need advice taking care of 5 orphan kittens!!!

Well awhile back we noticed a pregnant feral cat around our place and I don't remember when that happened exactly. over a month ago at least. Then we noticed she wasn't pregnant anymore and I have been trying to get closer to her. Then on Sunday morning we found her dead in the garage and we have no idea what happened to her. We had no idea where the kittens were and knew if we didn't find them that they would die. We live in the country and really had no idea where to even begin looking and I was almost ready to give up thinking that the mother likely fed her kittens last on Saturday which is 4 days ago. Then tonight, my sister happened to be outside at the right time I guess and walking by the shop and heard faint meowing. We couldnt believe it! My dad got the ladder and we found 5 kittens alive in the attic of the shop!!!!! we still can not figure out how on earth they survived 4 days without food!!!! they are fighters for sure. anyways we think they are about 3-4weeks old based on what we have read. we have no idea what to do and we will be going to a vet tomorrow to find stuff out but if anyone has any info or advice-PLEASE share!!!!! we need all the advice we can get! they are still so young. we read they are lactose intolerant to cow's milk so the best we could do we thought is my lactaid milk and hoping that is not bad? also we had little bottles still from when we raised puppies and fed them each a bit that way. They didn't get enough I don't think but I think enough to give them a bit of nourishment to last till tomorrow when the vet opens again. I will post pics as well. I can keep you all updated if you like? just thinking of the cost of the extra food and what not.... I hope I can find homes for them when they are old enough to go to new homes. I hope they all survive.

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/members...ed-kittens.jpg
http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/members...ed-kittens.jpg

we just have them in a blue box with towels currently because that is all we could find at the moment on short notice. We will get them better accomadations tomorrow. :)

do u have any infant formula around? or goats milk? when i worked at the spca that is what we used for the baby kittens we got... also we didn't end up feeding them with bottles...we used those medical syringes the ones without needles of course, and we very slowly squeezed it out

I was going to suggest baby formula and a syringe.
Or here's some recipes for emergency formula:
http://cats.about.com/cs/kittencare/a/kittyglop.htm
If you don't have everything on the list, at this point I would try to get whatever you have into them. If they don't eat before you get them to the vet you may lose them overnight.

thanks sooooo much for the info!!! we have the syringe as well and for a few of them that is all we could use to get food into them. a couple got the bottle which is good. I will be heading to the vet in about an hour or so. can keep you updated if you like?

I have no advice, but WOW on how kind you are to look after them!

First, thanks for taking care of these kittens :-).

I've fostered young kittens before and yours appear large enough that bottle/syringe feeding may not be necessary. You can just put down a shallow bowl of good quality canned kitten food diluted with warm water. They'll learn to lap it up quickly.

Thank you for taking care of the little ones! You are an angel! :)

Just one caution I have for you is to keep Felix away from them for now. You don't need your boy getting worms, etc, from these little ones.

I do have a suggestion for increasing the likelihood of them getting good homes - once they have a clean bill of health & are used to you, teach them a few "tricks" (sit, shake hands, etc). It will make them stand out from other "kittens to good homes". :)

Glad I'm not closer, there's something about that little tortie. :P

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Originally Posted by snuffaluffagus

First, thanks for taking care of these kittens :-).

I've fostered young kittens before and yours appear large enough that bottle/syringe feeding may not be necessary. You can just put down a shallow bowl of good quality canned kitten food diluted with warm water. They'll learn to lap it up quickly.

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Really? thanks sooooo much!!! we were not sure if we could just give them wet cat food. I was thinking that we could maybe try wet cat food diluted with some milk or something. we have friskies wet cat food-is that ok? we have an older cat (he's 3) and we give him some wet cat food once a day.
they are all still alive and the calico one is stealing my heart. he/she crawled up to my neck and I could hear what seems to be purring. my heart melted.

oh Andi thanks! I know what you mean about the "tortie" so it is a tortise shell colour? I was calling it calico. lol I totally want to keep it. lol my dad is already suggesting keeping one and then thinking well maybe 2 so they keep each other company. lol

I don't know a lot about unweaned kittens, but I do know that regular cows milk is a bad idea and more likely to kill than cure. I've seen kitten formula at the pet store.

These guys look big enough to toilet themselves, but when I fostered squirrels and racoons for the Humane Society besides feeding them with a syringe, we had to stimulate them to void. The moms do it with their tongues so they can keep the nest clean. Luckily they let us use wet Kleenex.

I think with really tiny kittens the moms do the tongue/bum thing too. How's that for gross?

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Originally Posted by dealsniffer

I was thinking that we could maybe try wet cat food diluted with some milk or something.

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No milk, just warm water. Milk can cause diarrhea which would put them at risk for dehydration.

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Originally Posted by dealsniffer

we have friskies wet cat food-is that ok?

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That should be alright temporarily but, try to get some kitten food as it's more nutritionally appropriate for such wee kitties.

Several other things that come to mind: 1) add a shallow box with some cat litter in it so that they learn young to eliminate away from where they eat and sleep 2) wipe them down daily with a warm wet rag 3) your kittens look long-haired so to keep them clean, you may want to use blunt scissors to carefully trim the fur around their bums (scissors used for babies' nails with the rounded ends work well) 4) Please keep them together for at least 10-12 weeks so that they learn bite inhibition and how to play appropriately with each other. This will help a great deal in the future so that they don't bite human hands in play. 5) Never give kittens/cats away for free, even 5-10$ will help weed out irresponsible folk 6) Try to contact an SPCA or local cat rescue in your area. Explain your situation to them. They may be able to help with vaccinations (so important since they don't have the immunity from their momma's milk) and with low-cost or free spay/neuter so your kittens don't have the chance to contribute to the pet over-population crisis.

Id love to be updated deals.

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Originally Posted by snuffaluffagus

No milk, just warm water. Milk can cause diarrhea which would put them at risk for dehydration.



That should be alright temporarily but, try to get some kitten food as it's more nutritionally appropriate for such wee kitties.

Several other things that come to mind: 1) add a shallow box with some cat litter in it so that they learn young to eliminate away from where they eat and sleep 2) wipe them down daily with a warm wet rag 3) your kittens look long-haired so to keep them clean, you may want to use blunt scissors to carefully trim the fur around their bums (scissors used for babies' nails with the rounded ends work well) 4) Please keep them together for at least 10-12 weeks so that they learn bite inhibition and how to play appropriately with each other. This will help a great deal in the future so that they don't bite human hands in play. 5) Never give kittens/cats away for free, even 5-10$ will help weed out irresponsible folk 6) Try to contact an SPCA or local cat rescue in your area. Explain your situation to them. They may be able to help with vaccinations (so important since they don't have the immunity from their momma's milk) and with low-cost or free spay/neuter so your kittens don't have the chance to contribute to the pet over-population crisis.

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That is all such helpful info!!!! Thanks soooo much! There is a rescue place here and I am going to contact them because I don't want to have these kittens contribute to the overpopulation. I can not tell you how grateful I am for the info you gave!!!

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Originally Posted by Sally888

Id love to be updated deals.

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I started a blog www.5orphankittens.blogspot.com because I find myself repeating the same stuff over and over to everyone. lol this way I can update there better and what not. So far they are all alive and a handful! I think I need earplugs when with them they are so loud! we weighed them and they are all about 200g. we have been rubbing their bums to get them to go bathroom and sadly only 2 have gone poop so far. and it was quite hard. they have all gone pee a few times and the one orange one tends to take a real big leak each time. lol I hope that isn't a bad thing. I am hoping to get them checked out by a vet but I want to talk to the rescue place if they know of a way to get it done cheaper that it isn't such a cost to me. I am on dissability so I don't have alot of money. Anyways that is all for now. I am headed out to help them go bathroom again and take a few photos. I hope I can get more to go poop. if they get backed up that could kill them too I think. I know it does with lambs and puppies.