This story is part three in a three-part series. The series is dedicated to the sleepless hours that people who bottle-feed baby kittens spend to save all the little lives they can and find them forever homes. The work is so detailed, sometimes heartbreaking, and largely rewarding.
On that note: To you—Deborah, Brandy, Aurelie, Patty, Jenn, April, Jimmy, Anna, Darlene, Faye, Debbie, Antje, Mayor Robert Garcia and anyone I’ve left out: a kindling to your souls, and refrigerated cucumber slices to your eyes.
Part 1 of “Cat’s Cradle” gave some background of abandoned and orphaned newborn kittens and explained the necessity of trained bottle feeders. Part 2 explained the basics of newborn kitten care as explained by Helen Sanders CatPAWS co-founder and cat rescuer Deborah Felin.
For review, here are two exemplary videos that Felin created to demonstrate newborn kitten care. explained in greater detail. Part 1, featuring kitten Celeste, displays basics: supplies and preparation, precautions against aspiration pneumonia, holding the kitten properly, helping with elimination, “only-child” kittens and “preschool box training.”
Part 2, featuring kitten Charlie, demonstrateskeeping kittens from getting chilled, monitoring weight, proper bathing, eliminating parasites without using harsh flea products, preventing dehydration and providing comfort.
If you’ve read the previous two sections and still want to bottle-feed newborn kittens, there’s a codicil, and it’s a heartbreaker: Most of the time, you can’t save them all. And please know this and accept it, because the beautiful side is that you can save a lot of them.
“It’s not all fun,” Felin said. “People shouldn’t go into it thinking that, because there are indeed losses. But these are motherless orphaned kittens. They may not have gotten any mother’s milk or cats’ immunity, so you’re fighting an uphill battle. Even if you do lose them, you know that they weren’t just thrown away.”
And if you cry easily?
“Especially do it. When you stop crying, it’s time to stop. But the good news? These kittens have no chance unless someone steps up and does it, and it’s important to remember that you gave them the chance. There’s a little being alive because of you.”
Common Ailments in Newborn Kittens
Felin said that the mortality rate of a litter even in the best of circumstances is 10 percent to 20 percent—if you have five kittens, one may very well die. Viruses are one cause—sometimes, an entire litter will get infected and die. If a kitten is breathing with the head thrown back and is uttering rattling cry, it’s almost always indicative of imminent death.
However, if a kitten is breathing with an open mouth, it may be only congested—one or two drops of children’s decongestant (Felin uses Little Remedies nose drops) is just what the kittenotrician orders. Nebulizers are also effective; they can be obtained at vet-supply stores such as Revival Animal Health. The usage process is too complicated to demonstrate here; there are links provided at the end of the article for help in this area.
“One thing with cats in general is that if they can’t smell their food, they don’t eat,” Felin said. “So if they’re congested, you may need to syringe-feed and use very stinky food—tuna broth, maybe, or sardines without salt sometimes work.”
Urinary diseases can be contracted by male kittens via littermates suckling on private parts—kittens usually look for something sticking out, Felin said. If a kitten’s penis looks inflamed, infection has probably set in. Immediately separate the infected kitten from the others and give him his or her own bedding. Felin suggested preventing the infections by obtaining bitter-apple solution at the pet store and spraying the kitten’s behinds with it. Bitter apple acts as a deterrent to suckling and won’t hurt the kittens and may help. Some feeders put a baby sock over the infected kitten, with leg holes cut out.
Again, the important thing is to immediately stop the behavior.
OK—Where Do They Go From Here, and How Will I Be Able to Let Them Go?
You bring the little guys up from scratch, so to speak, which means that, unless you’re a robot, you bond with them. And you know you have to find them homes or risk a hoarding conviction. My friend Patty struggles like a nervous mother cat every time her bottle-feeders have grown and are ready to go—she cries and burrows in every time she sends them on transports or to adoptive homes.
Foster and feeder Patty Williams feeding 9-week-old Ethel, who, with brother Fred, found a loving home together—not without angst from Patty. Photo courtesy of Patricia Williams.
But you gotta let them go at some point, and you can do it knowing that you’ve saved their sweet little lives and they can go on living wonderful ones. Felin tells the CatPAWS fosters to keep the kittens until they’ve been fixed and recovered from the procedure; CatPAWS adopts them out as soon as there’s a space.
“We don’t adopt any cat without it being fixed,” Felin said. “You save them, and you don’t want to contribute to the problem.”
You Still Interested?
After that, you still want to be a surrogate cat mommy or daddy? If you think you can handle it, Felin advises hooking up with an entity that has been through it all and can guide you through the process. Here are a few links:
Orphan Kitten Bottle Feeders and Fosters Facebook page
Bottle Baby Feeders Facebook page
These closed groups provides questions, advice and fellowship regarding bottle-fed kittens. Request permission to join.
These groups rescue orphaned kittens as well as weaned and adult cats:
And for more information and downloadable guides as well as videos about cat care, check this page on the Helen Sanders website.
Four years ago, a tiny cat named Gigi, pictured above with Deborah Felin, was pulled out of a shelter along with 15 other kittens from most likely several litters. The shelter was going to euthanize them immediately unless Felin had another idea. She did.
Felin contacted a bottle-feeding volunteer at Helen Sanders CatPAWS, who lined up a number of CatPAWS volunteers, including Felin. They bottle-fed the kittens faithfully. One kitten did die, but homes were found for the surviving 15.
Tiny Gigi is now good-size Eunice, and is living happily ever after. Thank you, Deborah Felin, and every kitten rescuer worth his or her catnip.
Photo by Kate Karp
Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry
Go to sleep, little baby.
When you wake, you shall have
All the pretty little horses.
Blacks and bays, dapples and grays,
Coach and six white horses.
Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry.
Go to sleep, little baby.
~ Author unknown