Routine!

As we slowly learn more about what to do and what works/doesn't work, we are beginning to get into a routine. I suppose that is one of a few highlights from today. We are now feeding each kitten in a general order and then once we finish feeding the last kitten, we can start helping them poop and pee. I am happy to say that all kittens have now pooped and they are no longer constipated!!! The only downside is now it is pretty much running out and it is not a fun job. I am told I am lucky I can not smell. lol
Another amazing highlight of the day is that I got in contact with Whisker Rescue and they can help us out with taking the kittens when they are old enough to be spayed and neutered and they will take care of finding good homes for the kittens. That made my day because I was not sure how I could afford to spay and neuter all of the kittens. That was quite wonderful news actually! I know if anyone comes along that I know will provide a good home for a kitten and will agree to spay/neuter the kitten that I would have no problem with that. Yet I do love that the rescue shelter can help me out because finding good homes for kittens is quite difficult. I consider these little guys special after all they have been through and I want them to have a good happy life. Cats can live up to 18 years I believe so it is important to think about whether you can commit to having a cat for that long.
The last huge highlight is that they are all getting the hang of drinking from a bottle now and it makes feeding time much easier and more pleasent. When they don't understand the bottle, it can be difficult to feed them before the milk gets cold. Speaking of milk getting cold, we discovered if we take the bottles out in a bucket with warm water that it keeps the milk warm longer. :) we have an extra bottle so we can switch when the one bottle gets too cold. The kittens are somewhat fussy about cold milk.
It is hard to believe it has only been 2 full days though. I swear it feels like we have been doing this for much longer. lol I am already getting exhausted. I am so glad I am not a mama cat though and I have so much appreciation for them! Just the thought that a mama cat licks the kittens bums as they poop and pee and swallows it is pretty gross to me. I am so glad I can use a cloth! I think it is worse now that they have the runs and it goes everywhere. I wish we could kind of dunk their bums in warm water to clean off the excess stuff. I imagine that it should not stay so soft for long though-it is probably so bad because we are feeding them new formula that is different from their mama's milk. I should be heading to bed though because tomorrow is another long day. I can't wait for the point where they can use a litter box and eat solid food! :)

Getting through the first day

Well I am happy to say that we all made it through the first full day. The kittens are all still alive and so are we. lol I say that because it is somewhat overwhelming at first trying to take care of a whole litter of kittens without a mother. I think we are getting the hang of the feeding at least. I still have no idea what we are doing really or what we are possibly up against but I hope that with the help of people who know more than I do, that we can raise the kittens successfully. Today I was thinking how our lives can change so drastically and we have no idea what the future holds. A week ago, I only knew that there was a feral cat around here who had kittens somewhere but we didn't know where. I had no idea she would pass away on the weekend and we would end up raising 5 kittens! I wish circumstances would have been different that the mama would still be alive for her babies but she isn't. So my family and I now have the job of being their foster parents I suppose. I imagine it will be tough and rewarding and I look forward to the weeks ahead and what ever adventures we encounter along the way. I hope that all of the kittens survive but I really have no idea what the future holds as I have learned time and time again. So please join me through the ups and downs of kitten foster parenthood. :) If you have advice of any kind-please share it because I can use all the advice I can get! Thanks for visiting my blog and taking the time to learn about these 5 precious babies who will steal your heart if you let them. Pictures don't do them justice. lol

Pictures!!!

Here are pictures of the little guys.
3's a crowd? lol

 Double trouble? lol

Getting up close and personal. lol

While at the vet, I learned that I will need to rub the kittens butts to help stimulate them to..uh.. go to the bathroom. This isn't one of the finer parts of raising orphan kittens. lol So I grabbed an old cloth and some warm water and set out to do this not so fun job. As I started with the first one, I had to apologize that I was getting up close and personal with them despite us hardly knowing each other. lol I had no idea how to rub their butts when I started with the first one and I was somewhat unsuccessful. She/he also didn't appreciate it much. By the third kitten, I like to think I got the hang of it though because all of a sudden it started going pee and I had no idea if I should continue rubbing or stop. I thought it was coming out good so all I could think of to do was hold it upright so the pee would dribble on to the floor where I had a rag that could soak it up. I am guessing it didn't feel I was doing it right and was complaining the entire time. Yet it did seem to get that look of relief on it's face when it was finished. lol The others didn't really do much so I hope it isn't my lack of expertise in this field that caused that. Any input on the proper way to do this is much appreciated!! Is there a technique to it? I have no idea. I am starting to really appreciate mama cats and all they do to raise their babies!

Kitten milk replacement

Hello,
Well I stopped at the vet this morning to get some kitten milk replacement only to discover how costly it is going to be. :( I am not sure we can afford to continue feeding the milk replacement very long and I am hoping there are alternatives that they can eat. I have been told it is ok to feed them kitten food that is soaked in warm water or the milk replacement. I am hoping this is the case because it would be great to get them off the bottle as quickly as possible! I am getting conflicting answers over how old they are though so I am still unsure whether they are about 3weeks old or if they could be as old as 4-5weeks old. This could affect how soon we can change them over to wet kitten food I am guessing? I do know they are hungry and I would be as well if I hadn't eaten in 4 days! I will post pictures hopefully this afternoon of the kittens that are better than the 2 I posted on my facebook page yesterday. I will also continue the hunt for information on how to care for these little babies that are so incredibly sweet!

Welcome!

Hello,
I thought I should begin a blog about our orphan kittens that we now have. Over a month ago, we began seeing a feral cat hanging around who was pregnant. We saw her catching mice around here and know there are many here so we were happy to have a mouser around. I was working on taming her but I could never get close enough. Since she was catching mice, I could not use food as incentive for her to come to me. We never knew where she had her kittens though sadly. Then on Saturday, we noticed she was in the garage and we tried to chase her out but for some reason she would not leave. We still don't know why. Sunday morning we discovered that she had died over night and were devastated. We knew she had kittens somewhere but we live in the country and had no idea where to even begin looking. Fast forward about 4 days to last night. My sister was outside and happened to be walking by our shop at the right time to hear faint meowing. She called me over and we began searching for where it was coming from. We realized it was coming from the attic of the shop so we grabbed our dad. He went up and found 5 kittens all alive!!! We were absolutely overjoyed and surprised that we found them alive! So this blog is the story of 5 orphan kittens who made it through some bad odds and are little fighters. I hope you will join me as we attempt to help them grow and watch them discover the world. I have no idea what we are up against so if anyone has any suggestions-I would love to hear them!! thanks.