Manual fostering of kittens

There are many possibilities how kittens may become orphans. Whether the cat is hit by a car, gets into a fight with a dog or it dies in labour, the kittens will be left alone and helpless and they need us to survive. The cat also may reject its new-borns and in such cases, if we don’t find a surrogate mother, the only option left is manual fostering.

The priority is always to try at every cost to get a surrogate lactating cat, that the kittens may be given to. This way, they have the biggest chance at surviving. If you won’t find any, and you decide to provide the fostering on your own, be warned, that it is by no means a simple situation. It will take up almost all of your time and you have to count with that, that you might not be able to save all the kittens from the litter. Patience and persistence are necessary. The first ten days belong to the most critical, but the whole first month will be demanding. Since during this time, the kittens are still blind and deaf and they follow only their touch.

post-natal care

The kittens have to be thoroughly cleaned. Wash them with a warm, damp washcloth. But you mustn’t soak them too much, so that they don’t catch a chill. Afterwards, dry them with a sheet of linen. You can even use an electric blanket as an aid, if you turn it on at the lowest level and leave it in their bed. This will secure that the new-borns will be warm all the time. As an emergency solution, you can even use PET bottles filled with warm water, which, however, have to be changed often for the temperature to hold.

bed

It is suitable to place the new-borns into a small bed where they will be able to find each other easily by touch. A bed with four walls and a hinged cover is ideal. You can even calmly use a padded box. It should be always warm inside their bed, ideal is the mentioned electric blanket, alternatively PET bottles. In the first week of age, the kittens need temperature around 30°C, in the second week, temperature within the range of 25 - 27°C is enough. Place incontinence mats upon the blankets, so that you manage to keep the little ones in a clean and dry place.

nursing

In pet supplies, get a nursing kit that contains a bottle with pacifiers and a special milk for kittens, which is made as natural mother’s milk. There are several kinds of it on our market and the kittens might not want to drink all of them. Later, you can also try using thickened, un-sweetened full-fat milk, and water it down.

Warm the milk up to about 38 ̊C and try the temperature on the back of your hand. Take the kitten into your palm with its belly facing downwards, support its head with your fingers and start feeding. Don’t tilt the bottle too much and wait until the kitten starts to suck on its own. Give it as much milk, as it can drink. A kitten that has just been fed, has a full belly and it will immediately fall asleep. If it hasn’t been fed sufficiently, it will start screaming or its belly is soft. After every feeding, the bottle has to be washed well or scalded.

The feeding has to be repeated every two hours, even at night. From the 21st day of age, you can start feeding during the day, every 3 hours and at night, you can extend the interval up to 4 to 5 hours.

Every day, weigh the kittens and write down the data so that you are sure, that they are not losing weight.

bowel movement

After feeding, you have to help the kittens with their bowel movement. Turn the kitten with its belly upwards and massage its belly and rectum, until it evacuates. Due to artificial milk, there sometimes might be constipation. In such case, it is recommended to administer camomile tea mixed with grape sugar (e.g. Glukopur) once in a while, instead of milk.

development

During the first week, the kittens will lose the umbilical cord, between the seventh and the fourteenth day, their eyes will start opening. Smell will start developing between the second and the third week of age. With its help, they can distinguish another kitten and their human. In the third week, also hearing starts to develop. By the end of the first month of their life, they will start standing on their feet. Therefore, it is advisable to enlarge their bed and to let them move around more.

deworming

It is good to conduct the first deworming 14 days after the birth and to repeat it again at 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 3 months. For such small kittens, you will get a special deworming paste at the veterinarian, which is much gentler towards the little bodies than classical products.

supplemental feeding

As soon as they are able to walk, you can start with supplemental feeding from a small shallow plate. First with warmed milk, then with un-sweetened cottage cheese (curd). At one month old, you can start feeding them even with cooked chicken meat torn into small pieces or with chicken cans for kittens. At this time, they also have to have permanent access to fresh water. You can also buy special  granules  for the smallest kittens, which include everything they need.

litter box

When the kittens are already stuffing themselves on their own, they are also able to go to the litter box. Therefore, it is time, to purchase a litter box. It should be uncovered and low, and the litter fine and dust-free.

safety

At one month old, don’t allow the kittens to roam around the flat freely without you present. When you leave, put them in a spacious box or into an otherwise secured space, where they will have everything what they need: a litter box and bowls with granules and water.

new home

If you don’t want to keep all the kittens, you can slowly start looking for a suitable home for them, where they should go when they are two months old. Cats nursed by manual fostering are usually good companions. They are used to humans and they usually have a stronger bond with them. However, even you – after all that – will have a hard time saying goodbye to them :).