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It was a nice clouds-in, clouds-out Saturday morning with temps in the seventies.  I puttered around doing small chores, having a quiet morning.  I fed my cats then went to check on Flash and her kittens.  They were rescued in the nick of time last Sunday. All was well. I was looking forward to a nice relaxing day admiring the kittens.

As I was washing the cats’ plates I saw my cell phone sitting on top of the kitchen counter.  After I finished, I picked it up and checked to see if it needed charging. As I turned it on I noticed I had a message, it was from Megan at the SPCA.  I figured she was checking up on Flash. 

Wrong. The text read:

“Hey, Marilu, any chance you would like to try and see if mom will take another kitten?  About 5 days old.”  She had attached a picture.

I texted her back, “Sure we can try.  I’ll come right over.”

When I arrived Megan rushed to the front reception area as I walked in.

“Boy, am I ever glad to see you!” she exclaimed. “I was dreading having to bottle feed it! You have the only nursing mother right now.  I hope she will accept it.”

“Where did it come from?”  I inquired.

“It was brought in earlier this morning. A good Samaritan found it lying in the middle of the parking lot of Super 1 and brought it right over to us.”

Super 1 is a local supermarket.

“There’s no idea how long it was there.  We have it in the incubator now trying to get it’s body temperature back to normal,” she said as we walked over to the examination area.

 

I saw him then, this tiny little helpless creature lying forlornly in the big incubator.

“He’s hanging in there,” Melissa the Vet Tech told me. “His temperature is almost normal but he needs nourishment fast.  We’re hoping your mom will accept him.”

 

“What if Flash doesn’t take him?”  I asked.

“Then he’ll have to be bottle fed.” She told me.

“Okay, let’s see what happens.”

“How old is he?” I addressed Melissa.

“His umbilical cord just dropped off in the incubator so he should be probably 5 days old.”

“That puts him at the same age as Flash’s kittens. Lucky coincidence,” I added.

I rushed home and, gently speaking to Flash, I inserted the new kitten among her other four.  She didn’t even flinch.  I watched for a while and the new kitten, who I named “Super One”, just lay there with out moving.  I nudged him towards a nipple, but nothing.  He was beyond listless.  I kept trying to get him to latch on, but he just bobbed his head weakly.  Flash was very patient and just lay there. I left him for a short while and then returned to try again. I pried his tiny mouth open and put it right on the nipple, but he wouldn’t keep it. He was weaker and limp in my hands.  I was frantic!  I was losing him!  I texted Megan and asked if I should start bottle feeding him.

“If he doesn’t take to the mom then he most likely won’t allow himself to be bottle fed.”

“But he’s deteriorating fast!”

“We don’t know how long he was exposed on the parking lot.  It probably was too long and he got dehydrated besides losing body temperature.  Sometimes they don’t make it.”

“Can I start to bottle feed him?  I have some goat’s milk that I can dilute and a dental syringe with a plastic tip.”

“No, goat’s milk isn’t good for them!  It upsets their stomachs.”

This has been a misconception among many veterinary institutes. It has been proven that cow’s milk does upset feline stomachs, but not so goat’s milk.  I have been giving it to my cats for ages.  It is low in lactose for easy digestibility but high in Vitamins A, D and B1 and nutrients, such as calcium, phosphorus and potassium.  These are all vitamins that help supplement their raw diet.  I used to give them non-lactose milk until I discovered goat’s milk and its more nutritious benefits.

“So, I just sit here and watch him die?” 

“There’s only so much that can be done.  You can always bring him back.”

‘Not on my watch!’ I thought.

“Let’s see what happens,” I said.  “I’ll keep trying.”

I immediately flew to my computer, which was right next to the doggie playpen they were in, and fingers flying started to research.  If he was going to die, what harm was there in trying the goat’s milk, I was thinking.

I ran across a site describing Fading Kitten Syndrome. It fit Super One!  He was starting to have that ‘dead’ feeling in my hand, slightly stiffening and cold!  Very lethargic! Then I researched how to help a kitten with those symptoms.

 Answer: 1. Warmth.  Holding him close wasn’t enough as human heat is lower than a feline’s. A heating pad would work, but going to find one and get it set up would take time. Instead, I quickly nudged him right up against Flash’s tummy and then piled the sleeping kittens on top and around him while I kept researching.  He didn’t move and they continued sleeping with him.

2. Raise the blood sugar.  More research and I found that honey would be good. Roland and I used to be beekeepers so I still had some pure unadulterated honey from our own hives.  I give our cats 3 drops of honey daily in their food.  It’s good for their immune system.

Okay I had those two things under control. 

3. Liquid nourishment.  Quick, more research!  I checked out what to feed a newborn kitten in an emergency. Believe it or not, goat’s milk was on the top of the list of four items.  That’s all I needed to know.

I dashed off to the kitchen, warmed some of the milk in the syringe, put some honey in a container and ran back to my study. I picked up the limp Super One, wrapped him in a warm towel (he was nice and warm already from his natural kitten cover), and then gently tried to put the syringe in his mouth.  It wouldn’t open.  I dipped the tip in the honey and then applied it to his lips, gently prying the mouth open.  It worked. Drop by drop he started to swallow the milk.  I would dip the tip in the honey occasionally and it would go down with the milk.  He started to move.  After about fifteen minutes, and lots of entreating to God and St. Francis, this little kitten started to revive! I put him down again right up against Flash and arranged the still sleeping kittens on and around him.  He started to nuzzle her fur.

 I gave him ten minutes and then repeated the regime.  This time he tossed his head around not wanting the syringe in his mouth which made it difficult for me to feed him from the side.  If I fed him straight from the front I could be forcing the milk to the wrong part of his throat and it would be harmful to him.

All this I instantaneously learned from rapid online searching.  I knew none of this before, but his little life was at stake and I couldn’t stand by and let it ebb away. I did what I could with what I had as fast as I could!  Was this a small miracle?  My prayers were certainly answered.

Super One revived and appeared to be out of the woods. You can’t imagine the feeling of ecstacy when the realization dawns that a life had been saved, tiny as it was it still was important!

I contacted Megan and told her that Super One had revived with the goat’s milk. 

“Looks like he’s got a good chance of making it.  Roland is on his way over to get what’s needed for bottle feeding.”

“Okay, have him go to the front desk and I’ll meet him there.”

Half an hour later Roland had not yet returned from the 15 minute trip!  I texted Megan to see what happened.

“He got started talking.  He’s on his way back,”  she texted me.  Some people just do not give credence to urgency!  I was already stressed out.

He brought me some powdered formula which I promptly mixed.  The ‘bottle’ turned out to be a syringe with a nipple.  I filled it to 1½ CC, heated it in the microwave 7 seconds, and then hurried to feed Super One. He was sort of sleeping.  I wrapped him up tightly and proceeded to feed him.  He wouldn’t take the nipple so I reverted to drop by drop feeding gently inserting the nipple into his mouth. I dipped it into the honey a couple of times, too.  I kept at it until he had taken the whole amount.

This was repeated several times for the rest of the day.  He still would not nurse and I soon realized I would have to get up at night to feed him! That was a horrible thought, but I had no choice.  I fed him at 2 AM before I went to bed, but I didn’t actually hit the pillow until 2:45. The alarm was set for 6 AM for his next feeding. I sluggishly got up to feed him. Went back to bed and tossed and turned for almost three hours. I fell asleep for what appeared moments when the alarm went off again!  Fed the little guy once more and then dressed for Church.

“Thank you, dear Lord, for allowing me to save Super One’s life,” I prayed when we arrived.  “You must have great things planned for him.”

I also prayed for salvation from night feedings! Deep down I knew I could never be a bottle-feeding foster.

We got home and I fed him again. He still wasn’t accepting the nipple from the syringe nor Flash’s.  An hour later I went to attend Meadow Lake’s Sunday Service.  After I came home and was changing my clothes, Roland came up to me all excited.

“I think he’s attached, but I’m not sure.  Hurry, come see!”

We went to my study and it “looked” like he might be.  Roland pulled out a flashlight so we could see better, but we still weren’t certain.  I touched Flash’s skin and moved it a touch and he seemed to move with it too. He could be nursing…

I didn’t feed him then.  A couple of hours later he was at it again and this time

 

 

there was no doubt.  Super One was actually nursing! His tiny little lips were going a mile a minute! I was so excited!  Now for sure there would be no question of his survival and best of all  –  I didn’t have to get up to feed him!  God is good!

On Monday, after I returned from my Volunteer Day, I went straight to check on the kittens.  I bent down and there were two huge black eyes staring right up at me!  What a surprise, Super One’s eyes had opened!  Later on in the evening, Moxie also opened his eyes and even another kitten had one eye open.  They were all coming out of their unseeing slumber!  A whole new world is awakening to them.

What a wonderous time I have ahead of me! ~  Marilu Shellie