When the Mother Vanishes: How to Care for Kittens Too Young to Be Weaned

Hearing my cat's three two-week-old kittens crying from under the house, I went outside and brought them in with me. They were obviously very hungry and their mother was no where to be seen. Luckily, I had a guinea pig cage to put them in. The kittens' grandmother was still nursing some older kittens, so we tried to get her to adopt them, but she wanted no part of it. Not knowing what to do, I called the animal emergency clinic.

They told me never to give the milk I drink to kittens because it's too hard on their stomachs. They said that Walmart and most pet stores sell milk replacement for kittens and puppies. And that they make special small bottles to feed them. They also told me something that I had never heard of before--you have to tickle their private parts with a tissue or something to get them to go to the bathroom. They seriously won't go unless this is done. I always did this over the bathroom sink to make it easier.

Milk replacement comes in powdered and liquid form. The powdered milk is far superior because you mix it up as you need it. The liquid form runs out of date, I believe, three days after it is opened. Considering kittens do not drink that much, most of the liquid milk ends up in the trash. The powdered milk is the best option.

Some people will take baby animals from their mothers too early with the idea that they'll simply care for them. This should never be done. Taking care of young kittens isn't as fun as it seems. Feeding tiny kittens so many times a day is hard. Especially if you aren't home all day long. Back when my mom and I were caring for those kittens, she worked second shift and I had two night college classes back to back two nights a week. I had to leave the second class early everyday for three weeks because it seemed too long to let the kittens go without feeding them. I never did tell my teacher the truth about why I had been leaving early. It's also hard caring for them because the kittens don't always want to take the bottle. There were times that I had to force feed one of them because he was so stubborn.

As they got older, the kittens would hold the bottle themselves with their front feet. It was the cutest thing. And after we weaned them off the bottle, we fed them Friskies canned kitten food mixed with the Friskies dry kitten food. We still gave them some of the milk on a saucer for a while.

That was nine and a half years ago that we cared for those kittens. They grew up to be very healthy cats. I still have two of the three of them. The one I had to force feed, we named him Pumpkin because he's orange. He is unusually attached to my mom. It's like he thinks she's his real mom. And the other one, Spunky, he'll stand on his hind legs and hug you with his front legs. Neither one of them acts like any cat I've ever seen. I guess it's true that animals act differently when they're raised by humans. But they have to be cared for properly if they're to grow up to live long, healthy lives.