More "newborns" to take care of..

Well it looks like I may be acquiring 2 more newborns to take care of.  There are several stray cats at DH's work and one of them gave birth to 2 kittens last night and she won't have anything to do with them.  The Humane society here said they don't have enough volunteers to handle what they have and would end up putting them down.  Sooooo looks like I may be rescuing 2 scraggly kittens. THIS ought to be fun.

[jschoch8]

aww good luck! i love kittens :) i adopted 2 kittens almost 7 years ago and they are inseparable.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

these things aren't much bigger than a small mouse. They were born last ngiht :(

[julianovak]

AWWWW how cute lol.... i was wondering what on earht ur post title meant :P

[Limonada]

You are going to have one FULL house! Good luck with the kitties :-)

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Yeah this is gonna take a LOT of work.  The grey one isn't doing as well as the black one.  I'm gonna post a couple pics on my profile.  I put my cell phone in the pic so you can get an idea of just how small they really are.  They still have their umbilical cord nubs.  They aren't even 24 hours old yet.  The mother didn't even clean the afterbirth off of them.

[penswriter]

we got our venus when she was 2 weeks old (like your new babies her mother rejected her and was bullied by her brothers and sisters) and my mom is ALWAYS taking in stray's. it's hard but ohhh it's so worth it when they're all grown up and big, beautiful kitties.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Since you've had some experience in this department do you have any tips for me? My mom has done this and has told me what she can but I'm flying by the seat of my pants here LOL

[nickieb85]

Aw! I feel so sorry for the babies =) I am sure that your kids will help take care of your new babies =) I wish I could get a kitty since mine took off (he was a runt and at full grown at about 6 months he looked like a baby still) and I know that someone around here took him in so I don't feel as bad about it now. I hope that the kittens get strong and well =) You are such a good mommy!

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Thanks.  I'm pretty worried about the grey one, he's not eating as well as the other one.  I'm afraid he may not make it :( but i'm trying my best and hoping for the best.

[Michele, Katy, TX]

You can feed them with a small syringe.  Be sure to keep them warm!  Fluff up some blankets or towels wherever you have them and just be sure to keep them warm.  They rely on their mother for this at this age.  They lose body heat just like newborn babies do.  That's all I can think of right now.  Good luck!  How sad about their mom though.....

[LosingMyMindInGA]

I've done all that.  Made sock rice heaters and everything. The gray one didn't make it :( he wouldn't swallow...he would half heartedly suck and it would come out the sides of his mouth.  If i put a drop in his mouth he wouldn't swallow.  I tried my best but he didn't make it :( I'm so upset!!!

[penswriter]

after your done feeding (we used mothers milk for kittens...it was powdered like baby formula that you can buy in the pet section at any grocery store around here) make sure they go potty. which you have to help with. my mom always did that (especially since we got venus while i was pregnant)  she would use a cotton ball that was soaked in warm water and just gently massage the bum area until they go. then just clean them up. but the good thing with that was all the baby's my mom and i raised were litter training by 4 4 1/2 weeks.

take the surviving kitten to the vet to be checked out. make sure nothing is wrong with it. and i'm sorry about the baby who didn't make it. i always hated it if one of the babies passed away.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Neither of them made it.  We don't have a 24 hr vet here unfortunately (it's a small town).  I think that whoever the idiot that moved them at DH's work after they were born sealed their fate.  He took them from where the mother birthed them and wrapped them in grease rags and left them on the floor. DH would have stepped on them had he not heard one of them mewing.  I did what I could, tried to get them to eat the kitten replacement formula, cleaned them, stimulated them with a warm damp baby wipe to simulate the mothers licking, got them both to go potty but in the end I guess they just didn't have enough in them to fight.  The last one faded away laying on my chest last night :(.  I had tried callign around for a 24 hour vet right before we lost the first one, the closest I could find was over an hour away :(  My mom called a 24 hour vet in her area to ask about things I could do and we tried it all.  I'm so sad but atleast I know I tried and that's more than anyone else at DH's work would ahve done.  Atleast they didn't die alone.  I was really really hoping the last one would make it through the night so i could get him to a vet this am.

[smjmekg]

I'm soo sorry you lost them both. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have pets! How horrible of whoever to dump them like that. Someone did the same thing with 5 kittens in my parents cul de sac. They were older, probably about 6-8 weeks at least they had all their teeth, but were not people friendly at first. We found homes for most of them, but some of them didn't make it...

[smjmekg]

OH! But I give you hugs and a high five for at least trying. I can't stand seeing an animal suffer, hence why we now have four dogs, two we got while in Korea. We thought the mini Pin wouldn't make it because they take them away from their mothers way too early, but she survived thankfully...not many do. I think the vet here said 65% of the pets die.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Nobody dumped them.  There are about 4 stray cats that live around DH's work.  It was some idiot (we don't know who) fromt he night shift that moved them from where they were born (somewhere in one of the shops).  But DH said the mother cat was very very young, she was one from one of the last litters born so she wasn't very old and she obviously got pregnant too early which could have affected her motherly instincts, it would also explain why she only had 2 in her litter and it could also mean that the 2 kittens weren't fully developed enough to sustain themselves after birth.  It's just so sad. The kids and I are gonna bury them this evening.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Thanks!  I hate seeing an animal suffer too. Especially puppies and kittens.  My kids were really upset that we lost them.  I guess now I need to start looking for a kitten that's ready to leave it's mama and convince DH to let us get it :)

[smjmekg]

Oh ok, I thought someone had dumped them...it could be that the mother just didn't know what to do. With my parents' dogs the first time they bred them the mother didn't know what to do at first, and was freaking out with the contractions. When the babies came out she didn't really know what to do. We had to hold her down so she would nurse them and she eventually picked up on what to do and cleaned them and nursed them. The other two litters she was fine with, but maybe animals are like people too...some women just don't have a clue what to do with a newborn and some women it's as natural as anything. Poor babies, and poor mommy cat...that is sad.

[waitn838]

you truly are super mom....at the least the kittens wont be so needy by the time the new edition comes...plus you have kids that can help can learn to take care of them...i think its wonderful that you saved these kittens....there are too many animals that are forgotten and its so sad that they face losing their lives for something they didnt ask for

[LosingMyMindInGA]

The kitties didn't make it :(

[waitn838]

oh my gosh that is so awful :(

im sorry...that is so heartbreaking :(

[LosingMyMindInGA]

I'm sad but atleast they arent' suffering anymore