I NEED HELP! I rescued a Kitty!

[ozziepoo]

I went to visit an aunt , that lives by some orchards, this morning. She told me that some stray cat had had babies and had abandon them. They were all scattered thought the orchard. She showed me one and it was laying in the middle of nowhere, all by its self. I could not bare to leave out there and have it die. I picked it up and took it home with me. It is fairly newborn (still has its umbilical cord).
Well now I have this kitty. I am bottle feeding it; but dont know what else I should do. I really dont know what i am doing. I need help. I also dont want to endanger my cat and dog.
If anyone has ever done this, please share anything that you think might help. Thank You.

[Catrina]

Wow I have no idea.. maybe call the animal shelter the next day and ask for advice.. or even your vet..are you planning on keeping it?

[jrsygal37]

Hi. I had a baby kitten I bottle fed last summer. The house next to us was being renevated and the company doing it did away with the kittens and mother who we did not know even lived there, until this little one showed up in our back yard one morning screaming. Anyway, the first thing you want to do is make sure he/she does not have any fleas. Mine was infested and at such a young age it will kill them. If the kitten does have fleas, you'll need to use Johnson's baby shampoo (DO NOT use flea meds or anything else on kitty). What you do is carefully rinse kitty off thouroughly to try and rinse off as many fleas as possible, then take the johnson's shampoo and cover kitty without getting it on kitty's face. Once he/she is covered with the shampoo, take a warm towel and keep kitty covered. Keep this on kitty for about four or five minutes this will kill the remaining fleas, then rinse kitty off good and towel dry gently, then dry with a warm blow dryer and keep him/ her warm. You will also need to feed kitty not milk but the kitten formula they sell at any petstore. They will also carry, the baby bottle to feed her/him with. My kitten grabbed it like a baby with both paws and his little ears twitched back and forth as he sucked it. LOL. Mine ate it fairly easily without help. I'm not sure how many times we fed him, but I would probably say try every three to four hours. Call an Emergency Vet since it's Easter and a regular Vet will not be open. They will be able to direct you better as to how much and how many times. You will also have to bring kitty in to the vet as he/she probably has worms. Mine had them bad. As far as the embilical cord, mine did not have it but I think that it will probably fall off on it's own (Check with the vet) you may want to thought clean it down with some peroxide but check with the vet first. Also, keep a heating pad set on warm under a towel or blanket and have kitty sleep on it, so that she/he is kept warm enough. This is all I can think of for now. Is the eyes open? Mine was very young, but not newborn - just looked it as he was small. His eyes were open and we guessed him to be about three weeks old. Hope this helps some. Elaine

[jrsygal37]

P.S. Also pick up some dry cat food and soak it in warm water and leave some out to see if kitty will eat it. AND, the kitty formula when bottle feeding should be warmed like an infants bottle would be. You don't want to feed it cold to kitty. Elaine

[ozziepoo]

Elaine: Thank You so much for all of the advice, it is all really helpful.
The kitty has not opened his eyes yet and luckily does not have any fleas. I really hope that he is able to grow to be a healthy kitty, and that I will be able to place him in a good home.

[YorkieShadow]

Originally Posted by ozziepoo

I went to visit an aunt , that lives by some orchards, this morning. She told me that some stray cat had had babies and had abandon them. They were all scattered thought the orchard. She showed me one and it was laying in the middle of nowhere, all by its self. I could not bare to leave out there and have it die. I picked it up and took it home with me. It is fairly newborn (still has its umbilical cord).
Well now I have this kitty. I am bottle feeding it; but dont know what else I should do. I really dont know what i am doing. I need help. I also dont want to endanger my cat and dog.
If anyone has ever done this, please share anything that you think might help. Thank You.

What about the littermates? Did anyone rescue the rest of them? If not they will die. Can you go get all of them and maybe keep them in a crate and feed them untill they are able to be rehomed.

This same thing happened to us, there was a few strays and this Lady knew someone that wanted them out on their farm. well they came and got them and one of the cats jumped out the window on the way there. well turns out it had babys here and we didnt know. We didnt even find them untill 4 days had went by and I heard kitens crying thou the vent in my bathroom. Hubby climbed under the house and got the 3 babys out. we looked for momma cat and never found her. I always get sad when thinking about it all.
Anyways we put them in a wire cage useing a heating pad on low with a baby blanket over it to keep them warm. feed them a bottle every two hours. and we put a litter box in there too, it only takes cats a few weeks of age to know how to go to a litter box. but untill then you will have to feed them and take a warm rag and wipe their privats so they will go pee and poo. then clean them up and do this every two hours. untill they are able to go on their own.then start giving them soft food and water when they get a little older.

The last few years we have had many strays and many kittens.