Kitten advice please.

Flojo

Hey all.
My Mam has been looking after two semi-feral cats for the past year nearly. Anyways we discovered that one of them had a kitten in our shed today. It looks less than a week old. Folded over ears and eyes are still closed. She doesn't seem to be with it all the time and I checked to see how it was, I'm quite worried because it is just lying on a thin piece of plastic on the concrete floor. It has been calling for it's mother for most of the day. She gets fed very well here so why is she leaving so often?

I'm just worried that it isn't getting enough warmth when she has gone and if there is anything I can do to help?

I tried to put down a cosy cat bed near to where the kitten is and moved the food inside beside it. But she hasn't moved the kitten herself. I haven't touched it yet but wondering if I could put it in the bed with gloves on, then just leave it alone? Is there anyway to make sure I don't leave my scent on the kitten?

Flojo

Just took this photo. Excuse the mess of our shed. Being completely honest i thought the kitten was dead. I tried to wake it up and gently moved the plastic to make sure it was still alive. It barely squirmed. Just hope it doesn't die over night from the cold.

Any help appreciated like?

NoQuarter

If the mother is visiting the kitten then I would just put something warmer like an old scarf down under the kitten, if the mother has abandoned the kitten I would take it in, keep it warm, try rub milk over its mouth to help hydrate it and then call an animal hospital in the morning!

Flojo

NoQuarter wrote: »

If the mother is visiting the kitten then I would just put something warmer like an old scarf down under the kitten, if the mother has abandoned the kitten I would take it in, keep it warm, try rub milk over its mouth to help hydrate it and then call an animal hospital in the morning!

The mother is still around. Problem is she's just been chillin outside with her sister all night. We can see her from kitchen window. She's gone in to the kitten now so I guess that's something. I think the kitten is about 2 days old max, only heard it's yelping last night.
Cool so it's safe to put something around it? I wasn't sure incase of the mother abandoning it.

If the mother can't look after it I'm defo bringing it inside hehe. Thanks for your response.

The Sweeper

She's not doing what she should be already. Most mothers would be lying with the kitten, suckling it and washing it and minding it.

You need to lift it out of where it is and place it on something warm - a folded towel, or a towel-lined cardboard box. Handle it minimally, but accept that she's already jeopardised it by the lack of care she's given it.

If you have a hot water bottle, fill it and place it under one half of the towel (so the kitten can roll off it if he or she gets too hot.

Put food and water near the bed to attract the mother and enable her to stay near it. If she isn't lying with and feeding the kitten, it will die. At a couple of days old, even if you could get your hands on some kitten formula there's no guarantee the kitten would survive.

What I'm trying to say is you can't make things worse by intervening at this point.

Flojo

The Sweeper wrote: »

She's not doing what she should be already. Most mothers would be lying with the kitten, suckling it and washing it and minding it.

You need to lift it out of where it is and place it on something warm - a folded towel, or a towel-lined cardboard box. Handle it minimally, but accept that she's already jeopardised it by the lack of care she's given it.

If you have a hot water bottle, fill it and place it under one half of the towel (so the kitten can roll off it if he or she gets too hot.

Put food and water near the bed to attract the mother and enable her to stay near it. If she isn't lying with and feeding the kitten, it will die. At a couple of days old, even if you could get your hands on some kitten formula there's no guarantee the kitten would survive.

What I'm trying to say is you can't make things worse by intervening at this point.

That's exactly what I had thought. It just didn't seem right. I just wanted to double check just incase.
I put a nice cosy bed and food/water/milk down for them but she didn't move the kitten into it. Just wasn't sure whether I should do it myself or not.

She has gone into it now though so I'm guessing by the lack of commotion (lights off+people going to bed)from the house she might just stay in there? If the kitten is only 2 days old I rather it got as much of it's mothers milk as is possible. I was thinking of leaving her for tonight and sorting out a proper bed for it 2moro. Might check on it again in a few hours.

I love animals and would hate to think of any suffering... hence the worry ^^
Thank you so much for your response!

NoQuarter

How is the kitten today? Is it on the bed?

Flojo

Just raging I listened to my mother. It passed away during the night. I'm so upset with myself for not bringing it inside. If the cat could sense that the kitten was sick and wasn't going to make it could that be why she wasn't too bothered with it?

tk123

muireann50

Sorry to hear about that But don't beat yourself up about it. Even if you had brought it inside and tried to feed it, kittens at that age can just die very quickly. Even if an experienced person is looking after a young kitten they are very fragile. Well done for making an effort to help the little thing.

Flojo

muireann50 wrote: »

Sorry to hear about that But don't beat yourself up about it. Even if you had brought it inside and tried to feed it, kittens at that age can just die very quickly. Even if an experienced person is looking after a young kitten they are very fragile. Well done for making an effort to help the little thing.

Thanks for your comment. Was just having a "what if" moment but I guess it was ment to be. The mother is quite young so that could have contributed to it. Her sister is pregnant so hopefully round 2 will go well. Going to try trap them after and get them neutered, money is tight but see what happens I guess.

NoQuarter

Ah no thats awful! Good effort though, lots of people would appreciate that you gave it a go, looking at that pic above though its pretty obvious the thing was going to die on reflection!

We got our cat when it was about 3 days old, it was found in a bush, it was a struggle to keep it alive, make it eat and stuff and to be fair its pretty antisocial now because it hasnt been around much animals! She is beautiful and healthy now though so it can work sometimes!

Kablamo!

Flojo wrote: »

Just raging I listened to my mother. It passed away during the night. I'm so upset with myself for not bringing it inside. If the cat could sense that the kitten was sick and wasn't going to make it could that be why she wasn't too bothered with it?

Listen something similar happened to me last year, but I intervened and took the kitten to the vet. He still didn't make it. There's nothing you can do about these things, as awful as they are. Mind yourself x

The Sweeper

Flojo wrote: »

Just raging I listened to my mother. It passed away during the night. I'm so upset with myself for not bringing it inside. If the cat could sense that the kitten was sick and wasn't going to make it could that be why she wasn't too bothered with it?

It's not your fault. The mother's youth, single kitten litter, could well have been ill. Neuter very quickly - mum could be pregnant again within the week.

With the other cat, provide a box with newspaper plus food and water in the same shed. She may take to it, though no guarantees with a feral cat.

FastFuse