hand rearing 5 orphand kittens?

[FoxyWench]

i got a note today from a friend, theres 5 kittens only hours/ mabe a couple days old mothers not been seen all day and theres a squished kitty in the road about 10 mins from her home...*sigh* she hasnt the time or a clue how to take care of them and now shes begging me to take them if there still there in the morning...

i dont know if i have the time for 5 newborn kittens, but there sooo cute and the shelter cant take them...2 orange tabbies, 1 orange and white, 1 grey and white and one black, possible black and white...we'll see...
ill keep you updated.

ive never raised a kitten that young, let alone 5 of them so any tips would be great.

im hoping that by taking all 5 of them (or at least 2 of them) if the need arises will help the kittens socilize better.

our current cat was found at 3 weeks old and i hand raised him but he is very much a "wild" cat, he has a few random agression issues beyond typical catlikeness and my vet belives its from not being with his siblings long enough so im hoping raising a couple will help them "mellow" a bit.

as i said, tips and tricks would be great.

 

[StillandSilent]

Kittens are a lot harder to bottle rear than puppies. They just don't seem to thrive as well, regardless of how hard you try.
Your best bet is to look around for a lactating mother cat who might be convinced to adopt them. Are there other rescues in the area that may have one?
Have you raised any sort of bottle baby before? I have found that most kittens drink better off of a syringe than out of a bottle. It makes it a lot easier to measure how much there are taking in also. You must also stimulate them to toilet, they can not do it themselves.
Make sure they stay warm enough and good luck! Remember, even if you do everything absolutely right, they might not make it. And if this does happen, it's not your fault.

 

[FoxyWench]

luckily i am experienced bottle raising, im a wildlife rehabber (currently taking a break due to financial issues as im independant and unfunded, but i still take in emergency cases till something better can be sorted) i figure if i can hand rear baby skunks i can handrear kittens...

lucky for us it looks like the cat in the road was not this litters mother as theres currently a female nursing the babies in the nest, but shes going to keep a close eye...this cat has choses one of the worst spots, theres a pack of coyotes in the area as well as an extreemly busy road on the other side of the treeline...so shes going to be keeping a close eye on them. ive told her if anything happens to mommy then i will take them if need be and try to rear them.
the mother is aparently very friendly, has no collar but loves attention so is probably someones escpaed/dumped pet. poor girl. once the kittens are old enough to safely move inside shes bringing mommy in too and she will be keeping mommy cat.

 

[ToscasMom]

Foxy first let me say that I was horrified at what was said to you over in a certain other thread. This is a poster whose threads I ignore and I just wanted you to know that this is why I didn't dignify the remark with an answer. You are a fine woman who didn't deserve that.

As for rearing those babies, seems to me you know a heck of a lot more about it than I do, if anybody can pull it off you can. At that age, it is easy for some of them to wither, as you probably already know, so it is touchy. But I am very glad you are around to help out. If you can do skunks, you are right, you can do kits.

 

[FoxyWench]

lol, i figure least with kittens i dont have to worry about acidetnatl "explosion" as baby skunks get older and are learning about their survival mechanism you get quite a few accidental explosions lol!

otherwise skunk and kittens are VERY familiar so im hoping it shoudlnt be too much different if i do end up having to raise them at any point along the way (im just hoping mommy and the coyotes dont meet, this pack are known cat killers)

and Thank you Toscas Mom

 

[ToscasMom]

accidental explosions

:yikes: :yikes: :yikes:

 

[FoxyWench]

oh yeah and baby skunk smell just as bad as adult skunk lol!

at one point i had one who hiccuped frightend herslef and literally it looked like a little explosion. lol. afterwards she turned around cause she coudl smell it too and freeked out and ran...she was my favorite, such a nutter lol

 

[ToscasMom]

...it's gotta be pretty bad when a skunk runs from her own spray.:lol-sign:

 

[FoxyWench]

it smells like musky rubber..(or the inside of a baloon) i think it was more the fact that she didnt quite understand where it had come from lol realy did make her jump

 

[malmo]

That's hilarious.