|
On
21 May 2010 we discovered that a feral cat had given birth
to three kittens under the house addition overhang. We learned
on the morning of 22 May that two of the kittens were joined
by their tangled umbilical cords and had not been separated
by the mother cat. We cut the umbilical cords with a pair
of sterilized scissors after tying them with dental floss
(so they wouldn't bleed), and left the two kittens for the
mother to feed.
It
became obvious as the day went on that the mother wanted nothing
to do with the two kittens. She'd removed the third and never
came back. Molly went into town to get cat milk and a bottle
and that evening we brought them inside and began feeding.
Taking
care of such young kittens is something neither of us had
done before. We had a book with a short bit about bottle feeding
and keeping the kittens warm and we hoped our intervention
would be successful.
Sunday
morning (the 23rd) the kittens weighed about 4 ounces each
(we got better at weighing the little squirmers on our postal
scale as time went on). We fed the kittens about every two
hours -- more frequently in the very beginning. This went
on for two weeks and then we slowly began spacing the feedings
further apart.
On
Wednesday after we brought the kittens in, the new Catac feeder
we purchased online arrived. This bottle is so much easier
to use than the plastic baby bottle type feeder we'd used
at first. The kittens took to it and began to really drink
their milk in larger quantities. We were able to worry less
about accidentally drowning them when we fed them.
We'll
post more photos here as the kittens grow older.
 |
|
The
three kittens, when we first saw them under the addition,
were piled on top of each other for warmth. The top kitten
is the one the momma cat took with her. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
The
momma cat is terrified of people and even though we're
feeding her, won't let us come close. This not very sharp
photo is of her in the yard. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
5/22
-- This is a photo of Blondie taken just after we'd brought
the kittens inside. The kittens were tiny. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
5/23
-- This is Grey being bottle fed by Molly using a baby
bottle type feeder. The nipple on this one is enormous. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
5/25
-- This is another photo of Grey feeding. It was really
hard to control the amount of milk the kittens got using
this bottle. The nipple tended to plug and the kittens
either got too little or too much, all at once. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
5/27
-- This is Grey being fed with the Catac bottle feeder.
This bottle has an L shape and is much easier to hold.
It is glass with a rubber valve nipple on top and a feeding
nipple (much smaller and better sized than the one on
the plastic feeding bottle we'd been using) at the other
end. It's extremely easy to control the amount the kittens
eat and the nipple doesn't plug. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
5/28
-- We kept the kittens in a cat carrier for the first
two weeks. They had a towel and foam pad with a hot water
bottle under the towel to keep them warm. For the first
two weeks the kittens need to be kept at about 85 degrees.
If they got too warm, they could crawl off the portion
of the towel over the hot water bottle, as they've done
here. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
5/29
-- When kittens are born their ears are folded closed.
Blondie's ears have become erect now. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
5/29
-- After feeding the kittens are cleaned with a damp paper
towel (the milk dries like glue on their fur if we don't
remove it) and their bellies are rubbed to help them digest
and pass wastes. After a good feed, the kittens just want
to sleep. |
More
kittens -- their eyes open.
|
