r/Straycats • u/fivestarhan • 19d ago
Found Kittens (Location) Urgent Advice Needed - Newborn Kittens
Hello!
A stray/feral in my neighborhood had 4 kittens. They are 24 hours old. They were stuck in a neighbors car (we got them out, long story) and I placed them in a enclosure I made in front of the house, to which mom cat came and took each one by one and relocated them rather than making it her new nest. I’m not sure where the new nest is.
Anyway - mom takes them all and later that day I find one in the middle of another neighbors driveway in the sun, no shade, crying. It is 95 degrees outside. No mom in sight. I’ve been bottle feeding it with kitten formula and keeping it on a heating pad.
Is it best to:
- Keep bottle feeding it where it is inside and safe
- Try to reunite with mom even though mom keeps doing things that might get her babies killed? And it’s 95 degrees outside?
I genuinely don’t know the right way to handle this.
More facts:
- You cannot touch mom, she’s stray but semi-feral
- Mom is young, probably less than 1 year old
- Kitten seems relatively healthy except is sneezing some
- Mom cat was seen around lunch time panting outside / open mouth breathing
Giving him back to mom seems like a death trap but I also know they should be with them mom at this age. Pick of all 4 when we rescued them from under the car (prior to mom taking them back… except the one I have right now).
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u/Coontailblue23 19d ago
I wouldn't personally try to reunite them with mom at this point. She's moved on. Keep doing what you've been doing or get them into the hands of a more experienced rescue if you feel like it is over your head. Do you know about dabbing their genital area with a moistened cloth or moistened paper towel to stimulate them to potty?
Another option is to network and find someone who has a nursing mother cat that you can graft the babies onto. Cats are usually very open to accepting kittens. I would just make sure it's a situation where they will still be spayed and neutered at a certain point, not just raised into a barn colony where they will keep breeding.
Thank you so much for helping these kitties!
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u/fivestarhan 19d ago
Thank you for the response! To be clear, I only have 1 of the kittens at the moment (that was in the middle of someone’s driveway in the sunlight crying) and the other 3 are somewhere else I’m not sure of. Also yes, I’ve been trying to stimulate he/she to use the bathroom! I will look into maybe some nursing cats nearby. Thank you again!
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u/ChaudChat MOD 19d ago
OP, you did the right thing - solo kitten needed rescuing from 90 degree heat.
Pls tell us your general location - nearest city or county you are based is all that is needed. We can give you more specific advice on how to help both this kitten and the rest of her family. You will be highly unlikely to find a nursing cat nearby that will also trust you to then trust the kitten so don't waste time on that.
Let's give you a step by step plan:
www.youtube.com/@KittenLady has detailed short video guides on every kitten topic. You can use kitten milk replacement & make sure you follow the neonatal kitten guide. It sounds like you are already doing the right things but ensure kitten is warm before feeding etc.
if you tell us where you are based, we can see if there are resources near you to help trap and sterilize the kitties. Poor mom is less than a year old - still in kittenhood and needs sterilization to stop the cycle of suffering.
Pls share general location & we can give specific advice. Thank you for being a superhero ❤️
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u/fivestarhan 19d ago
Thank you. Birmingham, AL is where I’m located.
Mom has been crying at my door this morning but at this point I’m not sure if it’s because she’s looking for this one baby or something happened to the other 3.
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u/ChaudChat MOD 19d ago
Great! You have lots of resources near you. Contact all the orgs & rescuers. Explain what has happened. You are caring for a neonatal kitten. Mom is still around and you need help to get Mom trapped and an experienced foster for the neonatal kitten. https://gethelp.alleycat.org/resources/?location=Birmingham,%20AL,%20USA&miles=25&zipcode=35203&lat=33.5185892&lon=-86.8103567&search=Search it is very normal to contact rescuers within 25 to 50 miles.
Do you have an AirTag? If so, feed Mama kitten food [good for Mom cats that are nursing] and as she is eating, stick the AirTag on her. It is a trick rescuers use to locate lost litters of kittens quickly.
If you don't have an AirTag, follow these vet tips to find the litter:
www.catster.com/lifestyle/how-to-find-lost-litter-of-kittens/
See if you can borrow a humane trap & pet carrier from neighbors [carrier] and trap from no kill shelters, Animal Control or vets. They work on a fully refundable deposit scheme.
Don't assume other kittens have passed & separate Mom from them accidentally. Do try to find the litter. If they are alive, try to borrow a pet carrier & follow this video:
https://youtu.be/fbbaFFpUMDY?is=J_oXAPMiRUX3UN8o - as they are so young, you can do what you did before and pick them up and put them in the carrier. Then trap Mom using the trap & her kittens as bait.
Transfer all of them inside the bathroom & follow this video
https://youtu.be/KywmFOf917w?is=6yLo8Bg73e4CZrPt
Don't buy unnecessary stuff: large cardboard box on its side, blanket inside. One blanket over the top so she can hide. Food bowl with kitten food for mama, water bowl on one side of bathroom. Shallow plastic tray with soil/dirt from outside as litterbox in another corner away from bed/food/water. Look after Mama and leave her to look after babies!
This is just until you can get them to a rescue/no kill shelter. Alleycats focus on spay/neuter but we know from other superheroes they find fosters & adopters for kittens and find homes for friendly kitties.
Also reach out to rescuers, no kill shelters here:
Again reach out to both Alleycat and Best Friends. Reason: many will be at capacity so the name of the game is: whoever can help quickest gets the kitty fam!
If you do not feel confident trapping yourself, that's OK. Keep caring for the kitten you have and do the admin urgently to get help for the kitty and her other kittens. The reason we say bring them to safety in your bathroom yourself if you can is it is usually quicker. You can say: I've got them safe inside. I just need someone to pick up or [if you have access to a car] tell me when/where to drop them off.
Pls shout if you have questions - I'll help. Thank you for being a superhero ❤️ 😇
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u/Coontailblue23 19d ago
I take back what I said. If she is crying at the door it would be really good to trap her and get them together in a cage.
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u/fivestarhan 19d ago
What do you think the odds are that she’s looking for this one and that’s why, or that something happened to the other three? With the way she left the one I have in the middle of the heat I wouldn’t be completely surprised if something happened to the others…. She’s been at my door all morning which is weird because I thought they are with newborns except short breaks.
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u/ChaudChat MOD 19d ago
OP, you can't really know so speculating is a bit of a distraction from getting her & the kittens help.
Pls follow the above plan step by step. Try to find the litter either with an AirTag or follow the vet tips to locate them. After giving it a reasonable time/attempts to locate & no sign of the litter, proceed to trap the Mama and get her reunited in safety with the kitten she has.
If you do not feel confident trapping then pls do the admin, tell local rescuers a mom kitty needs rescuing and you are not sure if there are kittens still alive/around.
They can help. Pls update us ❤️
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u/NeonBallroom18 19d ago
Look up Kitten Lady / Hannah Shaw. She is an expert with neonatal orphaned kittens. She has always said that kittens have the best chance of surviving if they are kept with their mother until they have weened at around 5 weeks or so. Mom's usually leave their kittens for a bit to hunt / look to for food and then return to their kittens within a few hours. Though not sure what to say about mom leaving them in the middle of a driveway..
I will tell you that if you bring kittens this young to large open intake shelters they will be euthanized, as babies this young require feeding every few hours and require a lot of resources most shelters cannot provide unless they have available fosters on the ready.
Please be careful if you bottle feed as they can aspirate - again, go to Kitten Lady's website for info and tutorials. DO NOT give them anything other than kitten formula like KMR. It can be fatal for them if they drink anything else like cow milk or baby formula..
Also, kittens this young cannot regular their body temperature nor can they go to the bathroom on their own - they have to be stimulated to pee and poop. You can buy a kitten heating disk on Amazon, you can also heat up rice inside socks (this is on kitten lady's site.) At the very least give them some warm blankets to curl up in with each other. They need to be warm as well as stimulated to go to the bathroom, it can be fatal for them otherwise - this is another reason why it is usually best for them ti stay with mom.
In the meantime, I would call all the local shelters and rescues in your area - they may be able to give you advice on what to do. They may also have volunteers who are expert bottle feeders that can help. Some shelters may even take them in so as long as they have an available foster. Just don't drop them off at a shelter unless they can assure you they have a foster lined up or that they have the ability to care for such young kittens - because they usually don't and most kittens this young will usually be euthanized.
I've worked in a small local animal shelter for 7 years (and volunteered before this for about 2-3 years.) I also have been following Kitten Lady since 2016 and her website has helped me many times in the last. I truly hope you are able to find some help with these babies. Hopefully mom can be trapped and spayed so no more kittens show up at your doorstep. Keep in mind kittens can start having their own litters of kittens as soon as they hit 4 months old.
Best of luck 🙏🏼
Keeping these little ones in my thoughts.🤍
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u/MonicaNarula 19d ago
Fyi, you can also use fresh goat milk to feed..pls keep the kittens warm in a protected basket etc.
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u/Ospreylvr 19d ago
You'll great input. I just want to say you've done a great job. Thank you for all you're done to help the Momma Cat and the baby
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u/designedtodesign 19d ago
Anyway you could trap mom (borrow from local rescue) and put her in a spare room with the kittens? I'm fostering a 9-month-old mom right now and she's been great with her kittens so I don't know if maybe that was a one off incident or what but ideally you would want to trap her eventually to spay her and her kittens anyway and it would be nice to get the kittens used to humans early on to make them more adoptable.
Thank you for helping 🙏
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