Expert: Jessica - 9/15/2009

Question
I tried looking for an answer to my question before posting, but I'm racing the clock to save a litter of kittens at this point.

We live in the country and have a few stray cats that adopted us and we provide food and water for them. One of the strays (Blackie) had a litter of 5 kittens about 4 weeks ago.  At first she didn't seem too interested in them and they were scattered on our lawn.  She had done this before and that litter didn't survive and I wasn't about to let it happen again.  I scooped up all 5 kittens, put them in a box and took them and her into our bathroom.

I got the impression she didn't know what to do with them so I slowly introduced them one by one with the mother on my lap.  After almost two hours she let me put her and the kittens into the box and the mother instinct appeared to kick in.

Two days ago we thought it was ok to take her out to one of the buildings outside where we could keep the door shut to keep her in and other dangers out. Left her plenty of food and water and let it go at that. I made sure she had food and water the next day even though she seemed to be hiding from me when I came out there.

Here we are two days later and the kittens aren't doing so well. Four have their eyes all matted shut and the runt of the litter seems very weak. I doubt she's feed them at all much less cleaned them.

I'm planning to run to town after I finish this to get some cat milk substitute and a few eyedroppers to feed the kittens with. Hopefully I can bring everyone back into the bathroom again and start over again.

Wondering how long it takes a nursing cat's milk to dry up and also if there's a best way to clean the kittens eyes.  I'm not in a position to haul a litter of kittens to the vet, but I'm hoping I can find a way to care for them just in case the mother is determined to avoid them.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.
Fingers crossed.

Donna

Answer
Hi Donna.  Sorry I'm not able to answer questions on an urgent basis, but I hope this finds you in time.

It takes mom's milk 7-10 days to dry up in most cases.  She should definitely still be producing milk if it has only been a couple of days.  At four weeks, most moms are starting to encourage their kittens to eat food and are beginning to nurse them less often.  She may discourage the babies from nursing at times by walking away during feeding or by kicking them away when she is trying to rest.  However, she should certainly still be feeding them several times a day.

You should feed four week old kittens formula every four hours for the best results, despite what formula labels say.  My four-week-olds will typically eat about 60 cc's each meal on this schedule.  Since they eat such large amounts, it's usually easier to use a bottle than an eye dropper at this age, but they might have trouble adjusting to the nipple at the very beginning.  So be patient, and use an eye dropper until the babies catch on.

I would also recommend to begin trying them with canned kitten food.  They are old enough now to begin soft solid foods in addition to kitten milk replacement, and if mom is determined not to feed them, they can technically be weaned in another week or two if necessary (although I like to bottle feed until 10-12 weeks when possible, just for a meal a day, so the kittens can suckle until a healthy age).

The kittens are old enough to urinate and defecate on their own at this age, as well as regulate their own body temperature as long as it doesn't dip much lower than 70 degrees in their environment, so that should be about it as far as their care.  You can use cat bath wipes to keep them clean, or give them baths once a week with Johnson's Baby Shampoo if they really need it.

As for the babies' eyes, you should remove any discharge that's sealed their eyes by soaking it with cotton balls and warm water.  Wipe away the crust and discharge until the eyes are open.  Then you need to apply an antibiotic ointment to address the eye infection.  You need to order this online.  It's called Terramycin.  You can find it at a lot of places, but the least expensive place I have found it is www.calvetsupply.com  You should gently pull the lower lid down to form a little pouch, and then place a small amount of the ointment into the pouch, three times a day.  This is definitely not a replacement for a vet visit, as I think it's very likely that the babies need oral antibiotics, as well.  But this ointment treats many common eye infections, and it's better than no treatment at all.  

Good luck!  I hope the little ones pull through!

Jessica