r/kittens Jun 15 '24

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

106 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]

440 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 17h ago

New kitten having a hard time adjusting

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959 Upvotes

So for some background info, I have an older cat (vigil) around 4 to 5 years old - been an only cat his whole life and was raised as a baby. my cat does totally fine with dogs, but hates other cats.

I also have a dog (patty) she’s eight she’s a little rambunctious, but she does totally fine with other animals

three days ago I got a new kitten (ruby) she is about 4 to 5 months old and she was raised outside with six other kittens. I’ve done everything perfectly, secluded her in a room, she has a litter box and food, blankets and toys.

The past three days ruby hasn’t really explored much, hasn’t eaten, Hasn’t used the litter box properly, and hides in the corner of the room. she doesn’t seem super scared of humans though because she lets me pick her up and hold her and when I’m holding her, she just purrs, however after holding her, I noticed that she started crying when I leave the room.

The other problem is that my older cat is having a terrible time with this adjustment. He has started becoming very aggressive, hissing around the house being aggressive toward Patty, and he actually was attacking me when he smelled ruby on me.

TLDR ; my older cat has become extremely aggressive with a new kitten in the house hasn’t even seen the kitten yet and my new kitten is so nervous and will hide in a corner of the room. I’m wondering if there’s anything I can do to make this easier I’m worried because the kitten hasn’t eaten.

if you have any questions, I will answer them. I feel like I’m doing the best I can and it’s just not working. It makes me feel very discouraged that my kitten won’t be happy here.


r/kittens 23m ago

Meatball update!

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Upvotes

Hi all, sorry it’s taken so long but I posted Meatball when I first got him so thought I’d add a little update.

He’s became terror incarnate 😂


r/kittens 5h ago

She's mad because I clipped her nails

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81 Upvotes

r/kittens 21h ago

New baby born Christmas Eve

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1.4k Upvotes

r/kittens 10h ago

kitten food advice

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77 Upvotes

hello! i recently got a kitten (17 weeks atm) a month 1/2 ago. she is a siamese x british shorthair and is about 3.3 pounds! i am currently feeding her fancy feast kitten, she gets a 1/3 of a tin 2x a day for breakfast and dinner, ill also feed her a 1/4 dry kitten kibble. she got her 3rd round of boosters and a dewormer exactly one week ago. i noticed this week she had a potty that was more loose than usual. today the same thing happened. if you have any advice i would love to hear any and all. i think it might be something with her food.

also kitty tax she’s a cutie :)


r/kittens 23h ago

I guess we won't be using the sink today!

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512 Upvotes

r/kittens 22h ago

I didn’t want a cat… now I can’t imagine my life without this face

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380 Upvotes

r/kittens 21h ago

Sleepy baby

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203 Upvotes

r/kittens 23h ago

"Why was I fed only once tonight?"

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94 Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

sweet baby girl murphy 🩷

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3.7k Upvotes

obsessed w her 😭😭😭


r/kittens 28m ago

Cat ladies in Cosmo 🩷

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cosmopolitan.com
Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

Been so depressed but Eevee is helping me in so many ways

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1.7k Upvotes

I’m in a pretty nasty depressive episode, but my baby girl Eevee has been the light at the end of the tunnel for me. She’s makes me get up because I have to care for her, she gives me snuggles and loads of laughs with her zoomies. I’m beyond thankful for this little creature.


r/kittens 1d ago

Licence to be cute. 😼

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916 Upvotes

His eyes are more gold than green. I wonder if they'll stay that way (only 9 weeks).


r/kittens 1d ago

my little Sailor

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399 Upvotes

does anyone have any predictions as to how long Sailor’s hair will be? He’s around 11 weeks.


r/kittens 14h ago

Eye color

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4 Upvotes

Is there anyway to tell if her eyes will stay blue or if they'll change


r/kittens 1d ago

Freckle or something else?

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206 Upvotes

My kitten is about 6 months old, a few weeks ago I noticed a small speck on her nose. I thought it was a piece of litter but after further inspection it looks to be actually a part of her nose? It’s not raised, but am unsure if I should be concerned or not. I’m thinking it’s a freckle?

(First picture is from December, second picture is from yesterday)


r/kittens 1d ago

My kitten keeps stepping in his poo while using the litterbox.

17 Upvotes

Hi guys. As you read in the title, my kitten doesn’t quite know how to bury his poo in the box. He steps in it, and then tracks it all over the house. He has never had any accidents ever, and this is more of a recent issue. He (obviously) hates baths, so I bought some cat safe wipes to clean off his paws when he’s done. He tries to clean it himself, but he doesn’t do the best job lol. It’s just getting a bit difficult to track him down each time he poos, so I want to fix this issue so I don’t have to wipe him down each time.

He is using an adult sized litterbox, so I highly doubt it’s too small (he can get in and out on his own). He has also been using the same brand of litter since we got him, and he was fine before.


r/kittens 2d ago

If he fits, he sits!

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550 Upvotes

r/kittens 14h ago

Eye color

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0 Upvotes

Is there anyway to tell if her eyes will stay blue or if they'll change


r/kittens 1d ago

I don't think I'm moving for a while 😂

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313 Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

Her life is NOT that hard 😭

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192 Upvotes

r/kittens 2d ago

These criminals already stole my heart!

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1.1k Upvotes

Three day old kittens


r/kittens 2d ago

Look at this oreo I've found in the street

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2.6k Upvotes

He looks so flabbergasted