Man I think I am in over my head.

A friend of mine had an outside cat and it had three kittens today the mommy cat got ran over. He is not sure what to do so he brought them to me. They still have their eyse closed. I went to the vet and got bottles and milk but I am not sure what I am doing. They are so little. I know I need to rub their bums with a warm rag and feed them but any other advice is welcome. Thanks once again you all are great. I will take pics when I get a minute and show you all. :fingerscr

Here are some pics!

And another one!

This one still does not have its eyes open.

The orange one is the only one with its eyes open.

Last one, how old do you think they are?

Oh my gosh the sweet little darlins!

I'd do a search on here I'm sure LR has had plenty of info about it as have many other people too!

There are some great cat folks on the board hopefully they'll see this.

Poor mama cat RIP!!

TX Princess for helping these babies

HUGS :angel:

Take a peek here

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=16327&highlight=newborn+kittens

Ohhhhh,poopr mommy..... :sad:

What cutie patooties they are..... ;)

I found these for you.

http://www.fabcats.org/handrearing.html

http://www.purrinlot.com/newborncare.htm

Good luck. I hope these kitties make it into healthy happy cats. :) You really are a great person to animals to bring these buggers in. :grouphug: :)

Wrap a hot water bottle in a towel, place it in a pillow case and roll it up. This will help keep them warm. Sounds like you know how to get them to go to the washroom. As for feeding I would check the instructions to see the recommendations for the weight/ age. It may not be exact. Cost wise it is better to get the powder. Pkg will also give mixture ratio. Once they are moving around w/ eyes open you could start having them lap it up. For now while you are bottle feeding if you need to make the holes in the nipple, the ideal drip speed isa when you hold the bottle nipple down, the formula will slowly form a drop and then release, form another and release, so on. If you don't notice the formula coming out the hole is too small and kitty will get tired too quickly and not get enough. If hole is too big you will get a dribble. The formula will come out kitty's nose. From the size they are now you will have a week or so bottle feeding, the next week start the lapping, next week combine formula to kitten food(mush). Once they are eating the mush well start to lessen the formula until you are left with only kibble. Offer an additional dish of water when you begin to offer the mush. Place a low sided litter near them when they begin to move around well.
Hope this is helpful

Thanks guys you all are great! Well we made it through the night. It seems like there is always one kitten that does not eat real well. Yesterday it was the black one and today it was the grey one. LOL They are so sweet but alot of work.

How old do you think they are? My husband and I are taking sifts. They seem to want to eat about every three to four hours. :D

Princess,I have zero experience with new kittens,just wanted to commend you for yours and hubbies great big heart,you both will make great Momma-Cats :D Best of luck with the little mites :love:

Close to 3 wks

Princess,

Thanks you for taking in these babies.

I have done this before and so far you seem to be doing all the right things. Do you have KMR to feed them? Are you helping them eliminate? Kittens need you to help them do it - their mama would typically lick their tiny bottoms but you can take a small cotton ball or a paper towel (a little more like mama's tongue) to make sure they go.

These guys are VERY young and need to be WARM (even a kitten heating pad might be a good idea or a human one on low). I used to feed mine every 3-4 hours or until there were some tiny mewling, lol

Here are two sites I find very good for coping with orphan kittens:

http://www.kitten-rescue.com
http://www.kittenrescue.org

Good luck!!!

Orphan kittens develop rather unique personalities - try to get them socialized with other cats once they are weaned and vaccinated and able to interact with others. A vet check at the time of the 1st vaccine is also a good idea unless fading kitten syndrome or some other prob surfaces. Kittens are very fragile and needs just as much care as a human baby. Think of yourself as the parent of quads!

MY CAT HAD KITTENS ALMOST A WEEK AGO AND THE PICS LOOK LIKE THEY ARE ALMOST AROUND THE SAME AGE. I HEARD THEY OPEN THEIR EYES AT ABOUT A 7-10 DAYS SO, I WOULD THINK THEY ARE NOT OLDER THEN 3 WEEKS.I AM REALLY SORRY ABOUT THE MAMA CAT. HOPE KITTENS ARE OK AND THEY ARE HEALTHY AND DOING FINE. GOOD LUCK KEEP US POSTED :fingerscr

Yes, I am feeding them KMR milk. I have little bottles. They are doing great. The eat sleep, poo and pee! LOL I am helping them go to the bathroom. One more has his eyes almost opened. So the orange one and the black one has their eyes opened, just waiting on the grey one. I am feeding them about every three to four hours depending. They have finally gotten the hang of a bottle and are doing better. So I sit my alarm and wake up. I have been so tired all day.

They have fleas really bad so I went to the vet and they gave me some flea spray and I am suppose to spray a towel and than wrap them in it and brush all the dead fleas off of them.

I will keep you all posted when I get a free minute. :D

You're okay to use that flea stuff on them so young? Really?

I wonder if you used a brush nozzle from your vacuum and vacuumed the fleas off them if it would help.

Poor little darlings but lucky to have somewhere loving and warm and safe to be!

You must be bushed!

I got one of my cats at three weeks and she looked older than them. She had her eyes open, and could go to the bathroom by herself. Her momma was killed too but the rest of the babies were found dead, she was the only living one. I gave her pablum with babyfood meat mixed in, what ever you do don't give them milk. The man who was feeding mine before we took her was feeding his cats milk and bread, she had the craps really bad, we almost lost her too. We used an eyedropper to give her water and food until she learnt to drink and eat from a bowl. Good luck, they are so cute.

Got To Get Rid Of The Fleas Before They Go Into Your Carpet Or Floor Then You Will Have A Hard Time Getting Rid Of Them.that Is So Sad That They Have Fleas.i Remember I Found A Small Little Kitten When I Was A Teen And The Cat Was Covered In Fleas Almost Dying From It.i Brought It Home And Got Every Flea Off Of Her. She Was Black When I Found Her But When I Got Rid Of All Of Them She Was White, And So Cute. Good Luck. I Can Imagine How Hard It Is To Wake Up With Them Every So Many Hours.i Am Glad That They Are Doing Ok, Cats Usually Open Their Eyes On The 7 -10 Day So That Should Give You An Idea How Old They Are.

Princess,I can understand you are exhausted,but the rewards seeing these little guys do well,must be worth all the sleepy days :thumbs up
I know you are not supposed to use flea-products on kittens,but on the other hand fleas can zap the life out of such a little creature.
I hope your other animals are not in contact with the kittens,or that they are protected against fleas with Advantage or something like it.
It seems to me,you are doing all the right things and hopefully they'll all develope nicely.
Lubie..the vaccum idea makes sense,but I am afraid it could scare the kittens to death :evil:
My cats pack their little napsacks and move out, every time the"monster"comes upstairs,needless to say I do not vaccum very often :D
In the case with fleas in the house though,every baseboard,every nook and cranny needs to be vaccumed..

About the Vac I just wanted to add in...maybe only do it if you have adjustable suction. Don't shop vac the kitties :D

The vac itself can be in a dif room, hose in same room as kitties but again if you're going to do it caution....very low suction :eek:

YY HATES the vacuum cleaner - just dreads it! So I have it done when we are away and have a smaller one for when we are here.

How are the babies?

Babies are doing great! They made it three and a half hours last night. They are so sweet! Gizmo is dying to get in there and lick them. :D

All of our animals have Advantage on them, so they are all protected.

As far as the flea spray the vet said it was for little kittens. I am suppose to spray it on the towel and wrap their bodies in it and wait a few minutes and than brush all the dead fleas of off them. Justin and I have so far picked off 100 fleas bewteen the three of them. :yuck:

I will take some more pics and show you. The vet seems to think they are about 8 days old or so. They are so little.

Well I need to go it is feeding time. I will check in later. :D

OMG they have that many fleas thats awful!!

Are we sure through your friend that there are no other kittens outside somewhere????

Lubie,if there were,they would probably be dead by now :sad:
Princess,I am really proud of you,you are doing a great job..it's going to be very difficult for you to part with these little guys once they get older,but they were very lucky to end up in your hands :thumbs up
I am glad your other critters are on Advantage,so it should not be all that difficult to get rid of the fleas.
In a way I envy you,I would love to care for little kittens... :love: as long as I had homes for the later.

yeah like i said my cat had her kittens a week ago today and those kittens you have don't look at all older then mine. maybe just a day or so. mine are just starting to open their eyes. some of them have their eyes open and some don't.Don't you just love them though. i love my little ones so much they are so cute. i give them kisses all the time, as well as mama if not more. She is still my baby. i am glad that all is well with them though. I hope you get rid of all the fleas soon, poor little babies. Can't wait to see more pics and updates on how they are doing. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Luba no more cats or kittens out there. They live next to the woods so people drop their cats off there all the time. They have taken many to get fixed. This was a stray cat that they were feeding and caring for.

Whew thats a bit of relieve Princess thx for telling me that :D

I'd put up a sign saying 'this is not a pet dumping ground' then the address of the local shelter or something of the sort.

How are the little farts doing this evening are you on shift now? :D

Good morning guys they are doing great! They lasted last night about four hours so that is good. Gizmo is a great help. When I am holding them and feeding them he will lay by me and purr so I think the kittens think he is their mommy. They are so sweet but so much work.

The batteries are dead in my camera or I would post some more pics. I will go out today and get some more!

But, being a mommy cat is a full time job! :D

Thanks again guys for all the help.

I help the kittens go pee and poop but this morning when I got up they had pooed and peed all over themself. So I had to change all the bed clothes and get them cleaned up.

We have no more fleas on them so that is a good thing. :D

Just wanted to let you all know how things are going. I will try to get back on here later. :D

Oh my, I have visions of the babies pooing all over their bed. Poor babies! Poor you!!

I have done this orphan rearing and I know how much work it is!! You are truly an angel - one gets sooo attached to babies like this too!! Have you looked into getting a snuggle kitty so you can carry them around with you and they feel your warmth and your body? Er -- snuggle kitty is to place in bed with them and a pooch potato is for carrying the babies around

Here is what I mean:
http://www.geocities.com/gottaspoilem/Carrypouches.html

This is also a good site that has some tips for meomies to babies:
http://www.melodief.com/pooh/poohr/mama.html#Sleeping%20quarters

Keep up the great work!!