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Orphaned Kittens - 7 Lifesaving Household Items |
By:
Jane Tompsett |
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Orphaned Kittens - 7 Lifesaving Household Items
Jane Tompsett
Could you save an orphaned kitten's life?
Sadly, many newborn kittens are orphaned or abandoned. So what should you do if you find yourself responsible for the life of a tiny and precious orphaned kitten?
You may be surprised to learn that it relatively easy to care for an orphaned or abandoned kitten - the main investment will be your time. There are, however, seven essential items that you will need to help with your task. Primarily, your kitten will need a decent sized cardboard box as its home. Further items will be:
A hot water bottle.
Warm nesting material.
A regular eye dropper.
2ml hypodermic syringe fitted with 5cm plastic tubing.
Baby bottle sterilizing solution.
A towel.
All the above items will help you ensure that your orphaned kitten will have the basic requirements of life - warmth and food.
Newborn kittens will usually get all the warmth they need from their mother's body and it is vitally important to ensure that your orphan doesn't become chilled. This can easily happen and the best way of maintaining the necessary temperature required - between 30-35 degrees centigrade for the first week of life and 25 degrees centigrade afterwards - is to place a suitably sized cardboard box close to a radiator.
Alternatively, you can provide warmth by placing a hot water bottle under one corner of the box. This way, your orphaned kitten will be able to snuggle down into its warmed bedding or choose to move to another, cooler part of its box.
When selecting a suitable a nursery box, make sure that your kitten is unable to climb out of it unaided. If your kitten manages to escape its warm home it will rapidly become chilled once outside its secure environment. Be certain to check that the box is big enough for the kitten to move around in freely with enough room to play in, whilst remaining enclosed enough to provide security and retain sufficient warmth. Partially covering the box with an old towel will help retain heat.
As you are acting as 'mother cat', it will be your job to keep your kitten's bedding clean. Old newspaper is great to use as bedding material as it can be easily removed and disposed of when soiled.
When your kitten's warmth and security have been provided for, nourishment will need to be taken care of.
You will need to learn the technique of feeding your kitten with an eye dropper or, for larger kittens, a plastic tube attached to a syringe. Patience and persistence will be the order of the day! You will be able to get suitable kitten formula milk from your vet, together with any equipment you are short of and good pet stores generally have a range of equipment suitable for nursing small kittens. Always remember to sterilize bottles and equipment after each use, just like you would with a baby.
Place your kitten on an old towel on a firm surface - you lap will do if you feel that is sufficiently secure. Gently steady your kitten's head as you carefully squeeze a drop of milk into its mouth. With luck and patience, your orphaned kitten's suckling reflex will kick in and they will start to feed. Ensure that the teat is always full of milk and that you keep up a gentle pressure in response to your kitten's sucking.
Your vet will advise you on the amount of milk to feed your kitten and always be aware of your kitten's general health and demeanour. If your orphan gives you any cause for concern, please do call in your vet straight away - small kittens can deteriorate in health very quickly.
As your orphaned kitten grows, you will feel a real, parental pride in your achievements. Your love, care and dedication towards this small bundle of fur will have ensured a happy and healthy future for a tiny creature that would otherwise have perished.
So you see, you really can save an orphaned kitten's life. However, to be successful, you will need to have a great deal of guidence and information at your fingertips to enable you to replace a missing mother cat. It will be your responsibility to get hold of this information and apply your newly gained knowledge. Your time and effort will be rewarded 100-fold by the love returned by your healthy, playful kitten!
Are you 100% prepared to help your orphaned or abandoned kittens? Discover everything you need to know about http://www.howtodeliverkittens.com/ orphaned and abandoned kittens and subscribe to Jane Tompsett's free http://www.howtodeliverkittens.com/ Cat Owners Confidential newsletter by following these links.
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article67535.html |
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