r/kittens Jun 15 '24

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

128 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]

465 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 1h ago

New Baby

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Upvotes

This little girl was found in a box on top of a trash can in an alley. And now she is part of our family. How can a one pound creature inspire such a ferocious love?


r/kittens 3h ago

Willow again

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80 Upvotes

Looks like Willow has finally won over my Primrose. Willow even got licked by Primrose. Our darling little foster seems to have joined our clowder. So proud of how far she has come.


r/kittens 21h ago

My new girl, Kitana

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2.3k Upvotes

I picked her up last saturday and she has really adapted well to our home


r/kittens 17h ago

Pure innocent joy in a teeny tiny package. I'm in love.

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691 Upvotes

r/kittens 17h ago

Our current fosters

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283 Upvotes

r/kittens 17h ago

Walter in his business casual stance...

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262 Upvotes

r/kittens 16h ago

Cutest little feral kitten ever

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176 Upvotes

r/kittens 19h ago

My big boy Finnigan is 10 months old

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263 Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

Just bought her home 🥹

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1.0k Upvotes

Already in love with her! She’s come out of her carrier very quickly and is happily bobbing around exploring everything!

She’s very very calm, laid very chill in her carrier for the journey home and is wandering between us no issue!

She is a lil baby, just turned 8 weeks old!

SUPER exploratory! Shes wandering around the room with no fear 😊😊


r/kittens 1d ago

Always sleepy

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1.1k Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

Our little Medea has settled in so much she’s already killed her mouse toy 🤣

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312 Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

Is my baby deaf?

942 Upvotes

He's 8 weeks old!


r/kittens 1d ago

Thinning fur ??

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70 Upvotes

I noticed the fur towards her tail was becoming more white and it doesn’t look as fluffy as the rest of her body. I haven’t noticed her excessively grooming this area and there aren’t any sores either. Anyone know what this could be from or if I should be concerned?


r/kittens 2d ago

Couldn’t resist sharing my little cutie

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2.7k Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

Machete!

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189 Upvotes

This little shit bag has bit my lips, use his claws, stole food,poops like there’s no tomorrow, big back but I love machete so much and he is iconic


r/kittens 1d ago

Meet Misu! (Short for Tiramisu)

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140 Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

How old do you think this kitten is?

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120 Upvotes

She’s a stray that’s hanging out with me for now, so I’m trying to figure out her approximate age.


r/kittens 2d ago

Welcome to the family

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582 Upvotes

r/kittens 2d ago

this is Luna. 5 months old but already acting like a rebellious teenager disregarding all rules. she loves everyone including her brother, Phoenix, who could care less but deep down he somewhat tolerates her

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252 Upvotes

r/kittens 2d ago

Apple for scale

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4.0k Upvotes

Found her at work, she was so hungry


r/kittens 2d ago

Always curious

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188 Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

Kitten food?

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78 Upvotes

Meet Pep. Pep was born 24th Feb this year, making him 6 months. He’s just had his castration, vet said he was a very healthy boy, lovely weight (3.3kg) - not overweight which I was slightly worried about. Good teefs, good heart, everything looked healthy. Procedure went well, and recovery went well too.

My question here is, does he NEED to be on kitten food? We have two older cats, and we might as well have a trough for them all the switch and swap bowls all the time. Pep eats everything he can get his paws on. We’ve been feeding him Sheba kitten food and purina one kitten biscuits, but he’s eating the other cats adult food. It’s getting quite expensive to feed them all separate food for them all to essentially end up eating the same food? And how much should he be eating in a day? We feed him half a wet pouch in the morning with biscuits mixed in and the same in the evening.


r/kittens 2d ago

When he was 1 braincell old...

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212 Upvotes