So imagine my surprise tonight when my roommate’s cousin showed up on our doorstep with a fluffy kitten in a cardboard box.
According to the cuz, the kitten is named Sandy and belongs to his sister. His sister left for Canada for two weeks (!!!) a couple days ago, leaving the cuz to babysit. His mom and dad griped about the kitten, so, knowing a sucker when he sees one, he brought Sandy to my roommate and myself.
He doesn’t know how old Sandy is.
He doesn’t know if she’s had any shots (my guess is no).
He doesn’t know if she’s fixed (see above).
He says the mama ran off, and Sandy is far from weaned. He feeds her from an eyedropper and she tries to kneed and nurse on me.
She can walk (in a wobbly kinda way), her eyes are open, and she sure can holler for food. I’m guessing she’s about 4-5 weeks, but its been awhile since I had an honest-to-god kitten. I put one of my old fluffy blankets in there with her (thank you, Boston Shakespeare in the Park Company) and she conked out.
I know about the SDMB rules, and I will return with pictures.
OK, roommate’s cousin’s sister has given up all claims to the kitten, as far as I’m concerned. She left an unweaned kitten in the care of someone else? And is this someone else a minor? Poor Sandy.
Get KMR, or some other brand of kitten milk replacement, and a small animal feeding bottle. You might be able to find them at WalMart. I’ve said a lot of bad things about WalMart, but many of them are open 24 hours, and when you need to do something like feed an unweaned kitten, well, that’s where you go. Pet stores will also have this stuff. She’s too young to have had her shots, and too young/too little to be spayed yet. Kittens open their eyes at about 10 days, and I forget when they quit wobbling when they walk. She might be even younger than your estimate, though. She needs to get checked by a vet ASAP, as she might have parasites, internal and external.
You may also need to rub her belly to get her to go to the bathroom, use a warm cloth, or your hand with some warm lubricating jelly. My kitty used to fight this a little (since I had to tip her on her back a little) but she’d go in the sink and then be a-okay.
I found a kitten a while back who was 3-4ish weeks old. Her eyes were open (and still blue!) and she was definitely wobbly. And now she’s a happy 3 year old and one of the lights of my life.
You’ll be fine. Good on you - you’re one of the good ones.
Leon was 4-5 weeks when he came to me last year - still wobbly, still blue-eyed, still pointed tail held straight in the air. Vet recommended KMR & kitten food mixed & feed with an eyedropper for the the first 10 days, but he was starving and not eating on his own at that time. After a week when he was feeding himself again he went to just kitten food with another week of supplemental KMR once a day.
Congratulations on your new master. Let him/her sleep in your shirt sometimes.
Seconded. I always had luck with a warm, wet rag after each feeding. Tiny kittens don’t poop or pee very much, so it’s not as messy as it sounds. Mamma cat uses her tongue, so a warm wet washcloth isn’t all that gross, by comparison
