5 Weeks Old - Vaccines

Basil, Tarragon and Rosemary at 5 Weeks old

At five weeks old, the ears are up, thinned and pink.   Only the medium hair kitten has a little thickness around the edge of his ears.  The tail is 5 inches long.  They weigh in at about 1 lb 5 oz.  Solid food is given 2-3 times a day, still in a mush form.  I have found a mix of cream of rice, canned kitten food and milk replacer works well.  Since these kittens started on a bottle so young, they come to me looking for one in-between meals and sometimes after a meal, and of course I oblige.  Litter box use is improving, but the other day I changed brands of litter and Tarragon wasn't happy about that and decided to use a towel in his proximity, instead.  Still so young, they need help cleaning themselves.  A warm damp washcloth is the perfect replacement for mom cat's rough tongue.  Usually there is some food dried on around the mouth, on top of their head and various other places.  Also, the dust from the litter coats their fur and a quick overall wipe down and a soft brushing keeps them clean and soft.  When that isn't sufficient, then I get some help to clip their nails and give them another full bath.

Testing and Vaccines
 

Considered big enough to see the veins, the kittens went to the clinic and had their blood drawn.  Basil is watching her results, phew, FIV/FeLV is negative.  This feline virus is considered highly contagious to other cats, and usually results in a slow death as the immune system fails them.  But these kittens are healthy and will get their first set of vaccines to protect against this illness as well as a few others that are life threatening.

Rosemary the evening after vaccines.

What a big day, a drive in the car, poked and stuck, this little girl is having a rough night.  She needed a little extra loving.  Her siblings had snuggled up to each other and were fast asleep, but she couldn't get comfortable.  Usually the vaccines will cause the kittens to be tired, have some aches, and also a loss of appetite for 24 to 36 hours.  If it is longer than that, if there is vomiting or other unusual behaviors, they should be seen by a vet right away.

4 weeks old

4 weeks old.  Basil, Tarragon and Rosemary

The kittens are 4 weeks old and active.  They run and climb, wrestle with each other and play with their toys.  Getting a picture of all 3 at the same time is a challenge.  Weighing in at about 1 pound they are ready to try a little solid food once a day, to start, but still giving them a bottle for the other feedings.  Once they are chewing on the bottle, more than sucking, that's my clue that they are finished needing it anymore.  Also, if they are chewing on the nipple, soon it will break off and then they can accidentally swallow the nipple.  Then you wait and watch for it to come out the other end, or take them to the vet....not fun.

Starting on solids.

There are many ways to start the kittens on solids, but most agree that it needs to be a mush of food mixed with the milk replacer.  If they don't take to the food right away, I put a little directly in their mouth.  They usually give a funny face and contemplate this new texture.  Either they will want more, and are ready for solids, or they will reject it and I try again the next day.  It took Basil 3 days to decide she liked solid food.  Now she is fully into it, feet and all.

Kitten gets a Bath

     Basil is 4 weeks old.  She and her siblings are still too young to really keep themselves clean.  Every day they get a quick cleaning with a warm wash cloth, but after a week it is time for a real bath.
     I like to work in a small room free of drafts.  In this video I am in the laundry room using two small clean buckets in the utility sink.  I ran the dryer for 10 minutes and warmed their towels, with the added benefit of warming the room and the drying surface.
     Several hand towels are ready in a pile and close by.  There are a few small wash clothes.  And I have one bath towel.  One bucket has been filled with warm water and a small amount of kitten shampoo.  The other bucket has warm clean water for rinsing off the shampoo.  Wearing a  long sleeved shirt is a must.  I prefer denim.
     Also, before beginning the bath I prepare their drying area.  Usually it is their bed, which has a cover, and  clean warm towels.  If you choose to also use a heating pad, be careful that only part of the drying/sleeping area is being heated and the kitten should be able to easily move away from it.  
     When bathing the kitten, keep the head out of the water.  Check the water temperature that it is Warm, not hot. 
     Basil is very well behaved.  You may have a different experience with lots of meows and climbing that result in small flesh wounds to your hands.

Kittens at 3 weeks old

3 weeks old.  Basil, Rosemary and Tarragon

It's been a full week since these 3 kittens that were rescued from a trashcan came home with me.  It took four baths to finally get rid of the rotten food, bottom of the trashcan smell that hung with them and was coming out of them.
They are eating and growing right on schedule.
At two weeks old, they weighed in at the 10 oz.  range.  Their diet is only a milk supplement through a kitten size bottle.  If they consume One Tablespoon from the bottle, they have done well.  The feeding schedule at that age is every 2-3 hours. It generally takes 1 hour to complete the process of feeding, helping them go to the bathroom, cleaning them and handling them.  They produced at least one load of laundry every day.  It is very much like having a newborn baby in the house.
Now that they are 3 weeks old, they weighed in at the 12 oz range.  Their diet is still only a milk supplement with a bottle and the feeding schedule is every 3-4 hours. They consume about 1.5 Tablespoons per feeding. It generally takes just under 30 minutes to complete the process of feeding, cleaning and handling.   Sometimes they go to the bathroom on their own.  Occasionally they do their business in the small litter box available to them.  When staggering in for the 2 AM feeding I try to look close at what surprises may be awaiting me, but the other night I felt it under my foot before I saw it...yuck.
As you look and compare the pictures from this post and the earlier post, you can see that their ears are more upright, but still small.  Their legs are stronger.  And their eyes are still blue, but an iris is more distinguishable.

Tarragon at 3 weeks old.  Weighs 12.4 oz.

One of the big differences this week is that they are really playing.  They wrestle with each other and they play with small toys.  They really like to be held and reward you with loud purrs.  They have yet to be tested for any feline illnesses, that will be next week.  But there are no signs of any obvious illness, fleas, skin conditions, ear mites or the like.  I would consider them happy healthy kittens at this time.
So sleep deprivation is fully in effect, hope this post makes some sense.  One more week I should be able to have a 5 hour stretch of sleep.  I wonder if I will know what to do with all that energy.

Eat, Sleep and Poop

Basil at 2 weeks old.  She is very happy in her child tent home.

Exhaustion has truly set in, but only another week or so to go and I will get more than 3 hours of sleep at a time.  It brings back the days of having a newborn, and reminds me that I can be finished with that phase of my life.  Thankfully my sleep deprivation will only last a couple of weeks, not months on end.  In the mean time, I sleep as often as I can when the babies are sleeping....sound familiar.  The rest of my focus is on the next feeding and who has pooped.  Yes, this is huge.  A kitten that doesn't poop will get very very sick.  Basil, the one pictured here, is doing great in that department.  But, Tarragon and Rosemary are having some troubles.  Adding pumpkin, a pro-biotic and olive oil to the milk re-placer usually helps.  A warm cloth and gentle tummy massages are also useful.  Hoping for the best, we need a good poop today.  The last one was on Saturday and it is Monday morning.

This is the kittens' home, inside a child tent.  For now each has their own crate for sleeping.  The separation was necessary to stop them from helping each other go to the bathroom. Each crate is lined with lambs wool, and a towel.  There is a heating pad set on low at the back end of the crates.  It is important for the kittens' health and digestion to stay warm.  It is also important that they can move away from the heat, so the front end of the crate has extra air circulation and no heating pad near it.

This little tent has housed many a kittens and is not long for use.  I'm on the look out for another used child tent or 2 man tent.  Small tears are not a problem, but when the zipper goes it will be less useful to me.

12 days old - Rescued from a Trash Can

Somebody threw these little ones in the trash can.  We are not certain how long they were there, in the heat, in the garbage.  When they were rescued they reeked of urine and, well, rotten food.  They have had three baths in the last 24 hours and still they smell.  I think the smell is coming from inside.  To survive, perhaps they were consuming each others urine and feces causing havoc on their digestive system.  They have not yet fully realized they don't need to do this anymore, so for awhile they will be close together, but separated into different cat carriers.  Hoping and praying this stops the nasty habit.
At 12 days old they need to be stimulated to go to the bathroom, so for a few more days, access to a litter box isn't needed.  They took to a bottle right away.  That sure makes feedings go much quicker than with a dropper.  Last night they ate at 11pm, 2am, 5am, 8am and it will continuing around the clock like this for the next week.  Each feeding session takes an hour at this point.  There is eating, cleaning or bath, stimulating, and changing the bedding, along with a little snuggle time.  They wear out quick, and go right back to sleep.  Now, if only I could go right back to sleep.
We are thinking of names.  The black and white one is a boy.  The gray ones are girls. 

What to do with my rescued Kittens. Part 1 - Age of the Kittens

     Finding the little kittens, lost or abandoned, is the easy part.  Your heart goes out to these helpless lives, you bring them home, and now what?
     The first step is to put the kittens in a quiet safe place away from young children and other pets. This is for the safety and stress of all involved. This is an important step even if you are only planning to take care of the kittens for a few hours until you can find someone to help.   I have found that a clean bathroom without cords, trash or cleaning supplies around works best.
     The second step is to determine the approximate age of your kittens.  Once you estimated the age you will know what to feed your kittens and how much care your kittens will need.

Notice in the picture some features of the kittens.(Duchess, Princess, Aries, Orion and Gemini)  These kittens are 14 days and 9 days old. The ears are tiny, they feel thick and may look to be out to the side of their head.  You cannot easily see in the ear canal.  If you were to put your finger in their mouth you would find only a couple of budding teeth or none at all.  The eyes are small and very blue.  The tails measure about 2 or 3 inches long.  These are very young kittens and will need around the clock bottle feedings of a milk supplement every 2-3 hours.  Yes, that's through the night, too.  They also will not be able to eliminate urine or poop on their own.  You will have to help by using a soft damp cloth or a cotton ball and gently rub their behind and genitals before and after each feeding. 

     At three weeks old the feedings can spread out to every 3-4 hours of a milk supplement.  A bottle is best, but sometimes a dropper or learning to lap from a saucer is necessary.  The ears get a little bigger but still feel thick.  Watch your fingers since there will be a number of sharp teeth in those mouths. Use of a litter box begins but sometimes they still need help.  It is not uncommon to find a convenient corner of the room used as a potty. Consider this possibility when deciding where you will keep your kittens.  

     By four to five weeks old they will begin eating solid foods, either softened dry kitten food or canned kitten food along with a milk supplement.   They will need to eat every 4-6 hours.  Use of a litter box will become more consistent.  

     This black kitten (Jones) is 5 weeks old.

You can see that the ears are open and pink.  The edges of the ears have a soft thickness.  The tail is about 4 inches long.  The eyes may be blue or will begin changing to the adult color, usually green or yellow.  There are lots of teeth in that mouth.  Also, the claws may be long and sharp like needles.  A healthy kitten at 5 weeks old will be just over One Pound.

This white kitten (Trixie) is 8 weeks old.  You can see her upright large open ears that are a healthy pink.  Her eye color is no longer blue.  Her tail, if you could see it, is 6 inches long. A healthy kitten at this age will be about 2 lbs.  Unless the kitten is sick, you can sleep at night, making sure there is dry food and water available at all times.  A feeding of canned food once a day will help keep the coat shiny and soft.

Knowing the age of your kittens will let you know how frequently and what they need to eat.  If you take in a kitten under 5 weeks old or that is sick you will need to be ready for a couple of weeks of disrupted sleep. You also need a safe place for them to live.  Other factors to consider are if you will be keeping the kitten or finding it a different home when it is old enough at 8 weeks and healthy.  There are costs to consider for food, litter and vet visits.  Kittens become very active by 5 to 6 weeks old and will need safe places to climb and play.

     Finding a local shelter to help with the rescued kittens is another option.  http://www.azfriends.org/azfriends2/home/Portals/0/services%20brochure%20revised%20apr2012.pdf  This link has a list of no-kill shelters in Arizona to consider.  When you contact a shelter it is very helpful if you can give them an approximate age so they can determine what foster homes are available for the varying levels of care needed.

Thank you for caring about these little wonders and doing what you can to find them a safe and loving home.