Everyone loves a great backstory
Last fall the beautiful Tortoiseshell kitty to the left began wandering through our yard in the evenings. She is tiny and looks identical to our two indoor torties. After doing a tail-count we realized she was, indeed, not one of ours, but a stray just strolling through. We began seeing her more frequently, and decided to begin feeding her. As the days turned colder she began coming daily, and not alone. She had two mid size kittens with her, and that changed everything. We purchased a small cat house to put on our patio, then a heated pad to keep them warm through the winter, and a heated water bowl. My husband fashioned a roof for their house so the snow wouldn’t make their food soggy. We were excited to see them in the evenings, eating the food and sleeping in their toasty new house. So we bought a motion sensor camera and attached it to the railing of our back step so we could spy on the kitty family any time we wanted. We kept track of their comings and goings which turned into a very consistent routine of arriving at dusk and staying until dawn. They would rise and have a snack before leaving for the day shortly before we woke to go to work. Then April 1, 2022 was the last time we saw “Mama”. We didn’t see her for two weeks. The kittens, now grown, still came daily, but no Mama. We feared the worst, scanned the roadways as we went to work and school and asked neighbors if they had seen her, they also had not.
Easter Sunday April 19, 2022, she returned at 10pm and during the night delivered 9 babies. When we woke Monday morning, we saw something lying next to the house, which turned out to be a deceased kitten, it had been mauled by something, a bloody mess. We looked at the camera footage and she had been bringing the kittens out and one at a time, biting at them until they stopped screaming, then carried them into our yard and left them to die, which is where we found several of them. When we realized this, we removed the three remaining kittens from the dwelling. We are now surrogate parents to newborn kittens.
Day 1, April 19, 2022
Three tiny kittens stormed our world today. One tiny grey one, the runt of the litter, and his two beige siblings, one who is strong willed and demanding, and one who on day one purred after their first meal. We don’t believe Mama nursed them much, or at all, they seemed to take to the bottle fairly easily. Some internet searching, and a lovely article by the Charleston Animal Society on fostering orphaned newborns, and we were on our way! We picked up some kitten milk replacement formula and began this journey.
We learned that at this age they should weigh about 4 ounces and eat about 1/2 Tablespoon (7.5 ml) every 2-3 hours. Today they ate about 5-6 ml each feeding. We also learned that at this age, they rely on their “mother” to lick their bottoms after feedings to stimulate them to urinate or stool. To fulfill this need a damp paper towel can be gently rubbed on their bottoms and Voila’. I will pick up a food scale tomorrow so we can start weighing them.
Day 2, April 20, 2022
Two days old and already stealing my heart. We took them to our vet today to have a check up and make sure they were all doing ok. She was cautiously optimistic, it is very soon to know how well they will do, and the odds are against them, but we are willing and so are they. They weigh between 4.2 and 4.4 ounces and are eating and toileting without any issues. They are sleeping in our half bath with a space heater to keep the room about 90 degrees. They have a long narrow rice bag style heating pad in the box with them to simulate a Mom and we heat this up after feedings so they have something to cuddle with. Mama kitty is still coming to the house in the evenings with the original two kitties in tow, they eat and sleep there then go off in the mornings to do their business. It is hard to not hold a grudge or be angry with her for her actions, but as we all know instinct is about survival and not about compassion. Maybe she felt it was too large of a litter, maybe she didn’t think she was finished with the other kittens from last year yet, or maybe she knows something we don’t know yet. Only time will tell.
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Day 3, April 21, 2022
They are growing more and more every day. Their little personalities are beginning to emerge and they’ve totally clawed their way into my heart (see what I did there?). They are about 4.5-4.8 ounces today, they’re still eating about 1/3 to 1/2 tablespoon per feeding and eating about every 2-3 hours. We do stretch the night feedings to about 4 hours (per vet approval) so we feed them at 10pm 2am and 6am during the night. Our other cats (did I mention that we already have 4?) are fairly indifferent to the new additions, although my oldest, gets very anxious and protective when they are crying. I am not sure, but I think she may be considering foster parenting as well…
My husband has been doing some research and found a company called Miracle Nipples for orphan kittens and ordered some, they apparently fit onto a standard lure lock syringe and have very good reviews online. When they come in, I will let you know how they work.
They’re so cute when they sleep, they snuggle with each other, often they are in a ball or a pile, but today they were lined up so nicely, I had to snap a quick pic before stirring things up by picking one up for a feeding.
Day 4, April 22, 2022
Today the Kittens had their first outing. We paid a visit to the vet to ensure that they are on the right track and well appearing. The vet was cautiously optimistic and reminded us of the time commitment and risk of failure involved with fostering newborn kittens. She let us know that we were using the correct formula, feeding them on the proper schedule, and keeping meticulous records of intake and output (thank you 8 years of ICU nursing…). The kittens are 5.2-5.5 ounces today, they are growing by about ½ ounce per day. They are feeding on the same schedule and giving us about 4 hours of sleep between feedings at night.
They are very active when eating, trying to find a food source on my face (no such luck) or in my hair. I give them about a 5 minute rest after eating to snuggle and then put them back in their warm box. The instruction manual says to handle them minimally for the first week, this is not an easy task, but I try…
Day 5-6 April 23-24, 2022
I am going to combine the weekend days, because they are a bit of a blur. The kittens, who we are now calling Ash, Ember, and Flicker are steadily gaining weight and are up to 5.4-5.6 Ounces. They are eating about the same amount (our guide tells us they will eat about 1/2 Tablespoon per feeding for the first two weeks or so) so this is expected. They poo like champions (but rarely in their bed, only when stimulated to do so) and they have the Sphinx pose perfected.
They still have their eyes closed but their ear canals seem to have opened, because when one is screaming in protest (usually during the toileting routine) the other two have begun to commiserate. Screaming kittens in surround sound is a joy at 4am on a Sunday morning.
Happy Birthday Babies! One week today April 25, 2022
Today the babies are 7 days old. One whole week in this world and under our care. We are pretty proud kitty parents right now!! This is momentous. From what I understand, getting to a week is quite a milestone and means that these adorable fluff muffins are almost out of the woods. We haven’t had any decline in weight or eating, no sign of worms or kitten fade, and no decrease in vigor or appetite. I am so proud of these little sweeties. They are 5.6-5.8 Ounces and getting more active every day.
The Miracle nipples and syringes came, my husband loves them, the shape of the nipple is very different from the bottle, it is longer and more tapered, where the bottle nipple is more like a baby bottle, shorter and rounded. The 5ml syringes are small, once they get latched on and start sucking, they go through it very quickly and then it’s difficult to get them to latch again. We ordered some 10ml and 20ml syringes they should be here tomorrow. I am sure that puts us onto somebody’s watch list.
Day 8, April 26, 2022
So, this happened today! Flick and Ember opened their eyes! They are still pretty wobbly, but they are starting to explore their environment and have longer periods of wakefulness between feedings. They are also spending more time interacting with each other in the box and with us when we are feeding them.
They are eating both from the syringes and the bottles. I have more luck with the bottles and my husband has better outcomes with the syringes. The vet gave us a call today to check on the babies and was thrilled to hear about their progress.
She told us we were doing just fine and that these precious (ferocious) little lambs (lions) are thriving. They are up to 6 ounces today.
They seem to love being petted after feedings and have all been purring for us after meals. We are blessed to be a part of this little circus!