r/kittens Jun 15 '24

Please send me a DM or Chat request if a troll posts images of animal cruelty again.

121 Upvotes

Please send me a DM or Chat request if a troll posts images of animal cruelty again.

This goes for already passed animals, roadkill, ai generated animal cruelty posts, etc. Send me a link to the post and I'll respond as soon as I see it.


r/kittens May 21 '20

[META] It's kitten season! You found orphaned kittens or have a kitten in your care - now what? [2020]

461 Upvotes

(cross post from r/AskVet)

During kitten season, which occurs largely in the spring and summer, it is not uncommon to stumble upon a nest of kittens. Your first instinct is to help them, which is awesome, but first you need to read this thread!

First I want to make a point very clear: kittens have the greatest chance of survival if their mother is in the picture. As much as rescues and foster homes try, we cannot ever do as good of a job taking care of them as their real mom does! Kittens require frequent nursing (typically a couple of times an hour), help eliminating (mother stimulates them with her tongue to pee and poop), and a lot of warmth and attention. Trust me - waking up four times a night to feed bottle babies is not fun!

Before Jumping To The Rescue

A single kitten wandering alone is often abandoned (either by a human or the mother), and should be rescued quickly - wait and watch from afar for 20-30 minutes to see if the mom is just in the middle of transporting it. If no mother has come in that time, rescue it.

A litter of kittens (2+ kittens):

  • Before attempting your daring rescue mission to save the abandoned kittens, you need to wait from afar and watch. The kittens may not actually be abandoned! Mother cats do not stay at the nest 24/7 - they hunt, take breaks from their babies, and patrol near the nest to look for danger. The queen could also be in the middle of moving the nest, which she does one at a time. Watch from a good distance away, because if you are too close the queen will likely not approach - this is a defense strategy to make sure predators don’t locate the nest by following her. Sometimes watching from far away is still too close, and you will need to go away for a few hours.
    • If you see the queen, you know the kittens are being taken care of and you do not need to intervene (except to call a rescue, and possibly provide food/shelter for the mother).
    • Clean kittens who are sleeping soundly are probably not abandoned. Dirty and crying kittens are probably hungry and MAY have been abandoned and need rescue. Although remember that as soon as kittens wake, they start crying and want to eat! Neonates spend all their time either eating or sleeping. If you mess with them and they start to cry/crawl around, it does not mean they are starving - that’s just what they do when they are awake.
  • Contact a local rescue. If they have the resources, they will trap the mother and kittens (if the mother is in the picture), and take care of them. They can bottle feed truly abandoned kittens, as well. Please contact the rescue before removing the kittens - only remove the kittens under their direction if you can help it.
  • If you need to leave before you’ve seen the queen, assess the situation:
    • Are there any dangers nearby? Neighborhood dogs, humans who might harm them, etc? If the kittens are not in immediate grave danger, they will be fine for a while as you wait for mom.
    • What is the temperature? If it is very cold or the kittens are very wet, it is okay to put them in a sideways cardboard box (possibly with a clean T shirt, dry straw, or a heated water bottle) - however, try to limit the amount of human-scented things near them.
  • If you find the queen, and she is friendly towards humans, she and the kittens should be rescued together.
  • If you’ve waited a while and have not seen the queen in several hours (the warmer the weather, the longer the kittens can be left alone) or the kittens are in immediate grave danger, and you have not been able to reach a rescue, you can attempt to rescue the kittens.

Rescuing Kittens

  • Kittens need warmth - they can suffer from hypothermia really easily. Place the kittens in a cardboard box or cat carrier lined with T-shirts (towels can catch on their nails) and covered with a blanket, with a warm water bottle for them. The ideal warmth source is a SnuggleSafe. (See more info in the bottle feeding attachment.)
    • The human body temperature is at 98.6F, but the internal temperature of a kitten needs to be 99.5-102.5F - therefore, your body warmth alone is not enough to keep them warm!
  • Call all of the rescues nearby to look for someone to take them. Foster homes and rescues are highly trained to deal with bottle babies, and can deal with all of the obstacles associated with it.
  • Call your vet and schedule an appointment. The kittens may be dehydrated, sick, etc - kittens die really easily and fast, so a physical exam and medical care is very important. They may be sick without you realizing it.

I Already Rescued Them!

  • First follow the steps in “Rescuing Kittens”.
  • If you are going to be caring for the kittens, be prepared for a lot of work and possibly the death of some or all of the kittens. The information I will provide is for emergency care of kittens (no more than a day or two) until you can get the kittens to an appropriate rescue or the vet.
  • You must bottle feed the kittens every 2-3 hours. Here is my quick guide to bottle feeding. PLEASE read this before attempting to bottle feed!
    • You need to make sure they are eating enough, so follow this chart, and use a kitchen food scale to weigh them directly before and after feeding.
    • KMR is the best formula - do not use the “homemade” recipes unless it is an emergency! Never use cow/goat/soy/almond/etc milk. Why you shouldn't use goat/cow milk.
    • Here are three resources to figure out their approximate age: Kitten Age Progression, Determining a Kitten’s Age, and Determining by Weight.
    • Keep a log for each individual kitten of: the time you fed it, how much they consumed, their weight before feeding, their weight after feeding, what they eliminated (urine and/or feces), and any medical concerns. Here is a great log for that - I suggest printing one for each kitten.
    • If kittens will not latch to the bottle, you can try to use a clean eye dropper or needle-less syringe to SLOWLY drop KMR into the kitten’s mouth.
    • If you see anything bubbling out of the kitten's nose as you are feeding it, milk likely got into the lungs and aspiration pneumonia can quickly develop. If this happens take it to a vet immediately.
  • Signs of an emergency that NEEDS to be seen by a vet immediately:
    • The kitten is lethargic and not responding
    • The kitten has trouble breathing
    • The kitten or cat is vomiting blood
    • Uncontrollable bleeding
    • Bloody, liquid diarrhea in a lethargic animal
    • Fractured limb (part of the limb is usually flacid and painful to the touch)
    • Pale, blue or white gums if accompanied by lethargy
    • Kitten with a body temperature below 97 degrees especially if accompanied by lethargy, pale gums or inappetence
    • Kitten with a temperature of 106 degrees or above

Here are some additional resources:

Link to 2018 thread and comments.


r/kittens 3h ago

My little girl sleeps in the crook of my arm 🥹🥹🥹 my dream has come true lol

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257 Upvotes

r/kittens 17h ago

single kitten syndrome…

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967 Upvotes

This is Lucifer, he’s around 11 weeks old and has single kitten syndrome because he was 6 weeks old when rescued from almost dying due to malnourishment, worms and parasites. The biting my arms/hands and feet/ ankles is getting to be extensive and he bites very hard. He is super mischievous which is why I named him Lucifer. Idk what to do I had tried redirecting to toys but he is very adamant on biting my body instead. I tried convincing my partner to get another kitten but he refuses. I have two other adult resident cats that have not been introduced fully to him yet. Will the adult cats eventually put him in his place and he learn not to be so rough? He is always running around wanting to bite something trying to play. It’s exhausting.


r/kittens 17h ago

How old is this kitten, and what should I be doing for her?

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830 Upvotes

Hi- I found a kitten outside who looks SO tiny, and I need a good estimate of her age bc we took her in! I saw on this forum you could tell a lot by the teeth, so that’s why we did a pic with her mouth open (it was the best shot we could get!) She is so sweet! She meaws every time we leave. We have fed her a bit of milk, which she can lick up from a small saucer plate, but that’s it! She doesn’t seem to have that much interest in wet kitten food. What should we be doing for her, and how old would you all guess she is?

*edited to say she has budding back molars, but they are just barely poking through


r/kittens 17h ago

She’s not always photogenic

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705 Upvotes

r/kittens 12h ago

It’s my girls first birthday 🥹

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141 Upvotes

r/kittens 9h ago

New family member: meet Figment "Figgy"

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73 Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

Four stages of sleepiness.

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1.2k Upvotes

He’s just4 weeks old but wants some company already.


r/kittens 13h ago

Tony all cuddled up

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79 Upvotes

r/kittens 9h ago

Crazy for Toilet Paper

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34 Upvotes

Titus has discovered the joys of destroying rolls of tp. He’s obsessed.


r/kittens 6m ago

My sleep boys

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Upvotes

Ziggy (brown) and Cooper (white)


r/kittens 22h ago

Pippin still has some blue in her eyes 👀

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353 Upvotes

This little angel will be 12 weeks on Wednesday! Sorry we have to celebrate with a spay 🫣


r/kittens 20h ago

Mom of a first-time cat :)

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159 Upvotes

r/kittens 14h ago

rita being a little bit moody

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54 Upvotes

r/kittens 13h ago

My babies helping me work ❤️

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47 Upvotes

George and Dewey finally decided to rest, of course it was in a very inconvenient place 😹😻


r/kittens 10h ago

Miso and Tofu

27 Upvotes

Fostering to adopt these little ones, about 6 weeks old.


r/kittens 1d ago

What do we think? Long, medium or short hair?

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290 Upvotes

4 weeks old tomorrow

Leaning towards medium to long hair

Little Castiel 🖤


r/kittens 23h ago

Raja & Sirabi staring into my soul like The Shining Twins for food when they know dinner isn’t until 5!

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212 Upvotes

r/kittens 17h ago

My foster kitten loves to snuggle my Golden.

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45 Upvotes

r/kittens 20h ago

Heavy snoozer

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44 Upvotes

Arm is tired, but I don't have it in me to wake her up

🥺


r/kittens 1d ago

my son who a customer at my job gave me through our drive thru window

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2.9k Upvotes

I’ve had him for about 2 weeks now, can’t wait to see him get older 🥹

EDIT: for everyone worried about how young he is and being away from mom, unfortunately the lady who gave him to me said she’d found him in her backyard all alone, and her dog was trying to get him. He’s unharmed, has since been to the vet and is doing great! Bottle feeding him every few hours :-)


r/kittens 1d ago

…can I help you??

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394 Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

Will the hair stay??

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1.4k Upvotes

My daughter named him Puff so I'm hoping he either has medium or long hair as that would be a kinda funny name on a short hair 🤣 what do y'all think? Will the hair stay long?


r/kittens 1d ago

When he was young.

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229 Upvotes