Transcripts
Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the
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:people and rescues, making a
difference in the lives of animals.
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:Today I am bringing you a special
segment straight from a recent
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:class that I did all about bottle
feeding and fostering kittens.
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:So let's dive in.
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:I'm Dixie.
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:I run the Unwanted Feline Organization.
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:I have been a foster for
probably about 17 years.
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:I primarily do bottle babies.
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:I do all ages, of course, but I
specialize more in bottle babies 'cause
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:I could take 'em to work with me.
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:First we're gonna go over just trying
to determine the age of a kitten.
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:Just in case you find a kitten,
or in case you wanna get
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:involved with helping a kitten.
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:A lot of people on social
media will post 'em.
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:Now, one thing that I do wanna say
about that is if you ever see people
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:posting pictures of bottle kittens on
social media, the first thing, you don't
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:wanna jump in and take 'em right away.
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:You wanna tell 'em they need to
wait for the mom to come back.
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:Because most of the time the mom's just
moving 'em around and give that mom
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:time to come back, and pick 'em up.
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:I say to wait about eight to 10 hours.
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:If it is gonna be a newborn, especially
like with the cord attached, then you
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:definitely don't wanna wait longer than,
I'm gonna say six hours probably max.
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:I.
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:Now if it's in a bad spot, like busy
highway, middle of a sidewalk, that's
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:a little bit different story, bad rain.
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:I know the last ones that were picked
up, they were in a puddle, so they
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:picked 'em up because if they didn't,
they would've most likely drowned.
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:So the newborn kittens
are gonna look pretty bad.
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:Their ears are gonna be folded in.
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:Their eyes are gonna be closed.
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:They're not gonna really
look like a kitten.
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:And so if you're gonna get a kitten
this age, of course, one this age is
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:gonna have to be fed more frequently.
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:And I'll go through that too as
we go on with the presentation.
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:When you have a two week old kitten,
that's gonna be when they're gonna
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:start to walk and their eyes should
be open at that point, or at least
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:starting to open at that point.
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:When you get to a three week old
kitten, they're gonna start moving
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:around pretty good, and you'll notice
that their teeth are gonna come in.
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:That's gonna be when
you're gonna start weaning.
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:By four weeks old, they should have
all of their teeth, and you're gonna
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:notice that they're gonna start running
around and playing with each other.
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:And then by five weeks, they're
almost fully functioning.
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:Now, when they are newborns, between like
one and three weeks, they're not gonna be
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:able to go to the bathroom by themselves.
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:You have to help them with that.
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:So you do stimulate them
to go to the bathroom.
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:I'm gonna show you how to do that too
with my stuffed animal because we could
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:not find bottle babies to bring with us
today, which I'm not complaining about
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:these are gonna be your basic
supplies that you're gonna need
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:if you are fostering for a rescue.
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:For the most part, the rescue is
gonna provide all this to you.
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:If bottle feeding is something that
you think you might be interested
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:in, I would say just get some
of the supplies to have on hand.
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:They're pretty inexpensive, and that way
you have it if an emergency comes up.
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:All right, so first thing,
we're gonna have a bottle.
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:This is gonna be the classic nipple
that comes with these bottles.
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:I absolutely hate these nipples.
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:I use 'em unless I don't
have the other type.
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:Now they don't come with a hole in 'em.
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:So what you're gonna have to do is you
do have to cut a small hole in them.
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:And when you do cut the hole in
them, you also wanna make sure
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:that it's gonna just do a drip out.
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:You don't want it to come pouring out.
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:'cause if it's pouring out, it's gonna
be too much milk coming out and that
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:can actually aspirate the kitten.
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:The nipples that I use are called
a miracle nipple, and you're
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:gonna see it's a lot smaller.
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:You'll see this miracle nipple,
it is made for tiny baby animals.
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:So most of them tend to
take that pretty easily.
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:It does fit on the bottle.
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:What you're gonna do is you would
actually unscrew that bottle and
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:you're gonna remove that other
nipple and put that one in its place.
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:Now, another thing that you could
do is you can use a small syringe.
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:So you could put either of the nipples
on the edge of a small syringe.
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:And this works too.
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:Now, only thing with doing
this is sometimes when they use
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:these syringes, they can easily
suck it out of the syringe.
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:Sometimes they can't, if they can't,
do not push the syringe because
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:you can aspirate 'em . and then
another tool that you can actually
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:use is a small paintbrush like this.
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:So if you have a kitten , especially
a tiny one that's having
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:difficulty with using the the
nipple or sucking on the nipple.
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:'cause some of them
will have that problem.
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:You wanna make sure they're
getting enough fluid.
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:You can actually use a paintbrush.
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:So what you do with the paintbrush is
you would just mix your milk, you're
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:gonna dip the paintbrush in, and then you
just put the paintbrush in their mouth.
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:This paintbrush is a
way more tedious method.
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:You don't wanna rely solely on
this, but this is gonna get them
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:fluid and it's gonna get them the
nutrients that they need to help
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:them till they get to the point where
they're gonna start suckling more.
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:And this is one of the powdered
milks that you can use.
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:. You can also go buy a can.
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:The can is a lot easier.
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:It is also a lot more expensive.
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:So most rescues are gonna just
go ahead and go with the powder.
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:There will be instructions
on it on how to mix it.
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:Most of them are one part
powder to two parts water.
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:Now, when you mix 'em, . You
don't wanna get it too frothy.
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:Sometimes when you mix you,
you'll get kind of clumps in it.
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:So you wanna make sure you break
those clumps up with a spoon or
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:something when you're mixing it.
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:Bottled water's always gonna be the best
you can use tap water, the temperature
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:of the water, we're gonna use warm water
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:You don't wanna use cold water.
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:Another thing, if you don't have
access to this, you find kittens.
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:There are emergency
formulas that you can make.
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:Don't ever use cow's milk though.
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:Cow's milk will make them very sick
'cause they can't digest it properly.
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:Another good thing that you
wanna have on hand too is gonna
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:be Turkey or chicken baby food.
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:you use that for weaning.
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:And also just training them how to eat
in general for them to lick off of your
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:finger when we get to that weaning stage.
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:The other thing that you're gonna
need is some type of heating pad.
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:These are microwavable discs.
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:I get these off of Amazon, you put 'em in
the microwave, it has instructions on the
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:inside of it, depending on your microwave
and the wattage of your microwave.
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:These last for eight hours.
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:These are an absolute lifesaver.
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:These are so much better
than a heating pad.
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:'cause I know now a lot of the heating
pads have an automatic shutoff feature,
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:so I definitely recommend this.
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:And one of the top things that you
wanna do when you have bottle babies
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:is you need to keep them warm.
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:Another thing that you're gonna wanna
have on hand is gonna be karo syrup.
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:So most people do have that at home.
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:'cause you will see, and I'll
go over that a little bit more,
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:you can have a sugar crash.
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:If you have a sugar crash, you take
a little bit of it on your finger,
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:not even like an eraser size amount
and you just rub it on their gums
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:and usually that'll bring them back
if they're having a sugar crash.
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:I'm not gonna say it's a common thing.
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:I've done it several times.
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:But it happens enough that you wanna
make sure you do have karo syrup on hand.
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:Another thing, this would be something
that would be provided by your rescue.
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:It's called propecatlin.
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:And what that is it's a probiotic
and an antidiarrheal medication.
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:And so you wanna make sure
you do have that on hand.
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:If you ever take kittens from a
rescue, ask 'em if they have it,
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:because it's better to have that on
hand to not, then not have it on hand.
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:Another thing is gonna be
for your cleaning supplies.
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:You wanna have paper towels handy,
and you're going to use that to
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:stimulate them to go to the bathroom.
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:All right, so a basic setup.
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:So what I do is I'm gonna use
a carrier like this for mine.
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:This is a pretty big carrier.
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:This would be good for them for up to four
kittens till they're about four weeks old.
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:It gives them room to, to move around.
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:It's big enough so when they
start using a litter box, you can
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:put a little tiny box in there.
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:And I like the top load ones 'cause
it's easier when you go to take 'em out.
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:It's not required.
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:But that's just my preference.
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:So what I would do is I would
take this heating disc you're
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:gonna put some blankets in here.
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:You always wanna make sure that
you do cover the heating pad or the
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:heating disc so it's not too hot.
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:If they get directly on top of it, most
of the time they'll move away from it.
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:That's why you wanna have something where
they have a little bit of room where
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:they can move away from the heat too,
if they wanna move away from the heat.
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:And then, like I said, when
they get a little bit older.
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:You would put just a like
a little tiny shallow box.,
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:and that's what I put in the
back of it for a litter box.
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:Now we'll get into the feeding.
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:You wanna feed 'em like they're gonna
feed off of mom, so you don't wanna
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:flip 'em over like a human baby.
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:This is an absolute no-no.
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:If you flip 'em over like a human baby,
you're gonna end up aspirating them.
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:You wanna make sure that they're upright
where they would be on their belly.
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:Think of how they're gonna
eat if they are on their mama.
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:So when you mix your formula,
you do wanna use warm water.
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:I mix my formula like most people do
Baby formula, when I heat it up, I
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:don't heat mine up in the microwave.
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:A microwave will not heat it up evenly.
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:So if you do heat it in the microwave, you
have to make sure you shake it, you have
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:to give it a lot more time to cool down.
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:So I will actually do a cup of hot
water and I'll put the bottle inside
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:of the hot water until it warms up.
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:And then of course I'm gonna
test it on my wrist to make
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:sure it's not too hot for me.
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:Pretty much what you
do, with a human baby.
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:They're gonna try to put
their paws on your hand.
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:Sometimes they get very frustrated
and they will just be like
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:lashing out like crazy, trying
to find a place for them to rest.
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:So you might wanna get like a rag or
something, wrap that on your hand . Or
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:even wrap them up like a little burrito
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:it's just they get very frustrated
'cause they're looking for their mom to
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:put their hands on and she's not there.
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:As far as the bottle feeding, you're
gonna gently open their mouth.
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:You're gonna stick the nipple in.
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:Some of them will take to it right away.
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:Some of them, it's gonna take a
little bit longer before they realize
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:they can actually suckle on it.
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:So you might wanna do a drop of it to put
the milk on the outside of that nipple
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:so they know what's gonna be there.
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:Here's a trick that I use.
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:I like to like actually close my
fingers around their mouth and it helps
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:them to suckle If they take in too
much milk, they're gonna choke on it.
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:When they choke on it, it's
gonna go into their lungs.
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:That's gonna be the aspiration.
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:It can cause pneumonia.
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:Now, even if you're feeding them in
the correct posture, you're gonna have
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:some kittens that eat really fast.
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:If you have kittens that eat really
fast, you wanna make 'em slow down.
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:So make 'em take it slow, give them
a little bit, pull the bottle out,
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:then give them a little bit more.
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:'cause otherwise, they're going to eat
so fast that they will end up choking.
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:If you do have one that ends up choking
and you'll notice it right away,
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:you'll hear 'em coughing a little bit.
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:You're just gonna take 'em, turn
'em upside down a little bit and
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:just do a gentle tap on their back.
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:Most of the time it has cleared it for me.
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:I've never had a kitten aspirate.
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:So big thing, feed in a normal position.
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:Do not feed upside down
like you would a human baby.
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:If they do start to choke, just gently
tap them on their back as you're, you
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:lay their head upside down a little bit.
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:All right, so the frequency of the
feedings, a newborn kitten that's gonna
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:be up to a week old is gonna require
a feeding every two to three hours.
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:I personally will wake my kittens up
to make sure that they do want to eat.
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:So I'm pretty on top of it.
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:Like for a newborn.
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:For me, in the daytime, I
feed 'em every two hours.
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:Now when it comes to night, I
know it's a pain getting up every
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:two to three hours at night.
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:You can push it closer to the
three hour mark at night, as long
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:as you're getting up in the day
and doing it every two hours.
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:Once they get to two weeks, the
frequency's gonna change a little bit.
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:So at two weeks you're gonna do
it every three to four hours.
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:So two to three weeks,
every three to four hours.
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:When they get to this stage at
night, you can actually sleep like
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:maybe five hours, so you can push it
out an hour, provided that they're
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:eating really well during the day.
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:Now I do keep like a baby monitor
on mine, so if they do cry, I'll
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:let that natural cry, wake me up
and then I'll go see what they need.
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:Three to four weeks is gonna
be every four to five hours.
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:And again, at night when you're looking
at this, if you're feeding them at a
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:regular frequency during the day, you
can really push it out to six hours.
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:So you can actually get some sleep
and then four to five weeks old, if
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:they're still on the bottle only,
it's gonna be five to six hours.
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:If they're not on the bottle,
of course you can just put the
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:food out, offer them the food.
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:You wanna make sure monitor that
they're getting all the food.
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:But at night, at four to five weeks, you
should be able to get like a seven hour
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:sleep provided that they're eating good.
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:Now, of course all of this can
change if they're not feeling well.
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:'cause I just had some six week
old kittens that got sick and I was
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:getting up every two hours in the
middle of the night to feed 'em.
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:So
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:provided that they're healthy,
this schedule is a pretty good
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:schedule that you can go on.
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:We went through mixing the
formula, but I'll go over it again.
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:So again, with the powdered
formula, you wanna make sure you
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:mix it so it's nice and smooth.
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:It does have a tendency to get lumps,
so I use like a spoon to break it.
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:Now, I've heard a lot of people
say, you don't wanna use like
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:a frother or to froth it up.
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:So I've never used that.
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:I'll always just mix it with a spoon.
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:Now another thing that I'm gonna mention
too about the the formula there's a lot
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:of things online that tell you need to
have a different nipple for each kitten..
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:I've never done it.
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:I don't know how anybody does that.
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:They're all together, so if one of them
has something, they're all gonna get
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:it anyway, so it doesn't really matter.
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:Another thing that they say online
is to throw your formula away
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:after every single time you mix it.
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:So if you mix it and you have formula
left over, they're like, throw it away.
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:I don't do that.
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:I'll keep it for up to 24 hours.
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:After a feeding, what I'll do with the
formula that I've mixed up is if I have
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:any left in my bottle, I'll go ahead and
stick it in the refrigerator, take it
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:out, and warm it up in a cup of hot water.
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:When you feed 'em, of course, like I said,
some of them get frustrated with eating.
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:Because they're really hungry
and they're not understanding how
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:to suck it through the bottle.
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:So you do have to have a little bit of
patience with them, especially if you
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:were gonna feed with the paintbrush.
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:This would take a long time.
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:When they're very young a lot of people
freak out over them being constipated.
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:When I was new to bottle feeding, this
was during a hurricane, a long time ago.
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:And I found a kitten.
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:And so we didn't have any power.
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:I'm trying to bottle feed this kitten.
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:Didn't have to worry about
the heating pad because it was
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:like 90 degrees in the house.
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:The kitten didn't wanna go to the
bathroom and she's a little tiny
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:kitten, so we're like one to two weeks
old and I was absolutely freaking out
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:because I'm like, it's been two days.
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:This kitten didn't use the bathroom yet.
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:So I actually went on social media
and this is how I found my vet.
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:And like I was all frantic.
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:I'm like, oh my gosh, I found this kitten.
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:Nobody's open.
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:I'm like, the kitten hasn't
pooped in two to three days.
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:And she's don't worry about it unless
they're crying and their belly's hard.
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:So I have gone with that
since she has told me that.
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:I don't freak out about it.
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:'cause once it starts coming out,
it seems like it doesn't wanna stop.
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:So yeah, that initial poop can sometimes
be a little bit of time and it shouldn't
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:be concerning unless the belly is hard
and they're like very uncomfortable.
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:And you'll know when they're very
uncomfortable because kittens
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:like human babies, they're
gonna cry for a couple reasons.
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:They're gonna cry because they're
hungry, they have to go to
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:the bathroom or they're cold.
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:So for the most part.
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:The kittens really don't cry
unless something's going on.
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:And if you've ruled all three of those
out, then at that point is when you'd
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:wanna say, okay, maybe they're not
feeling well, and so it could be like
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:they're colicky or something like that.
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:So now there is a trick of course for
constipation, where you can put some, like
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:a few drops of olive oil in the bottle.
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:But the problem with that is if you put
too much, then you're gonna get diarrhea,
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:which is gonna be a whole nother thing.
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:And the diarrhea is more life
threatening to them than anything,
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:just 'cause they are so small.
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:You should see them
urinating after every meal.
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:. And a lot of the times, pooping,
it should be a small amount.
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:You will notice too that kittens
do burp after they eat too.
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:So don't be alarmed by that.
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:So a few minutes after you feed
'em, you will notice that they're
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:gonna burp like a human baby
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:So stimulating to go to the bathroom.
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:Kittens cannot go to the
bathroom on their own.
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:You do have to stimulate
them to go to the bathroom.
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:So what you're gonna do is you
can use a warm, wet paper towel
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:and you just wipe their rear end
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:do it until you notice that they do go.
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:You will notice that they
go just give it a few wipes.
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:Usually they'll urinate right away.
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:You might have to go a few more times
to see if they're gonna defecate.
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:They don't always defecate.
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:Like I said, don't get too upset over it.
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:A lot of the times when they do defecate,
they do sound like it's a shock to them.
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:And they'll do this up until they're
probably about six or seven weeks old.
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:They'll go poop and they'll
just start screaming . So don't
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:be alarmed if they do that.
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:It's like the worst thing is
happening to 'em and they all do it.
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:I've never had kittens not do it
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:After every feeding you are gonna do
the stimulation until they're about
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:two to three weeks old, , at two weeks
old, you'll notice that you're gonna
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:have to start changing the bedding in
the carrier a lot because they will
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:start just going on their own now.
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:They're not gonna go look
for a particular place to go.
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:But now the beauty of this is by the time
they're about three weeks old and they're
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:a little bit more mobile, if you stick
a box in there, with some newspaper, you
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:gotta make sure it's a very shallow box.
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:They will start going in that box
on their own, so you don't have to
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:train 'em to use the litter box.
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:Now they will have a lot of accidents, and
even up to the point where they're like
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:six, seven weeks old, they're gonna have
a lot of accidents, but they're babies.
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:It's not fun.
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:It's a lot of laundry.
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:Now we're gonna get into the weaning.
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:I actually find the bottle feeding
part is easier than the weaning part.
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:Okay.
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:'cause some of them are very
stubborn with wanting to learn
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:how to eat, and it is very messy.
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:We call it swimming and cat food.
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:Before the weaning, this is
something that I have always done.
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:And this also helps the
kittens get a little bit more
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:nutrients is, I use baby food.
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:Or the other thing I
used is called a Churu.
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:So it's C-H-U-R-U and it's a cat
treat kind of consistency of baby food.
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:I will take a little bit of
that starting at when they're
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:at like about two weeks old.
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:Not a lot because it's, we're not onto
the weaning phase yet, but we wanna
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:start introducing them to solids.
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:So I will put a little tiny bit
of that into their bottle, shake
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:it up so the bottle's still gonna
be liquidy, but there's a little
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:bit of a food particle in it now.
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:You could do that with a cat food
too, but the problem with doing that
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:with a cat food is it's a little bit
chunkier , so that'll clog the nipple.
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:That's why I tend to use the really
soft foods like that, and I'll mix it
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:in until we get to a full set of teeth.
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:When you get teeth, you're at weaning
age, and you'll notice when you start
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:getting teeth too, because they're gonna
start chomping down on that bottle and
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:they might chomp down on your finger a
little bit and you'll feel those teeth.
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:At that point you're gonna
add a little bit more.
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:I'll do a little tiny bit at two
weeks, and as we get closer to three
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:weeks to that weaning age, I'm adding
more and more into that bottle.
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:And once they hit between three
and four weeks old, you can
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:take a little bit of a gruel.
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:A gruel is equal parts of the food
and the formula, mix it together.
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:, It's not a full liquid, so it's
not gonna flow, but it's still
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:liquidy, if that makes sense.
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:You're gonna take it, put some on
your finger, and put it in their
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:mouth and see how they react to it.
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:So some of them are gonna be
really receptive to it and
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:they're gonna go right after it.
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:And others are gonna be
like, nah, I don't want that.
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:Gimme the bottle.
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:So when you do have the ones that are
receptive to it, you can put it in a dish.
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:I notice a lot of the times if
you put the dish in front of
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:'em, they don't understand how to
position their head to get to it.
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:I'll put it in a shallow dish.
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:I will actually hold the dish
right up to their head, at an
402
:angle so they can easily get to it.
403
:When they start learning, it's coming out
the dish and put the dish on the floor
404
:and then put 'em in front of the dish.
405
:And that's usually how they'll understand,
okay, it's in that dish there, I
406
:gotta put my head down to get to it.
407
:And then that's usually at the
point where we have the swimming
408
:in the cat food, they are gonna get
covered in cat food from head to toe.
409
:It's not fun.
410
:Make sure you put a whole
big thing in newspapers out.
411
:Put the dish there and be
prepared to wipe 'em down.
412
:You're gonna notice that after they eat
the first time that they're gonna actually
413
:shake a little bit after they eat.
414
:'cause it's like a little shock to the
system and it will affect their stool.
415
:So you might see diarrhea because
they're getting used to that.
416
:But , if you're not overfeeding,
it should clear up right away.
417
:So it shouldn't be anything
that's gonna be of concern.
418
:If you're weaning them,
you can the paintbrush
419
:make sure it's new and you haven't
used it, of course, for paint.
420
:This is actually something that
Wildlife Rehabilitators do.
421
:I actually learned this tip
because I bottle fed rats.
422
:This is the tip that I got from
learning how to bottle feed rats.
423
:And the funny thing about that is
actually, like the rats were faster
424
:to take the bottle than kittens were.
425
:I was actually bottle feeding
rats and kittens at the same time.
426
:Any questions before we go on to issues?
427
:How do you know if they are
drinking the bottle too fast?
428
:They just gurgle it down.
429
:When you put the liquid in here, and
if it's going down super fast and
430
:you see a lot of bubbles in here,
you need to make 'em slow down.
431
:You'll notice too, 'cause
they'll start choking.
432
:Once they do it one time,
you know what kitten it is.
433
:So you're like typically what I'll
do is take my time and give 'em
434
:a little bit, pull it back, give
'em a little bit, pull it back.
435
:Another thing too I would like to
mention is there's a whole bunch of
436
:guidelines that are gonna be online
too, about how much that you're
437
:supposed to feed a one week old kitten.
438
:How much you're supposed to
feed a two week old kitten.
439
:I don't really go by that too much.
440
:Okay.
441
:Because every kitten is gonna
be a little bit different.
442
:You wanna make sure that they
are eating, you wanna make sure
443
:that they're gaining weight.
444
:So as long as they're still active
and they're eating and they're
445
:gaining weight, then you're okay.
446
:Okay.
447
:I don't concentrate on the numbers.
448
:I've been doing this such a long time
that, I used to, when I first started out.
449
:It would be like, okay, like a
one week old kitten is supposed to
450
:have this amount every single meal.
451
:And I would be feeding 'em and
I'm like, okay, this kitten
452
:only got half this amount.
453
:And, it would make me start
panicking that, okay, this
454
:kitten isn't getting enough food.
455
:But I found out over the years,
it's a per kitten basis, so as
456
:long as they're getting something,
that's what you want 'em to get.
457
:Now another thing that I do wanna
mention too is when you're in
458
:the weaning stage some of them
are fast, some of them are slow.
459
:So when I offer 'em the gruel,
at that point I will offer them a
460
:little water, very shallow dish.
461
:And I always find that the thing they're
most reluctant to do is drink water.
462
:That seems to take the longest.
463
:So if they're not drinking water,
the only way they are getting their
464
:fluid is actually in their food.
465
:So you wanna make sure that you
make the food nice and soupy so
466
:that they're getting fluid from
the food because they're not, if
467
:otherwise, they will dehydrate.
468
:'cause they're not drinking the water,
they're not taking the bottle from you.
469
:So you just wanna make sure you
keep that food nice and moist.
470
:We'll go through possible issues.
471
:One is gonna be hypothermia, which
is gonna be a low body temperature.
472
:I always keep my kittens on heating pads.
473
:The only time I really see hypothermia is
gonna be if somebody brings me a kitten.
474
:If somebody brings me a kitten,
I've seen 'em before where they're
475
:like very lethargic, unresponsive.
476
:And at that point I do warm 'em up.
477
:If you notice that your kittens are
acting like a little bit lethargic
478
:and they do feel cold, then you
do wanna try to warm 'em up.
479
:So some of the ways that you
can do that, of course you could
480
:put 'em on the heating pad.
481
:We stick 'em on our chest, okay?
482
:Because they get a lot
of heat coming from you.
483
:So we'll actually stick 'em in our shirt
and we'll hold 'em in our shirt like
484
:that and to see how they're responding.
485
:, With the hypothermia, you don't ever
wanna feed a kitten that's cold.
486
:So if they're hypothermic, you don't
wanna feed 'em anything 'cause it can
487
:cause more of a shock to their system.
488
:Hypothermia is one of those things
that they have to go to the vet for.
489
:Okay?
490
:So you're gonna do an emergency measure.
491
:Try to put 'em on a heating
pad to keep 'em warm.
492
:Make sure you flip 'em from one
side to the other to keep 'em warm.
493
:Put 'em on in your chest to
help keep 'em warm and then
494
:you're gonna get 'em to the vet.
495
:'cause hypothermia is bad.
496
:If their temperature drops below a certain
level, they're not gonna come back.
497
:So the other big one, and I find
that this is the biggest one.
498
:I touched on this a little bit
with not drinking water on their
499
:own is gonna be dehydration.
500
:The best way to test for dehydration
is to pull up their skin and see
501
:if their skin kind of stands up.
502
:Now, I know on a baby kitten
it's gonna be hard 'cause their
503
:mom grabs 'em by their scruff.
504
:So if you pull up the scruff, a lot
of the times, even for a hydrated
505
:kitten, I see the scruff staying up
because that's where the mom grabs.
506
:So actually what I do
is I look at the belly.
507
:If the skin looks wrinkly on the
belly and not firm and tight, that's
508
:usually a sign of dehydration.
509
:Another thing is you'll notice when you
go to pick 'em up one day, they might
510
:feel nice and plump and warm and heavy,
and the next time you go to pick 'em
511
:up, they feel like they lost substance.
512
:I guess that's the only
way that I can describe it.
513
:It's like they lost a lot of
weight quickly, but they couldn't
514
:have lost weight that quickly
'cause they've been eating okay.
515
:That's usually gonna be dehydration.
516
:So at that point you
need to get 'em fluids.
517
:You can offer them some
unflavored Pedialyte.
518
:If I suspect dehydration, I will give
'em some unflavored Pedialyte mixed
519
:in with their formula and you can give
them that, but they most likely are
520
:gonna need to get some subq fluids.
521
:So if you're working with a rescue,
then of course your rescue should
522
:be able to help you with that.
523
:If you're not working with a rescue,
then you're gonna definitely wanna
524
:take 'em to the vet for that.
525
:'cause dehydration is like
the worst thing for 'em.
526
:It'll kill him fast.
527
:If you catch it early, it's not as much
of a problem as if you catch it late.
528
:Get yourself a little food
scale and you can weigh 'em.
529
:if you don't see 'em drinking, assume
that they're not drinking water on
530
:their own yet and you wanna make sure
that they're getting it in their food.
531
:The other possible issue
is gonna be a sugar crash.
532
:This is gonna be what you're
gonna have your karo syrup for.
533
:With the sugar crash, you'll
just notice, like one day the
534
:kitten's gonna be absolutely fine.
535
:You're not noticing the dehydration.
536
:If you check, turn it around, doesn't
look like it's dehydrated, but the kitten
537
:is just not wanting to move around.
538
:That's usually gonna be a sugar crash.
539
:It's not gonna hurt to put a little
bit of karo syrup on their gums.
540
:, Just dip your finger in the karo syrup.
541
:Tiny little bit.
542
:It doesn't have to be a lot.
543
:And then you're just gonna open
their mouth and rub it on their gums.
544
:If it's a sugar crash, they're
usually gonna come up it's
545
:like almost instantaneous.
546
:If you do that, you notice that it's not
coming through right away and they're not
547
:becoming more alert, then at that point
you would wanna getting ' em to a vet.
548
:I'm gonna jump over to illness.
549
:Let's say that you you have
the dehydration, you could
550
:have the possible sugar crash.
551
:Either of those two could mean
that there's some kind of illness
552
:going on that you don't see.
553
:So that's why, if you're doing like the
little bit of Pedialyte, you're not seeing
554
:them be more responsive, you do the Karo
syrup, they're not being more responsive,
555
:then at that point you wanna almost
think there's something else going on.
556
:And so it could be some kind of illness.
557
:The other signs of illness is just
gonna be any kind of eye discharge, any
558
:kind of sneezing, anything like that.
559
:If they feel warmer,
they could have a fever.
560
:Usually if they have a fever,
it's gonna make 'em lethargic.
561
:They're not gonna wanna move around.
562
:If you suspect that they are sick, that
is something that you don't wanna wait on.
563
:you would wanna getting ' em to a vet.
564
:They're very delicate at this age,
and they will deteriorate quickly
565
:if you don't act right away.
566
:Normally, I find if you act right away,
you can get 'em through a lot of things.
567
:But if you don't act right away,
you'll get to that kind of point
568
:of no return, and another sign, of
course, is gonna be a loss of appetite.
569
:Now this is gonna be my
favorite topic diarrhea.
570
:The thing that is gonna un-alive your
kitten the fastest is gonna be diarrhea.
571
:'Cause it will lead to dehydration.
572
:'Cause they're essentially gonna
have more fluid coming out of
573
:them than is going in them.
574
:You wanna be very vigilant about it, and
you wanna try to correct the loose stool.
575
:So that's where you would have
that pro-pectalin come in and also,
576
:you're gonna notice the frequency.
577
:If they're going, three, four
times a day, it's loose stool.
578
:It's not as concerning if
they're nonstop with it.
579
:If it's more frequent than that,
and you go to pick 'em up to feed
580
:'em, and you notice that there's
diarrhea in there, then that's gonna
581
:be a sign of a serious problem.
582
:You don't wanna wait.
583
:You wanna, give 'em something like
pro-pectalin to try to harden it up.
584
:And then also you're gonna have to
probably think about giving them
585
:fluids because for the most part,
if they have diarrhea, they are
586
:gonna be dehydrated, even if they
only have it for a short time.
587
:So in that case, what I'll do is I will
add usually a little bit of Pedialyte
588
:to the formula or to the gruel.
589
:And a lot of these things when they get
older and they are weaned and they're
590
:eating regular food, these are also
things that you're gonna look out for.
591
:With the diarrhea some
things that are gonna.
592
:help diarrhea till you can
either get to a vet contact the
593
:rescue that you're working with.
594
:So again, I said pro-pectalin.
595
:It's like a probiotic and then there's
something in there that's gonna
596
:help to bind everything together.
597
:So it does help to harden things.
598
:Anytime I notice my stool's a little bit
too loose and watery, I do pro-pectalin
599
:'cause it's not gonna hurt 'em.
600
:The other thing that you can do is
you can actually use some canned
601
:pumpkin and add a little bit of
that to the food or to the bottle.
602
:I use the canned pumpkin a little
bit more when they're older.
603
:You can use it when they're bottle
feeding but I just find it a little
604
:bit easier when they're actually eating
and wean to give them the pumpkin.
605
:So what I tend to use
is more starch water.
606
:You can make rice starch water,
you can use pasta, starch water.
607
:So basically what you're doing
is you're gonna boil your starch.
608
:So either your potatoes,
your rice, or your noodles.
609
:It's gonna be the water that's gonna come
off of the top when you're boiling it.
610
:So just let a little bit of it boil down.
611
:You want that water up on the top,
collect that water, let it cool down, and
612
:then you can mix that into the bottle.
613
:And the starch is gonna help to bind.
614
:Of course, you don't wanna give
it to 'em once it's coming fresh
615
:off as it's boiling and super hot.
616
:You want it to be
lukewarm and cooled down.
617
:Everybody has some kind of starch at
home so they can make starch water.
618
:And it's one thing that really does
help to bind everything, to just
619
:help get things a little bit thicker.
620
:And you're not losing as much
water with the kittens till
621
:you can get 'em to the vet.
622
:But first sign of diarrhea,
monitor it very closely.
623
:'cause that's one thing
that'll wipe 'em out very fast.
624
:In addition to that is gonna be
the color and the consistency.
625
:Okay.
626
:And so when I'm talking about
consistency too, and a little bit
627
:of diarrhea, if it looks like melted
ice cream and a dark brown color,
628
:, that's usually them
getting used to the food.
629
:Keep an eye on it still.
630
:Any other color is gonna be concerning.
631
:So now one thing I do wanna mention is
when there are very little say a week
632
:old, their poop is gonna look like
mustard, like again, newborn babies.
633
:So it'll look like mustard.
634
:And then you'll notice the
color changes to brown.
635
:That's normal.
636
:If it is bright yellow, that is a sign
that they need to get to the vet asap.
637
:Bright yellow poop and mucousy poop is
usually gonna indicate parasites that are
638
:gonna wipe through your litter very fast.
639
:Everybody in the litter is gonna get it.
640
:It is something that can be taken care
of and they can be dewormed for this.
641
:But you need to get them to the vet asap.
642
:You cannot wait on this.
643
:Again, if you notice in a lot
of mucus bright yellow, and when
644
:I say bright yellow, it almost
resembles like a neon yellow.
645
:And it's gonna smell atrocious.
646
:But once you see that, they absolutely
100% have to get to the vet.
647
:They usually will have vomiting
associated with this too.
648
:But anytime you see vomiting and
diarrhea together, do not wait vet visit.
649
:So call the rescue, call whoever
you're with and tell 'em you
650
:need to get to the vet right away
because this is what's going on.
651
:You've got vomiting and diarrhea.
652
:Take a picture of the
poop and send it to them.
653
:When you're in the rescue world,
it's a totally normal thing.
654
:First thing you're gonna do
if you're worried about it,
655
:take a picture of the poop.
656
:. You always want rolls.
657
:, Concerning poop is gonna be
bright yellow poop and green
658
:poop, those are gonna be problems.
659
:Foul smelling is gonna be a problem.
660
:We've covered the watery
is gonna be a problem.
661
:Okay.
662
:If it's very hard pellet and you'll
notice the difference between
663
:that and a roll, that's usually
gonna be a constipation problem.
664
:Of course blood in the poop is a problem.
665
:If you are feeding them too much,
you're gonna notice they're gonna
666
:get a little bit of diarrhea.
667
:Okay, so you want 'em to eat, but
if they're eating to the point
668
:where they're having diarrhea from
eating too much, and usually that's
669
:gonna be more of a dark brown poop.
670
:It's not gonna be really mucusy.
671
:It's just gonna be a lot of dark
brown, loose melted ice cream poop.
672
:That means you usually are feeding
them a little bit too much.
673
:So just try to cut back on
the food a little bit too.
674
:The other thing is gonna be fleas.
675
:And this will go from the time too,
that , you pick up the kittens, or
676
:if you find the kittens, take 'em
off of social media or whatever.
677
:If you see a few fleas.
678
:Try to pick 'em off with a flea comb.
679
:. Don't get overly concerned
about a few fleas until you
680
:can give 'em like a flea med.
681
:You don't give them any topicals
until they're a lot older.
682
:But if you pick up a kitten that's
younger than this and you notice
683
:that they are loaded with fleas the
fleas can actually cause them to
684
:have anemia and it can kill them.
685
:So at that point you wanna make sure
that you get the fleas off of 'em.
686
:Don't use any kind of flea med.
687
:Don't use any kind of flea spray.
688
:The easiest and best thing to do is
gonna be to use like dish soap . I use
689
:blue dawn or you can use baby shampoo.
690
:Do not use power wash or any
other kind of detergents.
691
:When you wash the kittens, you always
start at the head first and then go down
692
:and once they're done with their bath,
you wanna make sure that you dry them
693
:very quickly because they can chill.
694
:I find a lot of people are too
quick to give a bath sometimes.
695
:I don't like washing
the little tiny babies.
696
:It's not worth risking chilling them when
they can't regulate their temperature.
697
:I think we covered most everything.
698
:So now we're up to the point
where they're gonna be weaned.
699
:So once they are fully weaned and you
notice that they're drinking water and
700
:they're not wanting a bottle anymore,
they're eating out the dish pretty good.
701
:At that point, what I will do is
I'll at offer 'em a canned food.
702
:So I use canned kitten formula.
703
:Make sure that they're eating everything.
704
:Usually they'll go right for it.
705
:The other thing that you can
do is offer them a dry formula.
706
:When first introducing them to like a
dry food, I will moisten it a little bit
707
:another thing I'm gonna
show you is this setup here.
708
:So most rescues have these.
709
:It's a just a little popup thing.
710
:This one is a smaller one.
711
:I'll keep my kittens up to four
kittens will fit in this until
712
:they're about four weeks old.
713
:I do let 'em out for exercise to play.
714
:And then what I'll do is I'll eventually
move them out to one of these.
715
:I could put a litter box in here.
716
:There's enough room in there
for some food and water.
717
:. There are bigger ones.
718
:Most rescues are gonna have those.
719
:They're portable, they pop up.
720
:I'll line it with some pee pads, put
a litter box in there, and when I put
721
:the litter box in there another thing,
kittens like to try to eat litter.
722
:. Anything they can put in their mouth.
723
:They put in their mouth.
724
:So once my kittens start going in the
box, so at three weeks I'll just put a
725
:newspaper in there, say by four weeks
I'll start adding litter in there.
726
:I'll use either non clumping
clay litter, or I'll use one
727
:of those wood pellet litters
728
:like Catalyst Natural Litter I don't
use anything clumping because if
729
:they eat it, it can clump in their
belly and cause 'em some problems.
730
:So I won't offer them any kind of
like clumping litter and usually until
731
:they're about like seven weeks old.
732
:And you can put 'em in this comfortably.
733
:So as far as leaving food and water, so
if you work, your kittens should be fine.
734
:You feed 'em in the morning
before you go to work.
735
:If they're like five weeks old leave
some dry food out for them so they can
736
:eat it all day long and a bowl of water.
737
:And then they should be
fine till you come home.
738
:They're good to go.
739
:They all should be drinking water.
740
:They should be self-sufficient.
741
:Now I say self-sufficient, but
you still have to monitor 'em.
742
:. Any kind of signs where you
see that they're acting off,
743
:it's gonna be a concern.
744
:It doesn't matter how old a
kitten is, they can go downhill
745
:very fast if they get sick.
746
:So it's better to just
be proactive about it.
747
:If you think something's wrong,
you can call and ask somebody.
748
:. It could be nothing, but it also could
be something so it's not worth risking it
749
:'cause they do go downhill very quickly.
750
:at Four weeks it's usually a pound.
751
:Of course, this is like a generalization.
752
:Usually it's gonna be a pound a month.
753
:I.
754
:So we say eight weeks are
gonna be two pounds their time
755
:to go get spayed neutered.
756
:Of course it's gonna
be a per kitten basis.
757
:You're gonna have some that are gonna
be a little bit chunkier than others,
758
:and you're gonna have some that
aren't as big as others, and they're
759
:just gonna be on a smaller side.
760
:So it's just a per litter,
a per kitten basis.
761
:So things that you wanna do.
762
:So if you find them, and most
rescues too would be willing to
763
:help you if you do find a kitten.
764
:If you're not working with a rescue
or taking kittens from a rescue
765
:your kittens need to be dewormed.
766
:You can deworm 'em as early as four weeks.
767
:That's a must..
768
:They all have worms.
769
:Again, that's something either the
rescue work you're working with or your
770
:vet can walk you through with that.
771
:The vaccines some rescues are gonna
do it as a early as four weeks.
772
:I know other vets are gonna recommend six.
773
:My vet is more on the the
scale of doing it at six weeks.
774
:Again, it's gonna depend, but
that's gonna be something that
775
:they're gonna need as well.
776
:So you're gonna wanna get 'em
vaccinated and the deworming is a must.
777
:And then of course the definite
is gonna be spay neuter.
778
:And when you get 'em done early, they
don't know anything has been done.
779
:So I like getting them in
when they're two pounds.
780
:If you're doing bottle babies, just
remember sometimes they're in a in
781
:a bad place, people pick 'em up.
782
:That's how we get 'em.
783
:Other times, the moms
abandon them for a reason.
784
:. So don't beat yourself up over it.
785
:If you take them, you're giving
them a chance that they didn't have.
786
:Sometimes they don't make
it You're giving them love.
787
:So that is something that they would
not have had the opportunity to get
788
:if you did not step up and help 'em.
789
:So don't beat yourself up over it.
790
:Don't say I did something wrong
'cause you didn't do anything wrong.
791
:If anything you stepped up to help 'em.
792
:Do you keep separate from your cats?
793
:You wanna keep 'em separated
for a isolation, quarantine.
794
:'Cause when you come in, you don't
know if they could have something.
795
:If you keep 'em isolated for
the first couple of weeks?
796
:You should be okay.
797
:As long as you're washing your hands.
798
:They're not in direct contact with
other cats . I have cats Most rescue
799
:people have cats and we actually don't
even think about it, I have my separate
800
:little kitten room that I keep 'em in.
801
:Once they're vaccinated, I'll be
like, Hey, look at the other cats.
802
:Come introduce 'em to the other cats.
803
:But I don't stress out about it.
804
:If this is gonna be the first time
you're bringing kittens in, you wanna
805
:take it slow with your cat anyway
'cause your cat might get a little POed.
806
:I did not touch on this and this
is an important thing to know.
807
:So if you have a bottle kitten, and it's
a single kitten, you really wanna put
808
:that kitten with another kitten by the
time it reaches five weeks old, because
809
:otherwise it's not learning proper
kitten behavior from another kitten.
810
:They learn how to bite and
they learn what is too much by
811
:playing with another kitten.
812
:So a lot of the times when you
have kittens that have a behavioral
813
:issue, it's gonna be a single
kitten that was raised by itself.
814
:You wanna have it with another
kitten up until it's about, seven,
815
:eight weeks old, ready for adoption.
816
:Because otherwise you're gonna
have a little biter on your hand.
817
:If you do have a singleton, put a
stuffed animal in there with them,
818
:but it is best to get them a friend
because you want 'em to learn how
819
:to bite another kitten and not you.
820
:Now if they do start biting you,
usually you can do a quick ow you
821
:exaggerate it, make it very loud, and
sometimes it helps them, but not always.
822
:So it's always best to have 'em
raised together with another kitten.
823
:If you would like to support more
life-saving work like this, every single
824
:dollar helps our animals directly.
825
:You can find a link to
donate in our show notes.
826
:Thanks for listening.
827
:And that's all the time we
have for today's episode.
828
:If you are in animal rescue or if you
know someone that has a story that
829
:should be told, please contact us.
830
:We would love to have
you or them on the show.
831
:Thanks for listening, and please
join us next week as we continue to
832
:explore the world of animal rescue.
