Taking care of tiny kittens is a HUGE amount of work. I've had Pip and Squeak since Sunday afternoon and I'm already completely exhausted!
Here's what the average day looks like:
4am - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding
7am - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding, rinse Squeak's eyes and apply meds
- Get my own breakfast/coffee, get the kid up for breakfast, feed the housecats
9am - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding, reheat Snuggle-disk (secondary heat source)
11am - Bottlfe-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding
Noon - Get my lunch, kiddo gets lunch, clean dishes/kitchen, clean housecat litterboxes
1pm - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding, rinse Sqeak's eyes and apply meds
3pm - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding
5pm - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding
6pm - Start dinner for family
7pm - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding, rinse Squeak's eyes and apply meds
- Feed family, clean up kitchen/dishes
10pm - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding, reheat Snuggle-disk
Midnight - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding
At any given point during the day the kittens' blood-sugar could drop and they can start to fade; you have to be on constant alert and watch for signs of decreased activity, lack of responsiveness, or drop in body temperature. If a kitten begins to fade there is an emergency protocol that must be followed, and the intensive care lasts until the kitten comes out of the fade (which could be hours). Even a trip to the vet could delay the life-saving care and cause the kitten to die, so you have to be prepared to do it yourself at home. I'll post a link to some resources about Fading Kitten Syndrome and will probably do a full post about it in the next few days.
Anything else that needs to get done during the day gets squeezed into the two-hour gaps between feedings. The reason I'm feeding every two hours as opposed to every three is because these kittens are only a few days old; as they gain weight and get a little more stable it will be safe to move their mealtimes back a little bit.
Caring for kittens is fun, but it is a TON of work. If you're going to bring kittens home to care for, especially newborns, it's a good idea to be aware of the work-load ahead of time. Bottle-baby kittens need full-time care just like newborn human babies. Fostering neonatal kittens is definitely not for everyone, so think carefully about whether or not you can meet their needs before you bring bottle babies into your home.
Luckily there are people all over the globe who are willing to do insane amounts of work to care for tiny kittens; your local shelters and rescue organizations will probably have contact information for the people in your area who can take in kittens in an emergency.
To remind you why the work is necessary, I give you more precious pictures of my current babies:
Here's what the average day looks like:
4am - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding
7am - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding, rinse Squeak's eyes and apply meds
- Get my own breakfast/coffee, get the kid up for breakfast, feed the housecats
9am - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding, reheat Snuggle-disk (secondary heat source)
11am - Bottlfe-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding
Noon - Get my lunch, kiddo gets lunch, clean dishes/kitchen, clean housecat litterboxes
1pm - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding, rinse Sqeak's eyes and apply meds
3pm - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding
5pm - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding
6pm - Start dinner for family
7pm - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding, rinse Squeak's eyes and apply meds
- Feed family, clean up kitchen/dishes
10pm - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding, reheat Snuggle-disk
Midnight - Bottle-feed, stimulate and clean, check bedding
At any given point during the day the kittens' blood-sugar could drop and they can start to fade; you have to be on constant alert and watch for signs of decreased activity, lack of responsiveness, or drop in body temperature. If a kitten begins to fade there is an emergency protocol that must be followed, and the intensive care lasts until the kitten comes out of the fade (which could be hours). Even a trip to the vet could delay the life-saving care and cause the kitten to die, so you have to be prepared to do it yourself at home. I'll post a link to some resources about Fading Kitten Syndrome and will probably do a full post about it in the next few days.
Anything else that needs to get done during the day gets squeezed into the two-hour gaps between feedings. The reason I'm feeding every two hours as opposed to every three is because these kittens are only a few days old; as they gain weight and get a little more stable it will be safe to move their mealtimes back a little bit.
Caring for kittens is fun, but it is a TON of work. If you're going to bring kittens home to care for, especially newborns, it's a good idea to be aware of the work-load ahead of time. Bottle-baby kittens need full-time care just like newborn human babies. Fostering neonatal kittens is definitely not for everyone, so think carefully about whether or not you can meet their needs before you bring bottle babies into your home.
Luckily there are people all over the globe who are willing to do insane amounts of work to care for tiny kittens; your local shelters and rescue organizations will probably have contact information for the people in your area who can take in kittens in an emergency.
To remind you why the work is necessary, I give you more precious pictures of my current babies:
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