VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

Frantic. Rewarding. Exhausting. Yes, kitten season is almost upon us.

What is even more frantic, rewarding, and exhausting than the succession of mother cats and their litters who make their way through Folsom Feline Rescue? A litter of motherless kittens. They require almost round the clock care for those first critical weeks of life.

Having bottle-fed a grand total of two newborns to "weaning" age, all I can offer is my own experience, born of trial and error, and information gleaned from a variety of websites.

First, think like a momma cat. Kittens need a quiet, warm, draft-free space. A medium-sized cardboard box, lined with a folded towel makes a nice "nest." Under half the towel, place a heating pad turned to LOW - never higher. Place a lamp over the box.

Cover half the box with a large towel so that half the heating pad is shaded and half isn't. This way, the kittens have four areas of warmth. The warmest would be on the heating pad and under the light. The coolest would be in the shaded area and not on the heating pad. The other two areas are in between.

Place them on the warmest area at first. By the time they need the cooler areas, they'll be able to crawl there themselves. Kittens should be warm all over, never cool anywhere to the touch. They should also never be limp or weak-acting. If they are, get veterinary advice immediately.

For a bit of extra warmth for the first two weeks, I wrapped a one pint bottle of hot water in a washcloth and placed it on the heating pad. I always placed the kittens next to it after feeding them. Wouldn't it get cold too quickly to really be of any use? Not as often as you will be up to change it . . .

You'll need a powered milk replacement such as KMR on hand and bottles. Don't mix up too much formula ahead of time. I didn't mix up more than a half day's worth in advance. As you refrigerate unused portion, you'll need to heat the next serving up. Don't overheat! Make it barely lukewarm. Be sure to follow the directions on the label as to consistency. You will soon be mixing in less water so they will be drinking thicker formula as they grow older.

Next make a spreadsheet. The columns will read Time, Amount, #2, Weight, and Remarks. The rows will be kitten name, kitten name, space, kitten name, kitten name, space, etc. Make sure you have a postal scale on hand, too.

Now, is the crucial question how much sleep are you going to miss? No - but you can make that a column heading it you'd like. The crucial question is, how often do you feed these blind, helpless, precious babies? Well, some sites say every two hours, some three, some four. I settled on three. They were never awake and crying (but always hungry) when the alarm went off so I think three hours was right for these kittens.

This schedule went on for two weeks. From two to three weeks, I moved feedings to every four. From three to four weeks, every six except for a certain eight hours during the night time.

Weigh the kittens at least once a day. My guys gained weight every single day - just as the amount of formula they consumed gradually increased every day. Mark down the time and amount the kittens drink on your spreadsheet.

Some tricks - if you have one kitten whose appetite is weaker, feed him both first and last. Or just feed him last to give him time to get hungry as his littermates are being fed. I made the mistake of feeding then burping then feeding again. When one of the kittens stomach grew to gargantuan proportions, I knew I was feeding him too much. (This was the same kitten who could soon gulp down a bottle of formula in about thirty seconds flat.)

(Continued on page 4)