Help! I've rescued a newborn kitten

Please rush the kitten to your local veterinarian immediately.

1. Determine the Kitten's Condition

* Take the kitten to the vet immediately.

* Remove as many fleas as you safely can (with a comb for newborns). Do not put any type of flea products, bath, spray, or powder on a kitten before it is six weeks old.

* If the kitten is lethargic or cool to the touch, you may have a life-threatening emergency (such as exposure or distemper). Get the kitten on a heating pad or other primary heat source and get it to a veterinarian right away or consult an emergency veterinary clinic.

* Do NOT feed a chilled newborn -- you will kill it. Instead, administer slightly warmed Pedialyte (an infant rehydrating fluid, available in any grocery or pharmacy), using an animal nurser, syringe, or dropper.

* Feed the kitten only when it is warmed and indicates it is hungry.

* If the kitten seems overly-warm and/or is breathing rapidly, it may be feverish or suffering from heat exhaustion or worse. Get it to a veterinarian immediately. To help lower the kitten's body temperature, try wiping it down with a cool, damp cloth; then administer Pedialyte.

* If the kitten is active and screaming lustily for its mother, you will find that a heating pad will help calm the kitten while you prepare its first meal.

2. Make the Kitten Comfortable and Warm

* Empty the Bladder. Newborns cannot evacuate their bowel or bladder unassisted. The kitten you have found may be in excruciating pain or in danger of going toxic from having to retain its own body waste.

* Help the kitten at least empty its bladder before proceeding with warming or feeding or even the trip to the veterinarian.

* Gently stroke the kitten's behind with a warm washcloth. The kitten should oblige by urinating. Keep doing this until the kitten is finished.

Warm the kitten.

* A newborn kitten is not capable of generating or maintaining body warmth - this is critical to keep the newborn alive.

* Keeping a newborn orphan warm (even on a warm day) is a priority, more important initially than feeding (do NOT feed a chilled kitten, by the way -- you will kill it).

* Bundling up the kitten will do no good; it has no body heat of its own to retain. And putting the kitten near a space heater or other heating element is neither sufficient for the long-term nor safe.

* Wrap a heating pad, set on low, in a towel or flannel and place it in or beneath the nesting box, leaving room for the kitten to crawl off the heated area as needed.

* Emergency, short-term measures: If you don't have a heating pad, put the kitten on a wrapped hot water bottle or snuggled against a tightly sealed and well stabilized jar of warm water. Better yet, put the kitten next to your body -- next to the skin if possible.

* Go out and borrow or buy that heating pad after the first feeding or take the kitten to the vet immediately.

The Den

* Newborns should be shielded from direct light and contained in their den until they are at least three weeks old. Remember to try to provide the kitten an area in the den where it can crawl off the heating pad if it gets overheated.

* A small airline-style carrier doubles very well as a den and a taxi, though the kitten will soon outgrow it. A pair of large nested boxes is a good den, as long as the kitten cannot crawl out.

* If you are fostering a single kitten, provide a surrogate sibling in the form of a small stuffed toy or bundled sock.

3. Prepare the Feeding

The Formula

* Immediately go buy Just Born or KMR at any pet supply store or at any vet.

* Take the kitten to the vet right away.

If the kitten seems weak or ill and you cannot get to a veterinarian right away, you should administer slightly warmed Pedialyte before offering the milk replacer.

The Nurser

* While you are purchasing the milk replacer, find a good nurser. Most of these look like a baby bottle in miniature; We prefer the model with a pointy nipple. Pierce the nipple with a large-gauge needle (heated over a match) or ask the veterinarian to prepare the nurser for you.

* The nipple is constructed of tough stuff and is difficult to pierce; whatever you do, DO NOT cut the nipple with a knife or household scissors, however tempted you may be -- you may kill the kitten if you make the hole too large and flood its lungs.

* If you must resort to cutting, use a cuticle scissor and snip ever so delicately, then test (the flow should be a very thin stream) before offering the bottle to the kitten. If you did it wrong and made the hole too big, go out and buy another bottle or replacer nipple.

* Other possible nursers are a 6-cc syringe or the kind of squeeze bottle used to dispense droplet medication (ask your veterinarian or pharmacist). These do present some risk, as the formula must be forced into the kitten's mouth, again increasing the risk of flooding the lungs. Last choice is a dropper, the slowest of the slow, but better than nothing until you go out and buy a nurser.

The Feeding

* Heat the formula (in hot water) until it is comfortably warm. Test a stream on the inside of your wrist, first shaking the bottle to even out the temperature.

* Try to center the nipple in the kitten's mouth, over the tongue, and apply just enough pressure on the nurser to bead out a bit of formula on the nipple. If this is not enough to induce the kitten to begin suckling, squeeze a tiny bit into its mouth and wait for it to swallow before (gently!) squeezing again.

* This can be even trickier than it sounds, particularly if the kitten is desperately hungry. Convincing a frenzied kitten to slow down and suckle is no easy task. Another kitten may be put off by the strangeness of the offering and so will resist feeding or may be too weak to take the nipple immediately.

* Be patient and calm and persistent, applying careful pressure on the nurser to keep the formula coming at a natural rate without squirting it down the kitten's throat. Watch the ears: If they start to bob, the kitten is getting just the right amount of formula. If formula bubbles out the nostrils, pull back immediately -- you are drowning the kitten.

* Do not overfeed, especially at the first meal. A series of small meals is better than one large one. And don't go crazy trying to follow the complicated instructions on the formula container. Feed the kitten until it settles down and its tummy is full but not distended, then gently remove the nipple and rub the kitten gently but briskly all over with your.

* Remember, you are a momcat now; your baby needs the stimulation provided by that tough-love tongue all mother cats have.

* If the kitten doesn't immediately begin to complain and nuzzle for more milk, it is fed. Continue rubbing or patting until you get a burp. If you don't get a burp right away, try putting the kitten over your shoulder like any other baby and patting it gently on the side or back. Then return it to the heating pad for about 15 minutes before going to the next step. (Or to the next kitten, if you are caring for a litter.)

* A special note on suckling. The suckling instinct is very strong in these little guys, and they are likely to suckle one another. This behavior can be lethal to a male kitten if the genitals are suckled, causing swelling and impaction of the urinary tract. You may need to separate kittens from one another, or at least separate the aggressive suckler. The single kitten should be provided a surrogate momcat or sibling in the person of a soft plush toy that can be snuggled and suckled. Keep the surrogate "mom" and the kitten's bedding clean but chemical-free, for safe suckling.

Frequency of feedings

* Feed a newborn at least every four hours or on demand.

* Do not overfeed. Be prepared to do night feedings.

4. More on Emptying the Bowel and Bladder

* We recommend emptying the kitten both immediately before and about 15 minutes following each feeding. With any luck, you have already emptied the bladder. Evacuation of the bowel will probably not happen at the first attempt and may take a day or two. When it does happen, don't be horrified at the toothpaste consistency and mustard color -- this is normal for a newborn. (A grayish stool is cause for concern, however; call the vet at once.) Once bowel movements have begun, you should see a movement for every feeding.

Diarrhea

* Kittens dehydrate quickly, so feed carefully to prevent diarrhea. Do not over-feed and do not make sudden or radical changes to the kitten's diet. If diarrhea (or constipation) develops, consult your veterinarian for adjustment of the formula or feeding portion. If the stool is liquid or bloody or contains mucous, consult your vet or make an appointment.

5. Maintenance

* Observe the kitten's daily progress closely. If there is failure to thrive, weight loss, signs of distress, lassitude, or change in body temperature, consult your veterinarian at once. Be alert for changes in behavior; if a newborn kitten persistently crawls away from the nest or (in the case of a litter) seems always to be on its own, consult your veterinarian at once.

Toddlers

* A kitten's eyes are generally fully open by ten days old (they begin to open at seven days). By three or four weeks a kitten is mobile and able to eat at least some solid food. The kitten is also ready for the litterpan as soon as it can toddle to it. (We recommend introduction to the litterpan by three weeks with expectation of seeing some independent use of the pan by four weeks.) Cats are born litterpan trained, you will be amazed!

Den and Living Space

* Toddlers should be encouraged to play and extend themselves, but they must be contained in a safe, small room. Do not give small kittens the run of your home or apartment, particularly if they are in the process of being socialized! Start newborns with the denning box, then at about three weeks allow them out of the box to explore a small, kitten-proofed room that is warm and secure. A spare bedroom is a good living space, a bathroom is fine, as long as the lid is left down on the toilet and the floor isn't too cold (newspaper is a good insulator if that is the case). Provide a den (the carrier or nesting box) as safe haven and sleeping place.

Solid Food

* By four weeks old or a bit sooner, your kitten can be introduced to solid food. Start with canned kitten food on a saucer or small plate.

* Within the week, add a good-quality kitten chow, softened in a bit of warm water, while phasing out the formula, both by nurser or in the solid food (moisten with water, as necessary). By the time the kitten is six weeks old, it should be scarfing down straight kitten chow and drinking water on its own. Wean gently and gradually though; you don't want a thumb-sucker on your hands.

The Water Dish

* By four or five weeks, the kitten should be taking water on its own as well as food. Provide a low, heavy dish, so the kitten can walk in it, dip its paws and otherwise perform the scientific experiments typical of all felines.

Litterpan

* Kittens are like any other toddler; they play too hard and too long and then desperately need to relieve themselves, so be sure a litterpan (or litterpans, in a larger room) is handy at all times. Start with a pan small enough and low enough for a toddler to get into (and out again) with no trouble.

* Very little training is necessary. Put the kitten into the litterpan 15 minutes or so after a meal, perhaps stimulating it by guiding its paws into a digging motion. If the kitten hops right out, put it right back in again, at least for a time or two. That and the occasional remainder is all you should have to do. If there is an accident, put the feces in the litterpan to help redirect the kitten.

* Kittens are likely to eat litter, and the clumping stuff can block the intestine. We recommend a pellet-style litter until the kitten is at least eight weeks old, and even then watch to be sure the kitten is not eating the stuff. When the kitten is five or six weeks old, it is ready for a full-size litterpan.

Preschoolers (eyes starting to turn color)

* Orphans should be started on their distemper shots (done in a series of three) at six weeks.

* The kitten should be tested for FeLV (or even FIV, if it is from a high-risk feral colony or of unknown background), and should also have its stool tested for intestinal parasites. Inoculation against FeLV (feline leukemia) will have to wait until the kitten is at least ten weeks old, but test anyway.

* A kitten testing positive should be held for at least two weeks (We recommend a month) and then tested a second time, to rule out a false positive result.

* Please spay or neuter your kitten before you adopt it (or if you keep it). A healthy kitten can be safely spayed/neutered as early as eight weeks of age (minimum weight two pounds), but at least sterilized by four months.

(Reference: http://www.fanciers.com/cat-faqs/orphans.shtml). Call our hotline at 408-846-8466 or e-mail us at info@animalrescueandcarenetwork.org if you need immediate assistance.

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