4-- Pawsitively Pets-- June
News You Can Use
What To Do If You Find A Kitten Outside by Cheyenne Pratt, Technician, Calico Creek Veterinary Clinic
Finding random kittens outside during kitten season is common, but it doesn’ t necessarily mean they’ ve been abandoned. Mother cats will leave their babies temporarily to find food. If you come across clean, healthy looking kittens in a safe spot, the mother is most likely still caring for them. Don’ t move them unless they are in danger, but if they are, relocate them to a safer area close by so the mother can find them. If the kittens are thin, dirty, injured, cold, or lethargic, then they probably need your help.
Separating nursing kittens from their mother can have negative effects on both of them. Kittens get vital nutrition from their mother’ s milk and if they are taken while still nursing, they are at greater risk for illness. The mother can develop mastitis, a painful infection of the mammary glands that requires antibiotics. Monitor kittens from a distance to see if the mother returns and if she does, let her care for them. If she is feral, it’ s best to leave her and the kittens outside, as long as they are safe. Check into a trap / neuter / release program for when the kittens are old enough. If the mother cat is friendly, put her and the kittens in a quiet room of your home until the babies can be weaned. If you’ ve watched the kittens for several hours and the mother hasn’ t returned, help them or reach out to someone who can.
Caring for young kittens is a lot of work! They need to be kept warm and should only be fed if their body temperature is 100-102 degrees. During their first week of life, kittens need to eat every 2 hours to prevent dangerous drops in blood sugar. After the first week, it’ s every 4 hours until 3 weeks old, then every 6 hours. Kittens need to be bottle fed formula( never cow’ s milk), warmed to 100 degrees. If it’ s too warm they may overeat, but if it’ s too cold, they may refuse it. Wean at 4 weeks old by mixing formula with canned kitten food. They can start eating dry kitten food at 6 weeks. Kittens younger than 4 weeks old need to be stimulated to urinate and defecate before and after feeding. Stimulate by gently rubbing a warm cotton ball over the kitten’ s perianal area. A veterinarian can determine a kitten’ s age but there are things you can check, too. Their age usually corresponds with their weight, which is about one pound per month. If you find a kitten with eyes closed and the umbilical cord attached, it’ s only a couple of days old. If the eyes are closed but no umbilical cord, it’ s about a week old. A 2 week old will have its eyes open and can wobble around. At 3 weeks, the incisor teeth come out, then the canine teeth at 4 weeks. The kittens will run and play at 5 weeks old, and will have all of their baby teeth by 6 weeks.
There are hundreds of thousands of kittens born outside every year in just the U. S. Nearly 80 % of them do not make it to adulthood. Ones who do face constant struggles living outdoors. Keeping unaltered pets indoors, spaying / neutering, and TNR programs all help reduce the outdoor cat population and less cats will suffer.
4-- Pawsitively Pets-- June
Around The Hydrant:
News You Can Use
Recalls:
Albright’ s Raw Pet Food of Indiana: Voluntarily recalling one lot of its Chicken Recipe for Dogs Complete and Balanced frozen one pound bricks, due to potential contamination with Salmonella. Info: 866 729-4738.( 5 / 6 / 26)
Elite Treats of Boca Raton, Florida: Recalling a single lot of Elite Treats Chicken Chips for Dogs( 6-ounce bags), due to potential contamination with Salmonella. Info: 561-901-5310.( 2 / 24 / 26)
Gold Star Distribution of Minnesota: Issued a voluntary recall of various brands of pet foods, due to potential contamination, including Salmonella. For complete list- dogadvisor. com. Info: 612-617- 9800.( 12 / 26 / 25)
Consumer Supply Distributing, LLC of Iowa: Recalling Country Vet & Heartland Harvest Dog Biscuits for possible Salmonella contamination. Info: 712-202-5609.( 12 / 24 / 25)
Fromm Family Foods of Wisconsin: Recalling one lot of its Bonnihill Farms BeefiBowls Beef Recipe frozen dog food, due to potential plastic contamination. Info: 1-800-325-6331.( 12 / 3 / 25)
Raw Bistro Pet Fare of Cannon Falls, Minnesota: Recalling select lots of its Grass-Fed Beef Entrée frozen dog food, because of possible contamination with Salmonella. Info: 507-291-3153.( 10 / 10 / 25)
Source: dogfoodadvisor. com, amva. org
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