A little bit about the littlest ones

A couple of days ago I found myself remembering how I felt when I first had to handle the smallest kitten I had ever personally encountered. I was scared. No, that's an understatement to end all understatements. I was completely terrified and felt more inadequate than I had ever felt. The culmination of this emotional wringer was an actual panic attack, when the kitten in my care had taken a fall down the three flights of stairs we had in our rental at the time. I thought I had just killed a fellow earthling through my negligence. Well, it was an overreaction, of course, and the kitten landed on his feet, dusted himself off and went about the rest of his day. That kitten was our first cat Vader whom we had adopted from a rescue. He was only 7 weeks old when he came to us. And like I said, the smallest thing I'd ever had to hold.

Vader's first day with us

The next time I encountered the smallest creatures again was when our first foster kittens arrived. They were a bit bigger than our cat Vader on his first days with us, but the difference is that the responsibility somehow seems bigger with the foster cats, as they are not our own, they are other people's cats (even if those people haven't met them yet). So I had to learn to handle them again. And with every new kitten or litter I kept learning, of course. Or so I like to hope:)

And most kittens came to us when they're about 8-12 weeks old. So they were all weaned, walking, talking, jumping, playing; maybe in need of some socialising, but mostly just looking for TLC. That is until Poppy arrived. And had her four babies in our house. It was a crash course in kitten care, to be sure, but I always smile whenever I remember that. There's a lot of love for that little feline family in my heart, it seems. But Poppy was great after the initial shock of becoming a teen mother and took care of the kittens herself, pretty much. I was just the cleaning lady, really:)

Poppy herding her babies

Never in my wildest dreams had I ever imagined that I would have to bottle feed tiny animals. But that's the thing about wildest dreams - they tend to come true;) So, my very first feline bottle babies were Pippi, Ronnie, Mia and Yum-Yum. They were about 3 weeks old when they came to us, so only needed about a week or two of bottle feeding. Weaning usually starts at around 4-5 weeks.

Yum-Yum, Ronnie and Mia, all done with the bottle:)

I thought to jot down a few notes on how I care for orphaned neonatal kittens (that means motherless kittens aged from birth to 4 weeks old). It's all about establishing and following some routines, basically.

So, we're talking about kittens that are 2-3 weeks old (and usually they really can't be any younger than that in a 'normal' foster home, because the very new-born orphans (0-2 weeks) need to be incubated if they are to survive - as they can't regulate their body temperature, their ambient temperature needs to be rather high and they need to be fed every 2 hours, including overnight, and ordinary home conditions just don't have those options available). So, when they are 2-3 weeks old, they have to be fed every 2-3 hours, including overnight. So, that involves a lot of washing of bottles and teats and bottle brushes - which means that it makes good sense to have a couple of sets ready to go.

One of my bottle-fed 'Wildflowers' from 2023

Before I start feeding a kitten, I place her (let's use this pronoun here for convenience) on a clean blanket on my lap and start massaging her belly. I do that using either my fingers or a soft toothbrush - to mimic what her mother would do in order to stimulate her digestive system into action (the queen would use her tongue to do that, but that's not recommended for us humans, so toothbrush or fingers it is;). Another very important thing is to make the kitten go to toilet, either before or after feeding, by gently massaging her anus with a soft cloth or tissue in a circular motion - so yes, her 'toilet' will be the soft thing in your hand. Yes, it's all very glamorous:) I usually do the toileting after feeding. If the kitten is experiencing difficulty pooping, I increase the belly massages and add a little more water to the formula (the formula can actually contribute to constipation, so it should never be given to kittens in its dry form, but always mixed with water; and to be safe rather than sorry - with a little extra water on top of what's recommended). Usually it helps. Of course, if it doesn't do the trick and your kitten is struggling for days, vets need to get involved.

Another thing that's part of the routine of caring for neonates is trying to keep everything clean. That includes their environment - so I change their bedding every morning, and check for signs of pee or poo on their bedding, as that might lead me to looking for signs of pee and poo on their bodies. And then they would have to be cleaned (urine can cause scalding on their skin, for example, so it's very important to keep their bodies, and especially the backsides as clean as possible).

Another thing I do as I change their bedding is refill their hot water bottle (which I keep properly wrapped up in a few cushion covers), which I tuck under the bedding in their 'house', so they always have an extra warm area within the enclosure. Kittens can't regulate their body temperature until they are 4 weeks old, so they will need some help in the heating department. And it's very cute to see them huddle together atop and around the hot water bottle mound in their lair:)

Misty was a great fan of the hot water bottle bed in her little kitten cave

Besides keeping their backsides clean, another very important area is the face: so I check their eyes every morning and if there's anything amiss there (like discharge or something), I immediately clean them with a clean cotton pad and warm water (and using a separate pad for each eye to eliminate the possibility of cross-contamination). Then I monitor the eyes for a few days to see if the discharge is persistent, if it is, I have to get the vets involved for eye drops (usually). Really, keeping an eye on their eyes is one of the most important things you can do when caring for neonates - they are so susceptible to infections, especially without the mother around to help with the development of their immune system, and if an eye infection goes untreated, the consequences may be dire. Of course, I can't forget the nose either, again, looking for discharge, more than anything. Oh, and of course it's important to clean their faces every time after feeding, they'll have plenty of opportunities to make a right mess of their faces and everything else while weaning:) And their ears may need cleaning, too, sometimes, depending on where they've come from etc. Basically, check every orifice:)

When the kittens are 3 weeks old, I start introducing them to the litter box. I start by performing their toilet procedures over a litter box, sometimes placing the kitten into the box just as she is starting to pee in my hand. That can be a bit shocking at first (and then I stop and try again next time), but usually it really doesn't take any more than a couple of tries to get them used to the idea of doing it in the box. Yes, that's probably the easiest part of neonatal care.

After they've turned 3 weeks +, I start adding some meat mousse into their formula (just a teaspoon per bottle at first), to introduce them to the taste of meat/solid food. So, what I give them is a slurry and for that I need a bottle with a slightly bigger hole in the teat, but not too big, I don't want them to choke on anything. I have to report that so far, every single one of my neonate fosters has been really into that. Once they turn 4 weeks +, it's time to start thinking about weaning proper. So, the first thing I do at every feeding time is make up 2 bottles of the slurry and empty one of them onto a shallow plate for them to lick and have the other bottle ready to use for someone who's maybe not quite ready to eat solo.

The joys of weaning: why stand on the floor and eat when there's a bowl available:)

And then when it comes to moving on to solid food proper, it's a good idea to keep watering everything down at first, to make sure they get enough liquids in their diet, as drinking water is also something they have to learn to do and enjoy. But water has to be available at all times, of course, on top of all the slop:) Introduction to dry food needs to happen through some wetting, too. It's important to keep an eye out for signs of meat nursing in any of the kittens - it's when they basically just lap and nozzle their food without actually chewing/ingesting anything. Then you just have to monitor their eating and focus on the 'problem' kittens and try different things: maybe they might want some formula (or more of that than meaty wet food in their diet). Sometimes eating off your hand or spoon may help them on their way. Anyway, patience usually gets results in this instance, too. Just have to make sure that they're not losing weight or have any changes in their behaviour.

Weaning really is a fun time - you'll experience loads of moments of sheer comedy, but it can also test your patience with regards to the amount of cleaning that has to be done:) It can be a messy situation.

It's true, neonatal kitten care is not for everyone, it can be quite challenging. Having to get up a few times a night to feed a bunch of greedy little furballs is not many people's idea of fun, but then it's not supposed to be. It's just something that needs to be done in order for those orphans to survive. And then it only lasts a few weeks, so in the grand scheme of things it's not the burden it sometimes may seem when you're in the thick of it:)

Like I said at the start, I never thought I'd be the person to do it, but we're all full of surprises, I guess:)

The beautiful bottle-raised Wildflowers of 2023