If you find baby kittens, don’t move them!  More than likely, their mother is close by. Animals in the wild rarely abandon their babies except for human intervention. If you know the mother will not return, act quickly. Baby kittens need a lot of care and attention. Even under the best of conditions   orphan baby kittens are difficult to raise and keep alive. 

 

1)    First thing, keep kittens WARM. If they are cold when you find them, get them warm first. They must be warm to want to take food and then digest it. Do not force feed. If they are cold, they will not swallow. If they are swallowing, feed very slowly with just drops at a time. A kitten must be taught to take a syringe or a bottle and it takes many tries. Keep the kitten quiet and only handle it to feed it. Stress can make the kitten sick.  If your kittens’eyes aren’t opened yet, they are less than 2 weeks old. 

 

 2)  FEED the kittens every 4 hours using a pet baby bottle or syringe.  You can buy powdered kitten milk replacer at Wal-Mart or the tractor store or feed store. Mix up only the amount of food the kitten will eat as the milk does not keep more than a day. Some stores have liquid milk replacer in a can. Do NOT feed cow’s milk or any other human food or this will cause diarrhea. Diarrhea will eventually cause dehydration through loss of body fluids and the kitten will eventually die.

 

3)    If the kitten has fleas, bathe the kitten in a sudsy bowl of Dawn dish detergent and warm water, then rinse well. Do not let the kitten get chilled. Make sure he’s thoroughly dried, then wrapped in a warm towel and placed in a warm location away from cold air. The towel can be warmed in the microwave.  If you leave the fleas on the kitten, the kitten will lose a lot of blood from flea bites and die of anemia.

 

4)    Follow up with a vet visit if the kitten gets a cold. Many kittens will get an upper respiratory infection which includes matted eyes, sneezing and congestion.  The kitten may not want to eat if he is sick. The vet will advise you when vaccinations and wormings should be done.  Neutering should be done at approx 4 months and a rabies shot at the same time will give the best protection to your new kitten. .