My newborn runt kitten was abandoned and is cold. What should I do?

The best thing you can do is to weigh her twice daily to make sure she's growing appropriately. Kittens should gain 10% of their birth weight per week, or if you don't know the birth weight you should make sure the kitten is gaining weight each day and not losing weight. If she is not gaining weight it would be a good idea to see a vet for an exam and potentially to supplement with bottle feeding.

You need to keep it warm, use blankets, fan or a hot-water bottle. Try to put her with the mum and see if he will feed from her. You should put his face right on the nipple and try to 'attach' him. If he is not able to feed from the mum you will have to syringe-feed or bottle-feed the kitten with a cat milk formula. After feeding you need to massage the belly with a warm cloth to stimulate urination and defecation.

If you choose to care for them, your primary goal will be to keep them warm, stimulate their bowels / urinary tract, and feed them up to every 2-3 hours at first. The use of a blanket and heating pads may be required for warmth. If you do not have a heating pad, I would recommend going out to obtain one in the morning. As for stimulation, you need to rub their bellies and behinds to get them to go to the bathroom after each time they eat. As for feedings, you will need to obtain kitten milk replacer and a bottle. The kittens should be fed in an upright position as to avoid aspiration of the liquid. It is a tiring job and they still may not make it, so do not take it personally if things do not work out. You can certainly try to keep the kitten with mom if you think she isn't going to hurt them, but I would monitor them extremely carefully. If there is any indication of aggression remove them entirely. Hope this helps.

Unfortunately this is really hard to do. You want to make sure the kitten is warm and body temperature never gets cold. I would recommend taking the kitten to a vet so they can show you how to place a feeding tube and start feeding a kitten milk supplement. It is very important that the kitten gets colostrum with in 24 hours. Colostrum has antibodies in it to help support the kitten.

You need to keep her warm inside your home 27/7, a carton box with fleece or other warm cloths would be a good option, you can also use warm bottles under the cloths. it's important to feed her kitten milk replacer only, normal milk is not good enough for kittens, she can't survive on it. you can buy kitten milk replacer in any pet shop.

I recommend using a bottle with a small nipple - you can find kits for newborns at most pet supply stores. A commercial milk replacer like KMR is best, and you should feed the kitten every 2-3 hours. The kitten should be taking about 25 ml of milk per day and you should offer the bottle with the kitten laying on its stomach, not held on its back like a baby. You will also need to stimulate the kitten to urinate and defecate after eating by rubbing a warm washcloth on the genital and anal openings - neonatal kittens cannot urinate or defecate on their own. If the kitten is not interested in the bottle you may need to tube feed and should see your veterinarian for a demonstration.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! At 3 weeks you can start to introduce canned kitten food mixed with the KMR. I like to wean bottle babies earlier due to intestinal issues with formula. As long as Pia is gaining weight and growing she is likely fine. You can try to do smaller more frequent meals to see if you can get more overall volume in. I would try to have her on 100% kitten food by 4-5 weeks. At 3 weeks she shouldn’t need the heating pad anymore as she should be able to regulate her temperature. Good luck!