The babies were found outdoors, wet and cold and appeared to be 1-2 days old.two were still alive, but despite efforts to get them warm and fed by an eyedropper with a cat replacement milk, they both died within 24 hours. I am devastated...I'm wondering what I could have done better.
Answers:
God Bless You For Caring, Purrkins. I have had the same thing happen to me, and I am always devastated when it happens. Go to this website: www.kittenrescue.org and read about taking care of infant kittens. They need to be incubated, heating pad on lowest setting under the box. Theyneed help going to the bathroom, that may have killed them. You have to rub their genitals with warm wet washcloth very glently for at least a minute or until they are done going, before and after they eat, sometimes in between. IF they cry and won't eat, they probably have to go. They need a lot of holding and love. Whenever I have newborns, I spend a lot of time holding them close to my heart, under my shirt, cooing to them, and singing to them. (Did you know that cats love it when you sing to them? All of my cats have their own songs, and they know their songs, and they go nuts when I sing their little song.) I have invented a little pouch that I use to carry newborns around in, I call it Calico Girl after the last newborn I had that died at age 5 weeks which completely destroyed me. I put the babies in this velvet pouch and I adjust the straps until the pouch is in place right over my beating heart, and I pull the drawstring closed and the baby kitties are carried around with me all day long inside the pouch, warm and safe and right next to Mommy, where they belong!
You see, I used to carry Baby Calico Girl on my shoulder as I did housework, until one day she slid off my shoulder and went head first into the toilet!!! I pulled her out just as soon as she hit the water, but she still had lungs full of water which I had to carefully suck out of her using my mouth, thank God the toilet was clean, and at that point I would not have cared if it was full of poo, I would have done anything to save that precious little angel, but I never carried her on my shoulder again. She absolutely hated it when I would put her back in her box so I could clean house, and she would chirp sadly in the corner the whole time. When it was time to take her back out, I would sing to her, "Doo doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo, Don't Fence Me In," that was her little theme song, and every time I hear it on my Yahoo radio (as sung by Bing Crosby) I cry and know it is my baby girl telling me she's okay and waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge.
That's where your little babies are, you know, at the Rainbow Bridge, a special place in Heaven for our beloved pets. Your babies can hear you, so tell them you would be honored if they would be there to greet you when you get to Heaven.
I tell that to all my babies when they die...and when I give them over to their New Mommy or Daddy. I will have a whole herd of kitties waiting for me when I get there, I'll probably be run over by all the kitties that will be waiting for me, ha ha!!
God Bless You, Purrkins, God Loves Those Who Care For The Smallest Of His Creatures!
u cant sry
I think you did all you could, and that is very thoughtful of you. I think if this happens to anyone, their best bet is to bring them to an animal shelter, they most likely have the proper things to help animals like the kittens in need.
Oh honey.I'm so sorry.
I think you did everything you could do.
I have feed kittens with an eye dropper before.
It is difficult because they have to be fed often.
Don't beat yourself up.
you tried..GOD sees that.If something like that was to ever occur again at that young of an age.Take to a vet.
Its not you fault! You tried your best, and unfortunately they probably had little to no chance of surviving that young without the mother.
They were probably doomed. Sad, but true.
I have raised a couple of kittens from a week or two old to adulthood by the eyedropper, warm towel, and constant care method, but momcats do it naturally and better.
Don't feel bad. At least you tried.
I am raising a kitten right now that I adopted at 5 weeks (solid food! Yay!) and it is going well. But a day or two old is just too young. They were probably dying when you found them.
I raised cats for years and I would have done what yu did, also. The thing is the cats may have been without their mother far too long before your kind heart found them.
Please spay and neuter pets.
I hear you. I found some baby baby kittens and I tried the same. Called a vet and he said to drown them because they were to little to shoot. Needless to say I never went to that vet and badmouthed him every chance I could. Called another he advised me what to do and they died anyhow. Like you I was devastated and cryed and cryed for these babies.
Ya know we both tried and it wasn't meant to be I guess. So be it.
Don't fret you did your best and it came from your heart. Next time, because they are so young, take the kittens immediately to a local animal clinic or the SPCA. They are equipped to best handle the situation and care for the little ones but most often they are often already too sick or too weak by the time care can be administered to them. A very sad truth...
You should know that you did do the right thing though. If those kittens were abandoned they would have died on their own and if they had been handled by other humans and left alone the tom cat would have likely returned and killed them. You tried your best...I'm sorry they passed on.
Are they all gone now or do you have more? You did what you needed to do. Give them KMR and keep them warm. You also have to stimulate their privates to make sure they go to the bathroom. Mom does that for them when they are born. You sound like you did all of the right things. Something might have been wrong in the first place for the Mom to leave, maybe she new.
How could you think you could have done better, when you were there to help ? However, the ones that survived are very fragile, so take them to a veterinarian's office where they have the supplies and knowledge to treat the newborns.
Baby kittens cannot go potty by themselves. You have to help them. If they had been out there very long, their bladders probably exploded and killed them.
AAWWW! I'm so happy to know that there are people like you in the world who would care so much as to do what you are doing. If the kittens were abandoned you may have to consider that the entire litter is somehow genetically tainted. The mother cat may have left them for that reason. But if you are truly vested in caring for them, make sure that the milk you give them has taurine in it as that is the most digestible for them. You can also get tiny bottles for them to suckle directly, (I've seen them before at a baby shower, sorry I can't say where my friend got them, since I don't remember). If you can, try to speak with a veterinarian about more instructions for their care, and even better, if you can afford it take them to be treated. I hope they live, but if they don't please don't be too upset, you are trying, and that's simply wonderful. I know God is blessing you, you have a magnificent heart!
Post Script;
Sorry! I didn't read correctly. You say that they all died... Well again, please don't be sad. They were probably genetically inept. That's why they were abandoned by the mother. Nature can be harsh. Still you are wonderful to do what you did.
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