Orphaned Kittens - 7 Lifesaving Household Items | Cats

By JaneTompsett
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Are you capable of saving an orphaned kitten's life?

Sadly, many newborn kittens are orphaned or abandoned. So what should you do if you find yourself responsible for the life of a tiny and precious orphaned kitten?

Surprisingly, it is fairly straightforward to care for your orphaned or abandoned kitten successfully. The most burdensome aspect of the whole process is the amount of time you will need to invest in the care of this newborn bundle of fur. Also, you will need to equip yourself with seven essential pieces of kit that will be required to help you with your task. First, you will need to find a suitably sized cardboard box, then:

A hot water bottle.

Nesting material.

An eye dropper.

2ml hypodermic syringe fitted with 5cm plastic tubing.

Baby bottle sterilizing solution.

A spare towel.

All the above items will help you ensure that your orphaned kitten will have the basic requirements of life - warmth and food.

Newborn kittens will usually get all the warmth they need from their mother's body and it is vitally important to ensure that your orphan doesn't become chilled. This can easily happen and the best way of maintaining the necessary temperature required - between 30-35 degrees centigrade for the first week of life and 25 degrees centigrade afterwards - is to place a suitably sized cardboard box close to a radiator.

Alternatively, you can provide warmth by placing a hot water bottle under one corner of the box. This way, your orphaned kitten will be able to snuggle down into its warmed bedding or choose to move to another, cooler part of its box.

It is important to make sure that your kitten cannot climb out of its box. Once away from its home, your kitten will become chilled very quickly. However, the box must be roomy enough to allow your kitten to move and play easily, whilst still providing security and a comfortable temperature. Using an old towel to partially cover the open top of the box is a good way to meet all these needs.

One job of a mother cat is making sure that her kittens are kept clean and that their bedding doesn't remain soiled. As you now have that responsibility, you will need to provide clean bedding regularly. Old newspaper is good for this as it can easily be removed and disposed of when dirty.

Feeding is a priority once warmth and security have been dealt with.

Here, patience and persistence are what is required as you learn to effectively administer each milk feed via an eye dropper or, as your kitten grows, a hypodermic syringe fitted with an appropriately sized tube attached in place of a needle. Your vet will have kitten formula milk and will also be able to supply you with the equipment necessary to administer it with. Alternatively, good pet stores will sell specialist feeding bottles for use with orphaned or abandoned kittens. Always make sure that the feeding equipment is sterilized after each use, just as you would for a baby's feeding bottle.

Using an old towel, place it and your kitten on your lap or if preferred, on a firm surface. Gently hold the kitten around the back of its head to steady it and gently introduce a couple of drops of milk into the kitten's mouth. With a little luck and much patience, your orphaned kitten will begin to suckle. You will need to make sure that the teat is always filled with milk and that you maintain a gentle pressure to match the strength of the kitten's sucking.

Your vet will advise you on the amount of milk to feed your kitten and always be aware of your kitten's general health and demeanour. If your orphan gives you any cause for concern, please do call in your vet straight away - small kittens can deteriorate in health very quickly.

As your orphaned kitten grows, you will feel a real, parental pride in your achievements. Your love, care and dedication towards this small bundle of fur will have ensured a happy and healthy future for a tiny creature that would otherwise have perished.

So you see, you really can save an orphaned kitten's life. However, to be successful, you will need to have a great deal of guidence and information at your fingertips to enable you to replace a missing mother cat. It will be your responsibility to get hold of this information and apply your newly gained knowledge. Your time and effort will be rewarded 100-fold by the love returned by your healthy, playful kitten!

About the Author

Are you fully prepared to care for your orphaned or abandoned kittens? Learn all you will need to care for orphaned and abandoned kittens and subscribe to Jane Tompsett's free Cat Owners Confidential newsletter by following these links.

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