It so happened that you got a newborn kitten in your care. It is not so important for what reasons this happened: whether a recently given birth cat died, good people threw up the baby, your son or daughter found a squeaking box on the street. In any case, the worries about caring for the baby fell on your shoulders.
First of all, you need to examine the kitten: are there any injuries on the body, traces of dirt, and so on, is the umbilical cord present and whether the teeth have already erupted. Of course, it is interesting to determine what gender the kitten is. Naturally, small wounds need to be treated with a disinfectant solution, and traces of dirt should be removed with a damp cloth. It is not worth bathing the baby, since the animal's heat regulation has not yet been established, the kitten may freeze and die.
The umbilical cord is usually detached 3-4 days after birth. The umbilical cord does not require special processing. A kitten under two weeks of age still has closed eyes. You do not need to touch them, no treatment with herbal infusions is needed. The eyes will open on their own 10-14 days after birth. If this does not happen after two weeks that the baby is in your care, contact your veterinarian, who will correct the situation with a simple operation.
It is worth remembering that a newborn kitten does not know how to cope with large and small needs on its own. The mother cat helps the kitten to defecate the intestines and empty the bladder. She licks the corresponding organs of the kitten and the tummy with her rough tongue. You will have to help your baby by using a cotton swab dipped in hot water and well wrung out for the massage. Massage immediately after feeding, while lightly pressing your fingers on the sides of the kitten's tummy. Urination occurs after each feeding, but the animal can defecate once a day or more often. If you have problems with this, show the baby to a veterinarian who will provide qualified assistance.
A special formula for artificial feeding of kittens can be purchased at the veterinary pharmacy. You can also buy a special feeding bottle there. You can feed your kitten without a special bottle. Get two syringes from the pharmacy: a small 2 ml syringe and a syringe for insulin injections or tuberculin, also get a pipette. Remove the plunger (rod) from the tuberculin syringe, remove the rubber part from the pipette, make a cross-shaped hole at the tip of the rubber part of the pipette using nail scissors, put it on the part of the syringe where it is customary to put the needle. A 2 ml syringe will pump milk into our feeding device.
If there is no veterinary pharmacy nearby or the family is struggling financially, infant formula can be used. It is allowed to feed kittens up to one week of age with cow's milk, better whole, but you can also store it, 2, 5% - 3, 2% fat. If using store milk, add a tiny bit of butter to increase the fat content. Starting from 5-7 days of age, the kitten has enough milk of 2.5% fat, dilute whole milk with a small amount of boiled water. Warm milk to 37 - 38 degrees before feeding.
A kitten can eat 2-10 ml of milk at one meal. Per day, respectively, 20 - 100 ml. It is impossible to overfeed the kitten, having eaten enough, the baby will push out the nipple and purr rather. Wipe the kitten's face and neck with a dry cotton swab, with a damp cotton swab, treat the kitten's genitals and anus, doing the massage described above.
Place a well-fed kitten in a place equipped for it. Let it be a plastic bowl with high sides. Put a terry towel or diaper on the bottom, put the bowl near a heat source, for example, a heating radiator, put a heating pad inside. A healthy kitten only eats and sleeps in the first weeks of life. If you have any doubts or questions, ask your veterinarian for advice and assistance.
