How To Raise Orphaned Newborn Kittens

Orphaned or hand fed kittens should be raised together to aid in social development.

How to raise orphaned newborn kittens. If they have littermates they will stimulate each other when moving. They should be petted cuddled and played with by humans for 30 40 minutes a day over and above feeding and cleaning time. If a rescued kitten feels cold warm it immediately but gently. When the orphaned kittens reach about 3 weeks of age you can start providing watered down meat based kitten food for them to nibble on.

Don t be afraid to ask plenty of questions or for recommendations. Use a wet washcloth or a piece of damp gauze to gently rub each kitten s genital region until it urinates and or defecates. Mix the wet food with water until it achieves a soupy consistency and consider warming the mixture before serving. Newborn kittens get cold very easily.

Place a box or cat carrier in a quiet isolated part of your house. I knew very little about newborn kitten care but a lot about cat care so a visit to my local veterinarian was the first thing on my list. Panic never helped anyone but you do need to treat this as a situation that cannot wait. Place it on a heating pad wrapped in towels and on the lowest setting or warm a hot water bottle to about 100 degrees wrapped in a towel and place it with the kitten.

Set a towel inside the box to make a cozy spot for the kittens to rest. A kitten with a low body temperature is in danger feeding that. Gather the kittens and quickly make a plan for the next 24 hours of care you can always change your plans later on but right now you just need to think about their immediate needs. You should also cover the box or carrier with a towel to keep it warm.

If this doesn t happen gently place the kitten by the mother s teats which helps the kitten get the scent of milk. They should be petted cuddled and played with by humans for 30 40 minutes a day over and above feeding and cleaning time. If after half an hour the kitten still isn t suckling gently open the kitten s mouth and latch him onto a nipple to suckle. Kittens take to the litterbox as quickly as ducks to water.

Kittens need mental and physical stimulation. When it comes to orphaned kittens time is of the essence. The room you put it in should be warm and draft free away from any other pets. A non clumping pellet litter works best for untrained newbies as the clumping type causes digestive upset if they eat it.

Orphaned or hand fed kittens should be raised together to aid in social development. Wash or discard the cloth immediately and dry the kitten off before putting him back in with his litter mates. Make sure you keep a fresh supply and not too much at one time. Many veterinarians have incubators to warm a chilled kitten.

If after that the kitten doesn t feed then you might need to hand raise the kitten. Use a low sided box for training the lid to a shoebox works perfectly. If they have littermates they will stimulate each other when moving.