Raising a motherless kitten
Misfortune happens sometimes. A mother dies while giving birth, or she survives but rejects her young. Sometimes mothers are unable to nurse. Some kittens are unwanted when they are born and people get rid of them the easiest way: thrown in the garbage or left on the street. If they are lucky, they are found and taken in.
What should you do when confronted with a motherless kitten? Please realise the task at hand is not the easiest one. Raising a tiny baby animal is no picnic at all! The golden rules are: warmth, food, rest.
Warmth:
A kitten is very sensitive to hypothermia. Its internal heating system is not fully operational yet and since its coat is still underdeveloped a kitten loses a lot of body heat. Normally kittens would keep themselves warm by benefitting from the body heat of their mother and siblings. Even in this situation a heat lamp is a very welcome addition. Without its mother, the lonely little thing will need you to provide warmth. Red heat lamps may provide this. The perfect nest is a wooden wine chest filled with a layer of newspaper pages on the bottom and a sheet or blanket on top of the paper. The wood will hold of drafts and keep the kittens from rolling out. The heat lamp should be switched on day and night until the young animal is about 4 weeks old. By that time the lamp only needs to be on at night, unless the room temperature is too low during the day.
Rest:
Like little people, little animals need rest. Pay close attention to little children. They will not be able to resist such a small thing. They will want to cuddle and pet them at any chance they get. This will wake the kitten and disturb its rest, which has to be avoided! The only reason to wake the little thing is for feeding. At any other moment, let it sleep! Make sure you place the nest in a quiet place in your house without noise and without people walking by all the time.
Food:
This part is the most problematic of all and the biggest concern in taking care of an orphan kitten. Try to find out if it has been drinking with its mum or not. The first milk a mum gives is filled with antibodies against diseases and infections and can’t be replaced. If your orphan has not been drinking its mother’s milk ever, chances of survival drop considerably.
There are several kinds of synthetic milk powder for sale that resemble the cat’s milk closely. You buy these at your veterinarian. The powder must be mixed with cooled boiled water at a temperature of 38°C. The animal needs to be fed every 3 to 4 hours (day AND night) with a little bottle or syringe (without needle of course). The kitten will decide on its own the quantity of food it takes in. When it’s had enough, it will stop drinking and sometimes fall asleep instantly. Please do check these quantities on a regular basis, to make sure the kitten gets all nutrients it needs.
A very important aspect of being a foster mum is helping the kitten to urinate and poop. If you have the chance, observe a litter of kittens with their mother. The first few weeks, you won’t see a defiled nest. The mother helps her young produce urine and faeces by forcefully licking their tummies. When they are done, she cleans everything up. You will have to give these tummy rubs yourself as foster mum. Do this a few times each day so the kitten will get rid of its urine and faeces. Should your young one experience trouble pushing something out, give it a drop of oil. This could do the trick. You need to continue feeding the young kittens until they are about 6 weeks old. The number of feeding moments will be reduced with time, of course.
When a young kitten is about 3 weeks old, you may offer it some canned kitten food. Make sure to offer it in small portions and serve at room temperature. If you succeed in keeping your young one alive and kicking until it no longer needs your help urinating and starts eating canned food on its own, chances of survival are very high!
What else:
Motherless animals, like all other animals, need to be vaccinated and given worm treatments. Begin this treatment at the age of 3 weeks with a paste, and repeat every 3 weeks. Vaccinating the young ones should be done at the ages of 6, 9 and 12 weeks. Animals that grow up with their mother usually get their first vaccine at 8 or 9 weeks because they have received the antibodies from the mother’s milk. Orphaned animals are first vaccinated at 6 weeks because they had to do without this first milk. Make sure this early vaccine is composed of dead antibodies.
Even though the motherless young can experience slower growth than young that grow up with a mother, they will not remain smaller than their kindred. A young raised by humans is a very social animal, is very attached to humans and is used to being handled. When raising an orphan you may encounter behavioural problems, because it has never been corrected by its mother, brothers and sisters when it oversteps a boundary. If you have a friend who knows a lot about cat psychology, ask his or her help raising the young one. If you don’t, an experienced veterinarian or behaviourist can help you out.
Keep the given advice in mind, have a strong will, and nature will reward you with a healthy, sweet kitten.