Several different situations by occur that will make it necessary for us to take care of a newborn kitten. One of the reasons could be the mother cat died during or shortly after giving birth. The mother may have given birth to more kittens then she is able to take care of. Or the mother cat could be sick and not able to give newborn kitten care. Sometimes if a mother cat thinks the kitten is sick, she may refuse to take care of it. But one of the most common reasons of an abandoned kitten is the owner of the cat has just dumped them off so they wont have to take care of them. It is very sad but true as it happens quite often.

If you find an abandoned kitten but you feel you can not take care of it, please take the time to call your local animal shelter. Or call the police and they will come out and call who needs to be called. But please, do not just walk on by. A new born kitten will die very quickly with out any aid. If you do want to take on the responsibility of the abandoned kitten, good for you. You will be rewarded with years of love and companionship for years to come. But while raising kittens, especially new born kittens is very rewarding it can be a bit stressful.

One of the fist and possibly the most important things to do is to make sure the kitten is warm. A chilled kitten can and will die very quickly in a short amount of time. If the kittens temperature drops, the kitten will go into metabolic shock. Fixing a dry, warm bed is good if the longer term, just using old towels and a cardboard box will work, but it is important to get the kitten warm. If nothing else is available, just holding the kitten next to you could save it's life. A heating pad or lamp can be used if you are very careful about it. Make sue the kitten has room to crawl away from the heat source. If the kitten overheats, you have a dangerous situation also.

After the kitten is warm, take a few minutes to look over the kitten. Check the look in the eyes. Are they clear and alert or matted or closed? How is the kitten acting? Is it moving around or just limply laying there? Is it vocal or quiet? Check the ears for wax and or fleas. If things do not look okay, you may need to call the animal shelter or a vet. If everything checks out okay, you might consider giving the kitten some fluids. Pedialyte that is given to human children is good for the kittens also. Use a eye dropper or a syringe or even a bottle if you have one. It is important to rehydrate, but do so slowly. Items like K.M.R.®, Nurturall®, or JustBorn® are milk re-placers that can be found at most of the local pet stores along with the other pet supplies you may want. Use the manufactures instructions and the newborn kitten should start gaining weigh.

One very important item to know about newborn care is the fact the kitten will not be able to voluntarily eliminate any feces or urine until around the age of three weeks old. The mother cat would stimulate the urogenital reflex after every feeding by licking and cleaning the kitten. We can do this by using a warm cloth or cotton ball to wipe over the perineal area. Very gently rub over the entire body of the kitten as the mother cat would also do. This helps to keep the kitten clean and to teach to kitten a learned behavior.

After around three weeks of bottle feeding, you can start mixing can food with the milk mixture to form a “milkshake” for the kitten to learn to eat solid food and to eat out of a dish. Just remember, for the first three weeks or so it is very similar to having a human baby in the house. The kitten will want to eat around the clock and you will have to take the place of the nursing mother cat and see to all the needs of the kitten. By this time will fly by quickly and you will soon have a new member of your family with their own very unique personality of their very own.