My First New-born Kittens Nursery Experience
by
Aaronn Avit Ajeng
- September 02, 2017
What
will you do if one day you found some new-born kittens at the back of your
house, without their mother? Will you take them home and nurse them, or leave
them?
The
first thing that you might need to observe is whether their mother is around or
away from them, as she might have gone somewhere temporarily. Cats are very
protective of their youngs and they will always be around them. The only way
you can tell that their mother has left her kittens is by looking at the
condition of the kittens. They normally will be cold and look dirty as no one
cleans them. New-born kittens rely on their mother’s body heat to keep
themselves warm, so you can tell if the queen has left her kittens. There are
some reasons why a mother completely ignores/leaves her youngs and one of them
is the kittens are sick.
My
family and I were blessed with Tookey (Mother) and her cute kitten Korigoo. They
were the reasons why I was eager to come home this semester break. To cut the
story short, Korigoo was hit by a car and she died a day after I took her to
the vet and her mother, Tookey was a month pregnant. Few days before Korigoo
was hit, Tookey had an early labor to a pre-mature kitten which also died 2
days after birth. This shook me as I was worried about the other kittens that
had not been delivered yet. When I was checking up on Tookey, I noticed that
she was wounded at her back and I finally knew that she had an early labor due
to the physical stress.
2
days later, Tookey safely delivered another 2 kittens right after her Korigoo
died. They were really small compared to the average size of a new-born kitten.
I was in grief because Korigoo died, but I felt a little bit happier after
seeing the new-born kittens. But, it was not exactly what I thought. A day
after Tookey delivered her kittens, she started to behave differently. She did
not have much appetite and she seemed to be passive and quiet. The worst thing
was she did not want to milk her kittens or go close to them. She finally went
missing and did not return home until now.
I
couldn’t possibly wait until Tookey returns home and milks her kitten, they
will be dead by then. So, I started to hand-feed them. Thank God, I still have
some savings which I can use to buy the nursery items such as the cat formula
milk, syringes, tissues etc. Milking them is not the hardest part, but making
sure the taste of milk is up to their liking is. I am concerned of the taste as
I cannot tell whether they like it or the opposite. They are so small that I am
worried about their immunity system. The cat’s natural breastmilk has colostrum
which provides a strong immune system to the kittens but the milk I am giving
to them now is factory made which may not have the same content as in the
natural milk. 3 days after feeding them with the milk, one of the kittens
slowly being unresponsive followed by the other kitten. Both died after
resisted the milk.
 |
| The pre-mature kittens. A day before the trip. |
I
lost all my kittens in just a few days. There is nothing saddens me more than
seeing my cats battled their way to survive but I never regretted coming home
this break, I had so much fun playing with them. I never thought this would be
my first hello and goodbye at the same time. I know, they are now in a better
place.
