The situation is this: you are walking quietly down the street and, suddenly, you come across a litter of kittens without their mother. They look so small and defenseless that the first thing you think about is to take them all and take them home. Is it the most correct? We tell you how to proceed in the best way.
The first thing we should do is give some time, about two or three hours, for the mother to return since it is possible that the cat is looking for food. It should be borne in mind that the one who can best feed and care for lactating cats is their mother.
It is key to watch the kittens in the distance because if the mother sees us next to the young, she will not dare to appear. Don’t touch the pups either or the mother might reject them! If we cannot wait for this reasonable time, it will be necessary to assess whether the kittens are in immediate danger : if it is raining or snowing, if there are wild animals in the area that could harm them, if they are near a road, in an entrance area and departure of vehicles … For a newborn cat it is more dangerous to suffer hypothermia than to starve , understanding that the mother is going to return and breastfeed. For this reason, waiting for Mom to return is more dangerous in the winter months than it is in the spring or summer months.
In case the cat appears, if the place where the litter is is safe, leave the little ones with their mother until she weans them. You can create a shelter for them with a cardboard box and blankets as well as offer the cat food . Make sure that food and shelter are not too close together.
If, on the contrary, the hours pass and the mother cat does not return or you clearly see that the animals are abandoned (they appear in a box with blankets), you must pick up the kittens, because their lives are in serious danger. Ideally, at this point you should take them to a vet clinic and provide them with heat as quickly as possible .
The vet will explain in detail how to take care of the kittens so that they can get ahead but, broadly speaking, you will have to give them a bottle of formula milk with the periodicity indicated by the expert (this includes night feeds) as well as stimulate them to evacuate every three hours. (With a damp sponge you will have to rub their genitals, just as the mother would with her tongue). It is vital that the kittens do not get cold as it can cost them their lives, in fact you should not feed them until they are warm. To see if a cat is cold, check if the pads, ears or mouth are cold.
Once the kittens grow up and can eat solid food (whether you have them sheltered or if they remain with the mother) it will be time to find a family that loves them and is not going to abandon them.
