Raising Kittens Without the Mother

Years ago a friend came to the door for help. Apparently their cat had not come home for two days and left them with a litter of kittens that had not eaten for that period of time. I went down to their home and found they had a regular baby bottle which of course, they could not feed them with.

The kittens were only two weeks old and from that point I really did not feel they would survive since they had not eaten for so long. They were so tiny with their eyes still closed.

I am not a vet but always have been the one that would try to save any animal or bring it home. I offered to take them and try to do whatever I could telling the family my thoughts about their survival.

I did have an eye dropper at home so I began the adventure with my two children trying to save these four kittens. It was late at night so I tried gave them warmed milk and did what I could to get some nourishment into these little babies.

The next morning I called the Humane Society and asked for any information they could give me. They were very helpful. There were special formulas for baby cats and dogs. That turned out to be very expensive so I used regular baby formula every two to three hours. Believe it or not that was cheaper at the time.

I then found out I had to make these babies go to the bathroom because that is what the mother did by licking them. It helped them go plus kept their bedding area clean. We took cotton balls, dampened them and wiped them every so often. It really worked.

For about two weeks we used the eye droppers and they ate very well. They also grew and their eyes soon opened. We were becoming quite attached to these kittens and they were so lovable.

As time went on their owners and we looked for homes for them. They were easy enough to find homes for. The runt which we had nicknamed Teeny was very small. They all survived though and Teeny worked her way into our hearts a little deeper than the others.

Teeny lived to be eighteen years old. She and I had a special bond. As she aged i could tell her end would soon be close. She just started showing the signs of giving up and laying around. One night I went to bed and could not go to sleep. Something kept at me so I got back up and went downstairs.

Teeny was laying on the couch looking at me so I went over and sat on the floor beside her. I cuddled her and she looked at me and meowed. She was not purring though. She was letting go. I held her, talked to her for awhile. She'd meow once in awhile. I finally said to her just let go, your mommy loves you. She did, as soon as I said that. She died in my arms and my heart broke. I held her and cried for quite awhile. She gave so much precious love and thank God I was there with her at the end.

I had her for eighteen years, a lifetime. It was definitely an experience for me and my children. They learned the responsibilities of taking of something totally Dependant on them. It also became a family project for which turned out very well. an adventure that gave us a lifetime of love.