Raising a motherless kitten
Warmth
A pup/kitten is very sensible to supercooling; after all the fur isn’t there yet, the relative huge body surface ensures an intense warmth exchange and the body thermostat doesn’t function optimally yet. If there is a mother animal and nest mates, this isn’t a problem. They keep each other warm, although even in such normal circumstances a warmth lamp might be helpful. The little kitten needs warmth; the best way is through red warmth lamps. An ideal “nest” is a wooden wine box with a thick layer of newsprint on the bottom and on top a sheet. The wood gives a warm, draught-free shelter; the animal cannot roll out of the nest and end up in the cold thanks to the walls. The warmth lamp is necessary both by day and by night until the little animal is 4 weeks old. Then, extra warmth is only necessary by night, possibly by day depending on the heating situation in the house.
A pup/kitten is very sensible to supercooling; after all the fur isn’t there yet, the relative huge body surface ensures an intense warmth exchange and the body thermostat doesn’t function optimally yet. If there is a mother animal and nest mates, this isn’t a problem. They keep each other warm, although even in such normal circumstances a warmth lamp might be helpful. The little kitten needs warmth; the best way is through red warmth lamps. An ideal “nest” is a wooden wine box with a thick layer of newsprint on the bottom and on top a sheet. The wood gives a warm, draught-free shelter; the animal cannot roll out of the nest and end up in the cold thanks to the walls. The warmth lamp is necessary both by day and by night until the little animal is 4 weeks old. Then, extra warmth is only necessary by night, possibly by day depending on the heating situation in the house.
Rest
Just like little human beings also small animals need rest. Pay attention: for children such a pup/kitten is irresistible and they want to wake up, hug and disturb the animal often. This should be avoided. The animal may only be wakened for food; between two nourishments he must sleep. Also, make sure that the nest isn’t placed on a busy spot in the house, a quiet dusky corner is the best place.
Just like little human beings also small animals need rest. Pay attention: for children such a pup/kitten is irresistible and they want to wake up, hug and disturb the animal often. This should be avoided. The animal may only be wakened for food; between two nourishments he must sleep. Also, make sure that the nest isn’t placed on a busy spot in the house, a quiet dusky corner is the best place.
Food
This part causes most problems and is a real obstacle. A first difficulty: Did the puppy/kit have colostrum or not. Colostrum is the first milk the mother produces and contains a number of antibodies which the young animal swallows when he drinks. These antibodies protect the young animal from all kinds of diseases during the first couple of weeks. This colostrum cannot be replaced by something else. If the kitten hasn’t drunk this colostrum, his survival probabilities are not large. Then, the real milk nourishment: Nowadays there are very good milk substitutes on the market, which strongly approach the quality of cat/dog milk. (you can buy it at the veterinary or drugstore). This milk is sold in powder form which should be dissolved in boiled cooled water (temperature 38 °C). The kitten has to be nourished every 3-4 hours (also at night) with a pipette. The kitten will perfectly indicate the quantity. It will suck until he has had enough for this nourishment. It is very important that you help your kitten urinating and shitting. If you get the chance you should once observe a normal nest with kittens. The first few weeks you will observe a dirty nest, for the plain reason that the mother animal helps the kittens answering their nature’s call and will lick it up herself. The mother animal will regularly firmly lick the kitten over the belly: this massage will ensure that the kitten will urinate and shit, the mother immediately licks this up. You will therefore have to do the massage yourself: with a towel you massage the belly a couple of times per day, so that the kitten can loose its waste products. In case of a severe stool, giving the kitten a drop of oil might help. You have to give the kitten milk until he is about 6 weeks old. Of course the number of nourishments will reduce per day as the kitten grows older. When the kitten is about 3 weeks old you may start feeding him canned food (cat: Whiskas for young kittens, dog: canned food for pups, many brands have this). Make sure that the canned food is given on body temperature and in small quantities. The rule is: If you manage it until the animal starts eating canned food and is able to answer nature’s call independently, there is a large survival probability.
This part causes most problems and is a real obstacle. A first difficulty: Did the puppy/kit have colostrum or not. Colostrum is the first milk the mother produces and contains a number of antibodies which the young animal swallows when he drinks. These antibodies protect the young animal from all kinds of diseases during the first couple of weeks. This colostrum cannot be replaced by something else. If the kitten hasn’t drunk this colostrum, his survival probabilities are not large. Then, the real milk nourishment: Nowadays there are very good milk substitutes on the market, which strongly approach the quality of cat/dog milk. (you can buy it at the veterinary or drugstore). This milk is sold in powder form which should be dissolved in boiled cooled water (temperature 38 °C). The kitten has to be nourished every 3-4 hours (also at night) with a pipette. The kitten will perfectly indicate the quantity. It will suck until he has had enough for this nourishment. It is very important that you help your kitten urinating and shitting. If you get the chance you should once observe a normal nest with kittens. The first few weeks you will observe a dirty nest, for the plain reason that the mother animal helps the kittens answering their nature’s call and will lick it up herself. The mother animal will regularly firmly lick the kitten over the belly: this massage will ensure that the kitten will urinate and shit, the mother immediately licks this up. You will therefore have to do the massage yourself: with a towel you massage the belly a couple of times per day, so that the kitten can loose its waste products. In case of a severe stool, giving the kitten a drop of oil might help. You have to give the kitten milk until he is about 6 weeks old. Of course the number of nourishments will reduce per day as the kitten grows older. When the kitten is about 3 weeks old you may start feeding him canned food (cat: Whiskas for young kittens, dog: canned food for pups, many brands have this). Make sure that the canned food is given on body temperature and in small quantities. The rule is: If you manage it until the animal starts eating canned food and is able to answer nature’s call independently, there is a large survival probability.
And further….Motherless young animals of course need to be wormed and vaccinated. The best age to start worming is when they are three weeks old with pasta and you repeat this every 3 weeks. Vaccinating usually takes place at the age of 6, 9 and 14 weeks for the pup and at the age of 9 and 12 weeks for the kitten. This also goes for the motherless animals, I would rather say definitely for the motherless animals since they already had to miss the colostrum. When the motherless animals grow up they don’t have arrears anymore. But such a young animal is very social and much attached to human beings because it is used to daily manipulation by human hands. You sometimes notice raising problems because of the fact that the young animal has never been corrected by the mother animal or nest mates. A good dog/cat psychology is and advantage and asking tips to the veterinarian concerning a right raising isn’t superfluous. Keep the tips in mind, have an iron will and nature will reward you with a healthy sweet pup or kitten.
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