UN-successful: Feeding 4-week-old Kitten HELP NEEDED urgently.

[DogsCowsChicken]

Short version: I've been trying to feed this kitten 'for' 24 hours. He hasn't gotten a drop from the bottle. I don't know what I'm doing. Please advise.

Long version: On Saturday afternoon, I got distracted while replacing plexiglass in a broken window of the ranch vehicle I drive. The window was open and unattended for about 45 minutes. When I retwined to the task, I sealed the window and went about life elsewhere.

Twenty four hours or so later, I was moving the pickup and heard a kitten from a mystery source that ended up being under backseat. Kitten had not been fed or pottied in at least 74 hours. I got potty handled, acquired replacement formula and failed at feeding.

I returned Kitten to the pickup, secured in a box and covered by cameras. In the course of about four hours I Momma cat visited the kitten at least 3 times but never took him with her.

I brought him in for the night and back out to wait for mom in the morning. No sign of mom and baby still hasn't eaten that I'm sure of.

Please help me figure this out!!!-



thanks,
Kati

 

[Baymule]

Is it possible that the momma cat fed him?

You have the kitten formula, put it in an eye dropper and feed him a drop at a time. If you don’t have an eye dropper, then gently squeeze the bottle nipple to get a drop at a time.

 

[Mini Horses]

Use an eyedropper to help. The nipple may be wrong size, too hard. Milk replacer usually tastes wrong -- any fresh cow/goat milk? Any chance you can find rest of litter??? Shed, barn, another vehicle nearby?

 

[DogsCowsChicken]

Is it possible that the momma cat fed him?

You have the kitten formula, put it in an eye dropper and feed him a drop at a time. If you don’t have an eye dropper, then gently squeeze the bottle nipple to get a drop at a time.

It is possible that mom fed him... even probable. That was at about 8pm yesterday.

Have been squeezing the bottle a little terrified of aspirating...

 

[DogsCowsChicken]

Use an eyedropper to help. The nipple may be wrong size, too hard. Milk replacer usually tastes wrong -- any fresh cow/goat milk? Any chance you can find rest of litter??? Shed, barn, another vehicle nearby?

I'm not sure there IS a "rest of the litter." This momma cat is VERY young. "I can hardly believe she's birthed at all" kind of young. I'm guessing this kitten is 3-5 weeks old and I certainly didn't think this mamma was expecting a kitten, much less, a litter. Even so, pretty solid search was performed yesterday.

Predators have been making a big show of numbers recently, also.

 

[farmerjan]

She moved this kitten in the truck... feeling it was "safe" from the predators... Leave the window open for her and let her go in and feed it over the nightime hours... Don't know if you have a "safer spot" to put it in the box for her to go to it during the day time. She will feed it if you don't upset her feeling "safe" there too much. The kitten is big enough to start lapping milk out of a very shallow saucer... like a snap on lid from a plastic container of some sort... but if she is willing to come back to feed it, I would let her do what all she can...

Yeah, they sometimes come in heat and get caught too young... like the heifers and ewe lambs and young doe kids....

 

[Baymule]

Have you tried pushing his mouth into a small saucer of warm milk? Immediately released of course, to let him lick the milk off his nose? He may catch on to lapping the milk better than sucking a bottle.

 

[Mini Horses]

Eyes wide open, toddling around...prob about 3 wks. Yep, she put it there. You can check it's tummy each morn to see if it's full, if it nursed. Cute little thing

 

[Finnie]

When I was a kid my dad brought home a kitten about that age that wasn’t old enough to eat cat food yet. We had to mix up rice baby cereal for it. Kind of on the thin side, so it could lap it up. Eventually made it thicker and then transitioned it to cat food. You could try that if the other things don’t work.