# Found an Abandoned Kitten



## Hrosec

This morning we found an abandoned kitten that the vet said was 3 to 4 weeks old. He also weighs 12 oz. Were bottle feeding the little guy every 4 hours and were wondering why his ears are still so floppy all the pics I saw had them with more sticking up ears. So were wondering when they will probably stick up. He can walk around but is still woble and not very fast. Also, I heard he didn't need to be fed overnight but was wondering when his first and last feeding should be. Also, any tips on getting are two adult cats to like him. Currently were keeping him in a lage dog crate with a small cat crate with a heat pad that he can go in when he wants to. We also put a litter box in with kitten safe litter. He can go to the bathroom on his own. He peed on the paper.
So here is are new little boy Simbia.


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## Hrosec

The little guy also seems to have developed some diarrhea, it's dark in color. Should I dilute his forumla more to help him get over it.


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## 10cats2dogs

Hrosec, What a Precious Baby! I hope some of our experienced kitten fosterers can help you soon!
I believe kittens need to be fed no more than 3 hours apart...
And they do require feedings at night!
Hang in there!


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## librarychick

Dilute his formula and take him to the vet in the morning. Dark stool can mean blood...

The ears firm up at varying rates, Doran had floppy ear tips until 6 weeks, but your Simbas seem floppier than most. Give it time, floppy ears wont hurt him anyways. Its cute too!

At his age 4 hours during the day, 6 at night. So feed him late and get up early..then go back to bed


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## Hrosec

He is quite a cutie! We will take him back in tomorrow if it doesn't clear up. Luckily I do have 2 other people to help with feeding. :crazy


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## Hrosec

Thanks for all the help so far. His diarrhea has stuff and he has start to the use the litter box we made him. We also got un clumping pine stuff. We havve been having a small problem, yesterday I was letting him play on my lap and he decided to attach my foot at first he was not really biting but when I tried to remove him he started growling and wouldn't let go so I scruff end him gently and removed him from my foot. We then put him in a carrier for a short time out. Is there anything else we should do?


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## librarychick

Don't scruff him, give him a toy instead. At his age he shouldn't get any sort of 'correction' or punishment. He's just too little for it. Just replace what you don't want with what you do want.

So, in the example you gave, rather than trying to physically remove him from his toy (which is what he thought he had), grab a pillow, toy or other interesting thing and wiggle it around to encourage him to pounce and bite THAT instead.

Also, don't use your hands to play with him. You can hold a toy and wiggle it, but don't use just hands, it encourages biting and play behaviors directed at skin. Bad idea.


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## Joe711

I would say he's about 3 weeks old cus ears start to unfold when 4 weeks old..atleast from my experience with my litter I have now (5 weeks old now) 

But all kittens are different


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## Venusworld21

Another thing you can do if he starts chewing on your hands/feet is a kind of high pitched "Ow!" or some similar sound (not loud, just higher pitched). It's close to the sound his littermates would make if he were playing too rough with them. That's the sound I make when my fosters get too excited about my feet. Or knees. Or back.  But given his age, I wouldn't expect him to instantly get what you're trying to tell him. It'll take a few weeks. 


Kittens should gain about 4 ounces a week, so if he's 3 weeks old, he's right on track for weight. If he's 4 weeks old, he's a little on the small side.

At 4 weeks (which he may or may not already be) you can try to get him interested in solid foods. I always have kitten crunchies out for my fosters...and then they can nibble if/when they decide they want to. Human baby food (meat flavors like ham or turkey) is how I tempt my little ones. Ham especially seems to be a favorite. He will still need formula for a few weeks, but once he figures out solid food, that might ease your feeding schedule a bit.  Just put a tiny bit of the baby food on a spoon. If he doesn't take a bite/lick, you can put a tiny bit in his mouth (not enough to choke him--more like a little taste). Once they swallow that tiny bit, they'll either look confused or get really excited about the spoon. With my current fosters, little girl kitten figured out baby food after two attempts with the spoon. Her brother took over a week.

Once they've figured out that solid foods like baby food are yummy, you can start slowly adding in wet kitten food and get him used to that flavor. Then just decrease the amount of baby food in the mix slowly over a few days or a week until he's eating straight kitten food.

Raising kittens is a lot of work, but at 4 weeks he's through some of the toughest parts already. Good luck!


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## Venusworld21

Also, latching onto your foot and growling seems a little intense for a three week old. Mine are barely tottering at that stage. I'd bet he's a little older...four or maybe even 5 weeks (but malnourished). "Latch and growl" is just too advanced a milestone for him to have at 3 weeks. Since he's an orphan, he could be lonesome. Do you have a stuffed animal or something that he could "snuggle" with for a few weeks? Once he's a little bigger and integrated into the house with your other cats they will probably fill that role for him, but right now he needs a "mom."


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## Hrosec

Thanks so much for the pointers! I agree I think he is older then we thought at first, I offered him some wet freeze dried cat food on my finger he licked it nicely for a second but then he bite it cause he wanted more and when I tried to pull my finger away he bite hard and started to growl. We got him to let go and gave him some mixed with formula and he started lapping it up even though we gave him a bottle 2 hours before. So we have pretty much just started giving him the formula mixed with kitten food and freeze dried that we feed are adults. Right now were still keeping it wet and giving it to him every 3 hours as he starts getting cranky. He is starting to use the litter box a little more but we still need to put him in it or he will pee on the floor in the middle of his playing. 
Here is a video of him I got a few hours ago. 
Simbia a 3 to 4 week old orphaned kitten playing. - YouTube
Here is a pic from today
 
And here is a picture of him playing yesterday
Simbia a 3 to 4 week old orphaned kitten playing. - YouTube


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## Hrosec

He also weighed in at 14 ounces today.


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## 10cats2dogs

He is just the most adorable little guy! LOVE that face shot!


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## jking

He is adorable! What a little sweetheart!


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## Mochas Mommy

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW....lucky you are too far away or Luna and Mystik would be having a new buddy!


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## Venusworld21

Do you keep crunchies down for him to nibble on whenever he wants? He sounds like he's starving. I'd let him eat basically as much as he wants. That will also help him to relax about your fingers and toes and should improve his attitude some with regard to the growling. Mine tend to get a little snarky if they think it's been too long since their last meal. 

Also, has he been wormed? If he has, that should help get his weight up. If he hasn't, I'd do it asap.


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## spirite

Oooooh, so cute!!! And I absolutely love the white tip on his tail.


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## Hrosec

Thanks for the compliments!! He is quite a sweet little fellow he was a lot less cranky today. He still can't eat dry food but he is eating the wet mash really well. We're slowly lowering how wet it is till I've starts eating it completely dry. The only thing is I don't want him to get too picky.


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## TinyPaws

[Simbia just melted my heart ! Thank you so much for being this babies angel! I don't have a lot of experience with very young kittens. We had one last year that was about 6 weeks and we fed her with a syringe. As for socialising with other cats, from my experience it just takes time. Thomas and Suzie joined us last year as kittens and only recently has Tosca stopped hissing at them! But, she still gives warning swipes. It is nothing aggressive she just likes to show she is in charge. I wouldn't put him with your other cats till he is a few weeks older and then gradually build on supervised time with one cat at a time! Good luck and please plenty more pictures!


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## Joe711

awww i think he kinda loos like a Scottish Fold Mix


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## Hrosec

Thanks for all the compliments and tips!! Little Simbia is growing like a weed he is already 18 oz he is getting more playful and hyper every day. I think he is also going to get to keep his floppy ears.

Yesterday we decided we wanted to catch his mother and spay her and the relize her back at the shop, we hoped she would stay around and my dad would be able to feed her since he owns the building and doesn't want a bunch of feral cats running around either. He told us that he hadn't seen her in a few days but we got a trap and managed to trap her in only a couple hours. Anyone are new problem is that we don't think she is really a feral cat. We think she was abandonded or got lost as she is skinny and very hungry. She is also not that scared of people she didn't hiss at all and she let me touch her without bitting or scratching. We also were wondering if she looks like she is pregnat again or if she is still nursing. I got some pics and were planning on going down again tommorow to see if we can find anymore kittens. Also, her nipples are still quite large and it looks like she might still be nursing so we were wondering if its safe to get her spayed or if we should give her more time. Were hopping to be able to tame her up a bit more and find her a new home or if she is lost find her owner. One thing I was wondering if we should give her all the foods she wants or limit how much she has, so far is 5 to 6 hours she has eaten 4 cans of 5.5 oz cat food and some kitten food I mixed in. We are also keep her outside on a balcony away from all of are other pets. We are also calling her Nalla


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## howsefrau32

I know nothing about kittens, but I would kind of be worried about trapping her now if she does have more kittens out that she is nursing. They could be waiting for her now. Hopefully you can get some advice here soon on what to do, but if it were me, and I thought she had kittens she was nursing, I would let her go back to them. They could be waiting on her. Hopefully one of the experts can weigh in on this.


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## librarychick

Well, it does look like the floppy ears are genetic!

It also looks to me as though momma cat is definitely still nursing, but I'd suggest the best way to go would be to put momma cat in a carrier next to a trap! You may catch all the kittens that way. Chances are if momma is tame enough to pet now that she was dumped, and she may tame up easily in a very short period of time.

I would definitely NOT set her free; even though she is still nursing she's also probably pregnant again. Let her eat as much as she wants to eat, her body has been working awfully hard to grow and feed kittens and needs everything it can get.

Also, please get her spayed before you rehome her!


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## Jenny bf

Definately momma looks like an abandoned pet and has the look of a scottish fold about her. Poor baby. Librarychick has given great advice about how to hopefully reunite momma and any kittens. Let us know how you get on. Hope they will quickly come out of hiding.
Please don't release her back out again. I think the hunger etc ( and she is very small) show she lacks survival skills. She deserves a chance at a nice forever home


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## wilykitty

Omg soooooo cutteeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That face!!!!!!


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## larsan

I have no advice due to having no experience. I know it's been said many times but how can people do this? I was just thinking this morning about the complete lack of respect that is being shown in our world to life...human and animal. It just breaks my heart. And I want to say a big THANK YOU to all of you who do rescue work and take care of these precious little ones.


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## Hrosec

Thanks for the tips! We searched for an hour and a half but couldn't find any sign of the kittens so we released mom because I couldn't have the little ones starving without her. We were able to find the kittens though as she led us straight to them. There are two cute little ones and we left the trap tied open with food in the building luckily mom didn't seem too worried about are presence. We are going to head back tomorrow and attempt to catch the whole family.


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## 10cats2dogs

Hrosec,
That's a relief! Hopefully you'll have the whole little family soon!
Sharon


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## Hrosec

Thanks for the well wishes! Hopefully we will have them all tommorow! The one thing is would it be okay to put the other kittens in with Simbia or should we keep them seperate? Were planning on seperating the kittens from mom so we can tame them up.


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## librarychick

I sincerely hope you can recapture them. It's unlikely she'll hop into a set trap a second time though.  Most cats very quickly become trap-shy.

If you catch the kittens and not mum put them IN A BOX next to the trap and she might re-enter the trap that way.

If you're sure they're litter mates go ahead and put them together. It seems like that's the obvious answer, since the floppy ears are a pretty good sign, lol.

Also, make sure you get mum spayed ASAP!


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## Jenny bf

Well, it was better because she got back to her kittens. Good luck in getting them tomorrow and hope it all goes well


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## Hrosec

Here is a pic of Simbia, hopefully everything will go well tommorow and I will have more pics to share.


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## 10cats2dogs

OMG! He's SUCH a Cutie!! 
All Paws Crossed for you tomorrow!!


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## Hrosec

So we have managed to catch mom and 2 of the kittens! But it turns out that she has 4 so we still need to find the 2 remaining kittens! Nala was actually really easy to catch, she walked right in when we added food.


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## Heather72754

A rescue organization near me just had great success in trapping kittens from a mom they had already trapped, by recording sounds of a mother cat interacting with her kittens (any mother cat, not necessarily their own) and playing the recording near where they thought the kittens were. The kittens came right out as soon as they heard the 'mommy' sounds. :smile:


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## Hrosec

1 little kitten left! I set the trap and I'm using mom and food as bate so hopefully we will catch him.


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## howsefrau32

Oh my goodness.......I am amazed that you have caught all but one....and the MOM!! Good job! I can't believe she jsut walked right back into the trap again. I wonder if she is just really tired of being on her own, with babies to care for, and thankful for the human help, or if she is like my cat Taffy, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, LOL! No insult intended! i just find it funny how some cats are so clever, and some not so much. I love all types  You are a saint for this momma and her family right now.


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## Hrosec

Mommy seemed to think that we had come to feed her!! She almost looked like she had been waiting for us. I really hope we can find her a forever home. She is such a nice cat!


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## Jenny bf

Oh well done! My guess is that as she is most likely an abandoned pet she is just tired of having to be stressed fending for herself poor Baby. I hope you can find a her a lovely and permanent home as she looks so sweet and deserves a better life. You and your family are amazing for what you are doing for this girl and her babies.


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## larsan

This is such a nice story and I oratory it will have a happy ending for all of them.


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## howsefrau32

I bet that is just it, that she is exhausted from trying to fend for herself and take care of those babies, and that is why she willingly went back into the trap. Poor little thing. Maybe you can contact a rescue group to help you get the mom and babies adopted out? I'm not sure where you are. If I didn't already have FOUR.....and not because I wanted four, but they all found me, and not all at one time. Three was easy enough to handle, four is a bit crazy, but they all love me and are super attached to us, so we make it work. But it is like a full time job taking care of them, and my dog. Plus I feed a feral that has been coming to my house for over three years, and I feed her twice a day. What are you going to do when I helpless little animal comes to you for help, but do the best you can to help them. Thank you so much for helping this little family. I think you should be able to get them adopted out to good homes, especially with those cute little folded ears. People go crazy for the little kitties with those ears! How are things going with the little family today?


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## Hrosec

Things are going pretty well! We still have been unsuccessful in trapping or finding the last baby so hopefully he is okay. But the other 4 babies and mom are doing great! We have them all in a x large dog crate. Mom has accepted Simbia back and he has been having a ton of fun playing with his mom and siblings and showing them that people are nice. He has really been helpful in getting them comfortable around us since he thinks we're fun toys. They have settled down a lot so far. We did bring mom in to the vet to get her tested but it turned out that they were unable to get the blood since she was too stressed and they weren't very good at dealing with her. So the poor girl just had a scare experience and nothing good came out of it =(. She is quite nice when she is around and is really good and calm unless I try to touch her. We also found a no kill rescue that is willing to help us find homes for the babies and take Nala after the babies are weaned. I will post some pics tommorow.


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## 10cats2dogs

Keeping All Paws Crossed that you find the other little one...
It's got to be terrified...


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## Hrosec

Well we found another kitten but it isn't the kitten that we orginaly saw!! The kittens are multipling before are eyes!! 1 kitten has turned into 6! So Mom has at least 6 kittens. My sister did see another one today but we weren't able to find and catch it. We reset the traps so we will hopefully catch the remaining kittens tonight or tommorow. Right now we have a fluffy tabby with normal ears, a black kitten with floppy ears, a black one with normal ears, a fluffy black one with floppy ears, simbia, and mom. The last one we are looking for is black with white paws. I will try to get more pics. Right now the family is in an x large dog crate but were planning on letting them all into a small room later today as that cage is getting small fast.


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## Jenny bf

Ooh I hope you can get that final kitten trapped and back with mom. Great news you have found a shelter to help you, even if your foster family has grown considerably. It's going to be awfully quiet when they are all gone.


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## Hrosec

We found the final kitten!!


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## Jenny bf

Yay! That's great news. I was worried about that little one out there on its own


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## marie5890

YAY!!!! You are just wonderful.

Blessings to you and your family...


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## Catmamma

Great story! Thank you for catching the kittens. I heard that Scottish fold cats are really smart. I hope it is true and that you find great homes for all of them. Are you keeping Simba. Mom will teach him how to use the litter box if you let her.


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## larsan

This has been such a heart warming story. You are amazing


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## 10cats2dogs

YAY! Great Job getting everyone back together! That is such a relief, knowing you finally got the one kitten caught! 
Poor little thing, probably a little Starvin' Marvin!!


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## Hrosec

The kittens and Mom are all doing really well!! The babies are taming up really well. They have stopped hissing and spitting and the most nervous little girl fell asleep on me yesterday when I was holding her. They defiantly still need more work but are getting better every day. Mom is getting a lot tamer too as she licked cat food from my hand and doesn't mind when we pet the babies even when they are cuddling with her. She did let me rub her shoulder today but still doesn't really like to be touched so we aren't going to push her. She still does a low growl and hisses if she doesn't like something you do. Today she was really mad this morning because we fed her later then normal and hadn't yet cleaned up her litter box mess. (Somebody kicked a lot of dirty litter out, weren't using it anymore as it was too small). We also weighed the babies and they are all between 19 and 28 oz with Simbia being the largest and the fluffy black female being the smallest. Her are the pics I have been promising you for a while!


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## spirite

OMG congrats!! What a great job you did. Mom and kittens must be so happy to be in a safe place, all together, with a reliable food source. 

They're all adorable, but that little gray tabby...swoon. Sooo cute!!


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## larsan

How precious. Just too darn cute!


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## Heather72754

OMG!! I'm in love with the little black one with the folded ears! :heart


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## Hrosec

Thanks guys!! They are such darling babies! We have found a rescue that is willing to let us foster the babies and mom for them. There going to pay the vet bills and find the babies new homes. We're thinking the babies are older then we thought since the boys are already over two pounds and the girls are almost there. The big concern I have is I'm worried mom might be pregnant again. She has a noticeable bulge. The rescue that is going to take her wil let her have the babies if she is pregnant. Here are the pics.



She has also been much more restless and been meowing a lot.


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## 10cats2dogs

Oh...I really hope mama cats not pregnant again...poor girl...

I'm glad the babies are doing so well and you've found a rescue that will sponser your fostering of them!


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## Jenny bf

You have done such a fab job with momma and her kittens. I so hope her bulge is good food and better living conditions. Great you found a shelter to take them. Could the shelter tell the adopters they need to join CF so we can keep up with their progress? )


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## cat owner again

This is a great rescue mission. I think mama may have been waiting for some kindness so she could have an easier life. My mama cat found me and was very happy to have a home again. I just can't imagine how people leave their cats.


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## Hrosec

Thanks for the compliments!! There such sweet little kittens I wish I could keep them all! We tried to bring mom in to see if she was pregnant on Monday but instead she bite the vet through the gloves. She didn't seem as worried as the first time she went to the vet she was calm until they grabbed her. She has calmed down around us but still doesn't like to be touched any ideas to help her like to be handled. The babies are so much easier to handle!


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## Arianwen

Well done! Afraid that the mother cat does look potentially pregnant though!


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## Joe711

Their soo beautiful!!! You should do her a emergency spay if possible (a mommy that has a litter after a current litter might develop problems and stress) and before you regime the kittens to spay n neuter them too ^_^


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## Venusworld21

Are you able to touch mama's belly at all (in the comfort and familiarity of your house/her safe space)? You should start to feel the kittens move around 5 weeks along, if she is pregnant. If you can't feel movement, then even if she is pregnant, it's early enough to terminate the pregnancy. Cats gestate for 9 weeks, so if she's not past the halfway point where you can feel them moving yet, then it would be much kinder to her to get her spayed now.


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## Hrosec

I will try to touch moms bell tonight when I'm feeding her. About a week ago she let me stroke her belly and it felt hard to me. The best way to touch her was when she was sleeping with the kittens she didn't mind if you pet the baby right next to her. Lately though she has been much more restless. She has been laying down getting comfy then moving a few minutes later. She does seem less scared of us then she was before and has stopped growling mostly, and is meowing instead. If she gets spayed or not is up to the rescue now. I'm so glad I don't have to make that choice. If she is pregnant. She said we would work more with mom next week after the babies have there checkup. There going in to be tested for the snap test, deworming, and first shots on Friday. If there all negative does that mean that mom probably is too?


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## wallycat

Love the happy ending here and hope things continue positively.
How absolutely lucky momma-cat and babies are to have people like you in their lives.
They look gorgeous.
Great job!!!


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## Hrosec

Thanks for all the advice! Kumai has already been adopted and Lilly is going to meet another family's older cat tomorrow to see if they get along. Mom is looking way bigger then she was before. I was unable to feel for movement as she only let me touch her stomache for a second. It feels hard unlike fat. She also looks bigger from different angels and I'm pretty sure I saw movement. I'll post some pics I took yesterday. Also, she hadn't been letting the kittens nurse at all for the last week or two but today she started letting them nurse such much that they weren't hungry anymore. So we put them in a x large dog crate in the same room. The babies are probably about 9 weeks so they defiently don't need to nurse anymore. Nala has also got much more mothering and was following after and hunting down the babies in order to lick them. Before she would only lick them if they came up to her head.


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## Hrosec

Well we ended up seperating the kittens from mom since they were eating well and then decided they didn't want to eat any more and only wanted to nurse. I think mom started to produce different better milk for the new kittens since they were also throwing up the milk. They have stopped vomiting and are eating again now. Mom was looking quite large yesterday but is looking smaller today. I got a video of mom since her breathing looked weird to me. It could be I'm watching her too much though!! Nala - YouTube


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## howsefrau32

I once thought my feral cat was pregnant, because her belly was quite large, and hard. This was before I knew that a tipped ear meant she was TNR'd by someone, and she was spayed. Her belly was big because of worms. I'm wondering if this could be momma's problem? I hope she is not pregnant. You are doing a great thing, fostering. I'm glad you found a rescue group that is working with you. You are doing a great thing for this kitty family


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