Expert: Ali - 10/19/2008

Question
QUESTION: hello, i have a new kitten that is about 3-4 days old the 2 older cats seem not to like him what should i do?

ANSWER: Maria,

I have a few questions for you....

- How did you get this very young kitten?

- Do you know what raising a newborn kitten entails?

- Why is this kitten being exposed to adult cats?

Essentially this is a very delicate situation and the kitten really shouldn't be away from his/her mother and siblings at this age. Exposing such a young kitten to adult cats can actually result in illness, aggression and attacks from the older cats. Newborn kittens are born very immature which means that they are totally dependant on their mother for food, warmth, protection and even providing the antibodies required to keep the kittens as healthy as possible and increase the chances that they will survive until they are old enough to be vaccinated. If this kitten has been taken from his mother I would strongly suggest that he be reunited with mom and siblings as soon as possible. This kitten may become seriously ill, especially without the antibodies that he would normally receive by nursing from mom. The antibodies found in mom's milk are crucial at this stage. Hand raising newborn kitten should never be attempted unless there really isn't any other choice, mother cats are excellent mothers and human beings just aren't able to offer the same degree of care as a kitten's natural mother can. Kittens are born with extremely immature immune systems, this means that any person handling them must wash their hands thoroughly with hot, soapy water before touching them. Newborn kittens shouldn't be exposed to adult cats other than their natural mother or a suitable feline foster mom.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: - I found him on the near side of our house left alone and very noisy so i adopted him i dont know what happend to his mother..
- I've been feeding him warm milk every 3 hours..
- I have 2 adult cat 1 is 1 yearold and the other is 3-4 months old and they see him their going away and look at him agressively and the oldest cat became grumpy when he saw new kitten

thats all ;)

Answer
Maria,

It sounds as though the mother of this little fellow may have abandoned him for one reason or another. Unfortunately cow's milk doesn't contain the proper nutrition to support the growth and development of a newborn kitten, it doesn't contain enough protein, fat or calories. I would recommend that you begin feeding this baby a kitten milk replacer such as KMR, Just Born or Mammalac for kittens. If the kitten doesn't get the proper balance of protein, fat and calories he won't grow properly and he may even die as a result of malnutrition. Hand raised kittens are often smaller than ones that have the opportunity to nurse off of their mother on demand. The older cats shouldn't be exposed to the kitten because his immune system is very fragile at this point. If this kitten develops a viral or bacterial infection at such a young age it's quite possible that he will die because he simply doesn't have the immunity to fight it off. Raising newborn kittens is very time and labor intensive. You will have to do your best to mimic the care that mom would normally provide. The kitten must be fed with all four paws facing the floor because he can inhale his formula and drown. Young kittens must be stimulated to urinate and defecate by using cotton balls slightly moistened with warm water. It's best if you wipe the kitten from head to toe with cotton balls that have been slightly moistened with warm water - it will help the kitten to feel more like his mom is caring for him. I usually recommend starting from the top of the kitten's head and wiping towards his back end in the direction that the fur grows. Once you have wiped his back and sides clean it's time to gently turn him over onto his side and hold him still with one or two fingers and gentle pressure. You will need to wipe under the kitten's chin, his chest and his belly. Once the kitten's belly has been cleaned it's time to move on to helping the kitten go to the toilet, this part takes patience and a bit of time until you get the hang of it. The idea is to wipe the kitten's genitals and rectum from genitals to bottom repeatedly. Most kittens will urinate quite readily - it will take some time to get a kitten to defecate, but if you are patient you should soon see results. Kittens who aren't stimulated to go to the toilet will eventually empty their bowels and bladder because they overflow, however this doesn't completely empty them, in fact it leaves behind enough urine and feces that the kitten could potentially become ill as a result of the toxins found in feces and urine circulating in the bloodstream. Since this kitten is being hand reared he will need to be started on a weaning formula/pureed meat mix around 3-4 weeks of age because although the formula works it really doesn't meet a kitten's growing needs on its own as they begin to grow larger and have more energy demands. It would be a good idea to add about a teaspoon of plain, unsweetened, full fat yogurt to each feeding to prevent/minimize diarrhea because yogurt contains the natural enzymes found in the digestive systems of mammals. Intact male cats have been known to kill newborn kittens so that they can mate with their mother sooner so I would strongly advise that the older cats be kept away from this kitten until he is at least 5 weeks old or so. It would be a very good idea to have this kitten examined by a vet so that he can be accurately sexed and aged and have his overall health and body condition assessed. I have answered several other questions regarding the care of orphaned kittens so you can either contact me again or check through my past answers if you have any questions or concerns.