[scottd]

I got a 2 week old grey kitten today. Someone told me they had it and couldn't/didn't want to take care of it. We unexpectedly took a dog from her too. It was covered in fleas and rather skinny. My aunt is fostering it until we find a home for it. The lady told us she ran out of dog food and couldn't buy anymore. She has 2 other dogs as well and one is pregnant. We ended up buying her a bag of dog food.

I've got to feed it the kitten in about 20 minutes. It's a cute little ball of fur. It's not latching on bottle (nipple is too big) so I'm having to carefully feed it with a syringe. I have no clue what happen to the mother and she didn't tell me. I'm keeping the kitten in a carrier with a blanket and stuffed animal for now. It's not really moving around much anyways so it's fine and protects it from my cat and dogs. Tina hates it. She went absolutely nuts as soon as I brought it inside. She attacked my legs. When I brought Rosie (a chihuahua) home, she didn't care at all.

 

[spirite]

Aww! Maybe Tina senses competition for your affection and time? Being a cat, she probably dismissed Rosie as not worth her worrying. She knew it was no contest between her and a chihuahua.

 

[scottd]

One thing I learned today is I really need to refresh/finish my rescue kit. I had to leave and go to a dollar store down the road to get some nitrile gloves. I didn't have any flea spray either. One of the girls I volunteer with suggested an organic spray that kills on contact and it's even safe for newborn kittens and puppies. I think I'll buy some of it.

 

[minikin44]

Make sure you monitor it's temperature... Kittens are not awesome at regulating their temperature (not developed enough yet, just like human babies). Bear got way too cold and we had to put hot water bottles wrapped in towels in his carrier, or a heating pad on low, covered in two towels under the carrier.

 

[scottd]

I've been making sure it's warm but not too warm. It's in a room with no AC and the weather here is pretty nice right now. It's mostly sleeping. I gave it my sister's carebear to snuggle with.

I took home one of our pet heating pads just in case but I don't think I'll need it.

 

[scottd]

The kitten is eating better now. I've found a way to feed her with the syringe without putting it on her mouth. She latches on my fingers and I squirt it right beside her mouth so she sucks it up without issue. Hopefully when she's grown a bit more, she will take a bottle.

 

[orrymain]

Thank you for caring for this kitten. Poor baby I wonder what happened to her mom. Keep up the good work!!

 

[Pixall]

I really have a lot of respect for what you are doing. Personally I would not have bought the woman any food, though. If she can't afford to take care of the dogs she shouldn't have them. ESPECIALLY a pregnant one. What is she going to do when there are MORE mouths to feed?

Any chance you can try to find a smaller nipple? I bottle fed Tucker from when he was three days old. Definitely not an easy task, but we found nipples small enough. I think they were in the hamster section of the pet store or something. Good luck with the little one!! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE post pictures when you get a chance!!

 

[scottd]

I've been looking for a smaller nipple. We had baby guinea pigs recently so we might have one if I can find it. No pet store within a 1.5 hour drive.

I really have no idea what the woman is going to do. I agree that she shouldn't have them. A short term solution was to just buy a bag of dog food. I have a friend who works with a boxer rescue near by. I'm going to reach out to her and see if she can help. Even then, I would have to get the woman to agree to give up the dogs. It's out of the jurisdiction of the animal shelter I work with.

 

[minikin44]

I'm glad the kitty is eating, even if it is in a somewhat strange way. I hope that lady decides to give up ownership of those dogs... the dogs deserve better even if her intentions are good...

 

[Carmel]

When I brought Rosie (a chihuahua) home, she didn't care at all.

I find this often to be the case, at least with all cats and dogs I've known. The exception may be for dogs or cats that have never been around the other species, are really nervous/behavioral issues, or dogs that have a high prey drive.

Your cat knows the dog is not a cat. A cat is usually only territorial with other cats. Thus, I've always thought I'd be better to have a cat and a dog... cat to cat intro seems really daunting.

Thank you for taking this little one in, caring for kittens sounds like a lot of work from the reading I've done on it. I hope everything works out, keep us updated. I feel really bad for the dogs, though. What is she going to do after the dog has puppies? And will she ever find the money to spay her female dog?

 

[scottd]

I'm glad the kitty is eating, even if it is in a somewhat strange way. I hope that lady decides to give up ownership of those dogs... the dogs deserve better even if her intentions are good...

Whatever works!

Me too. Maybe we can convince her to give them up. She has 3 kids too.

I find this often to be the case, at least with all cats and dogs I've known. The exception may be for dogs or cats that have never been around the other species, are really nervous/behavioral issues, or dogs that have a high prey drive.

Your cat knows the dog is not a cat. A cat is usually only territorial with other cats. Thus, I've always thought I'd be better to have a cat and a dog... cat to cat intro seems really daunting.

Thank you for taking this little one in, caring for kittens sounds like a lot of work from the reading I've done on it. I hope everything works out, keep us updated. I feel really bad for the dogs, though. What is she going to do after the dog has puppies? And will she ever find the money to spay her female dog?

Tina has calmed down. It didn't really matter though. I'm not keeping the kitten. I'll find it a good home in a month or two. It really is a lot of work. My grandmother has been helping me. I fed her last night and she fed her this morning until I woke up. We're trying to do feedings about every 3 hours.

I'm going to try to convince her to give up the dogs. If she won't, I hope she will give up the puppies and then have the female spayed. I can probably get some of our volunteers to put together the money and we get a very big discount at a local vet.

 

[Pixall]

A thought occurs to me. Are you making sure to potty and burp the baby kitten? Tuck didn't start pottying on his own until he was around three weeks-maybe a bit older.

 

[scottd]

A thought occurs to me. Are you making sure to potty and burp the baby kitten? Tuck didn't start pottying on his own until he was around three weeks-maybe a bit older.

Yep. She finally pooped this morning. She only peed yesterday.

 

[scottd]

She's still eating good. She actually pooped in the carrier today on her own.

I try to cuddle but she doesn't like to stay still.

 

[scottd]

She is eating more and more! She's grown a bit and she's much more feisty. I let her crawl around for a bit today. She tried to latch on the female chihuahua and the chihuahua was like "OMG! GET AWAY FROM ME!" and ran away, lol. The other chihuahua licked her before I could scoop her up. (Before I get yelled at, our chihuahuas aren't agressive. There was no risk to the kitten. They have cuddled with infants when my grandmother has baby sat.)

 

[Mitts & Tess]

Im glad you gave the woman some food. We run across people like that all the time. Do you have a local food bank. Some of those have pet food available. That might be a source for her.

Some cities are opening pet pantrys because so many pet owners have fallen on hard times and its a way to keep an animal in its home till people can get back on their feet. This woman sounds like she shouldnt have an animal. You are those animals hope of a better life. Sometimes it takes a lot of talks to bring people like that around to releaseing the dog or cat.

There is a video on the feral cat section by the Urban Cat League on how to get fleas off of a young kittens. Take a look. I think they use capstar too to control the fleas. They show you how to bath and get the fleas off initially when you get a baby kitten full of fleas.

 

[minikin44]

Aww I'm so glad she's doing well!

 

[scottd]

Im glad you gave the woman some food. We run across people like that all the time. Do you have a local food bank. Some of those have pet food available. That might be a source for her.

Some cities are opening pet pantrys because so many pet owners have fallen on hard times and its a way to keep an animal in its home till people can get back on their feet. This woman sounds like she shouldnt have an animal. You are those animals hope of a better life. Sometimes it takes a lot of talks to bring people like that around to releaseing the dog or cat.

There is a video on the feral cat section by the Urban Cat League on how to get fleas off of a young kittens. Take a look. I think they use capstar too to control the fleas. They show you how to bath and get the fleas off initially when you get a baby kitten full of fleas.

I got the feeling that she won't ever be able to properly take care of them. I've been talking to people I know about it. We're trying to come up with a solution.

We actually have this organic spray that's safe for newborn kittens/puppies. It kills fleas on contact. It works very well but this kitten didn't have any.

 

[scottd]

I think the kitten is constipated as she hasn't pooped in 3 days.

I posted here about it to get suggestions: http://www.catforum.com/forum/38-health-nutrition/157453-constipated-kitten.html