the first little while, until the kittens nurse enough to hold them over for three or four hours.
If you are in a position where you have kittens from time to time, it is a good idea to have a nursing kit on hand. There are a number of different ones that can be purchased via pet supply sites or stores. Two of the handiest ones, are the nursing syringe with nipples, or the angled nursing bottle, also with the “cat” shaped nipples, which are long and slender. The small nursing bottles supplied by clinics when you buy formula, are usually not suitable for small kittens, as the nipple is short and plump. The nursing nipples mimic a mother cat’s, although some come without holes in the end, and you may have to make an appropriate sized opening yourself.
Many powdered formulas give two tablespoons per four ounces, as a feeding guide, broken down into several feedings per day. This can be as many as 12 times a day to start, working gradually into six a day when their stomachs can hold more. Make up only as much as you expect to use over 24 hours, and store in the fridge. Should you ever have part of a can of powdered formula leftover, it can be stored in the freezer for months.
The most important detail of feeding is not the bulk amount, but the kilocalories, or energy. As a rule, formulas average out to 1kilocalorie per millilitre or cc. The recommendation is then 24ml/cc(approximately 1 tablespoon, and 2 teaspoons per 100g.(3 1/2 oz.) of body weight, increased according to age and growth rate. It is much simpler in terms of measurement, as well as handling ability, to use a 1cc or 3cc syringe, purchased at your local pharmacy, with the nursing nipple on the end. (The pharmacy will dispose of the needle portion.) Be careful of the “barrel” on the end of the syringe. Some brands have a sleeve which extends partially over the barrel, making fit of the nipple, very difficult. I found that you can cut this excess sleeve off with a paring knife.
After feeding, dampen a terry facecloth with warm water, and wipe their mouths (try and keep a build up of spit out formula off their fur), then give a wipe over the face and ears, and a stroke or two down the body. Very young kittens have no reflexes to allow them to void their bowels. In order to imitate the mother, take the facecloth (which is a bit rough, like a tongue) and wipe the rectum and urinary area, to stimulate the reflex. Dry off as needed. You might keep Kleenex handy to remove any stools.
Kittens require a certain amount of liquid according to body weight, approximately 180ml/kilogram, or 6.4 oz per 2 lbs. 3.5 ounces. This is provided for by following the formula amounts recommended above. However, constipation is a common problem. In that case, you may need to add some extra “feeds” of plain water. (If you want to be on the totally safe side, use sterile water that you have boiled and let cooled to room temperature. If this still does not cure the problem, you can try a very small amount of a hairball remedy, dissolved in water, and fed by syringe. Check with your vet, to see if this fits in with their protocol for constipation in young kittens.
Between three and four weeks, your kitten(s) will be ready to start trying solid foods. Next column, we’ll talk about making the switch, toilet training, and integrating orphans into a cattery environment.
About the Author:
I am an obedience instructor, kennel owner, and ten year breeder/exhibitor of Golden Retriever dogs. Over the years I have experienced the best and worst of pet buying and selling, and responsibility/irresponsibility on the part of both breeders and buyers.
That, combined with my other hobby of breeding Birman cats, which I also show, and have placed in several countries, gives me a fairly comprehensive overview of pet care, ownership, training, feeding, and health issues.
Article courtesy of Suite101.com.
