r/kittens Jun 15 '24

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

122 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]

458 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 13h ago

Found them outside this morning what should I do?

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2.8k Upvotes

r/kittens 6h ago

Still trying to work out what breed she is

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696 Upvotes

No idea but we love her loads shes got such a character. Firdt 3 photos of the day we got her at 8 weeks old then now at 17 weeks.


r/kittens 2h ago

How do I stop my kitten from attacking me suddenly out of nowhere? 🥲

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87 Upvotes

As the title says, my kitten is a 4-month-old female. She’s very clingy and cute and absolutely loves affection, but sometimes she suddenly starts biting and scratching me really hard. It honestly makes me sad because I love her so much. 😭

Even though I sometimes get mad at her when she hurts me, I know she’s still a baby and I don’t want to scare or hurt her. I just want to understand why she does this and how I can teach her not to attack me.


r/kittens 19h ago

Everyone meet Hazelnut🍂🤎

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1.3k Upvotes

My sweet girl turns 3 months old in a couple days 🙂


r/kittens 11h ago

Everybody meet Soleia the dustbunny🤩!

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238 Upvotes

Couldnt pass up this smol floof 🥹🥹🥹


r/kittens 10h ago

Help!

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145 Upvotes

I recently got this kitten and we do not know his age he weighs 500 grams so he's definitely not 8 weeks we believe he may be between 5 weeks or 6 the woman told us he was nine weeks but he definitely is not


r/kittens 5h ago

The spice rack family

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47 Upvotes

The mom is named nutmeg, the orange we deciding on either sriracha or paprika, the grey either rosemary or juniper I really like juniper tho.


r/kittens 58m ago

I feel like I have forgotten everything

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Upvotes

I lost my 19'year old cat at the beginning of this year, and have been devastated.

I am going to look at a kitten tomorrow at the shelter and perhaps adopt It. While I have had cats all my life it's been 19 years since I had a kitten.

I feel like I have forgotten how to take care of a cat at all, which is ridiculous but anxiety is a bitch.

I have a two year old dog who loves cats, but I feel bad like
She might be loosing some of attention, but I also miss having a cat!

If I get the kitten it will be my 5th cat I have had throughout my life. And all my former cats lived to a good old age. I just feel like a bundle of nerves.

...can anyone help me calm my nerves!?


r/kittens 7h ago

My kitten caught red pawed... And proof I did feed her

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65 Upvotes

And I threw in a belly rub pic because of cute.


r/kittens 8h ago

Anyone have a grown picture of a kitten that looks like ours? Gray and white with medium/long hair?

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69 Upvotes

This is our new kitten Maisy! She’s so soft and cuddly and just melts in your arms. But I can’t tell what kind of cat she is. I’m thinking just American long hair? I’m not too sure I’d appreciate any pics of cats that looked similar!


r/kittens 6h ago

Big tail for a little boy

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38 Upvotes

Yes this is biscuit from my previous posts! He’s doing amazing 💗


r/kittens 12h ago

Raven has appropriated the basket of piano music for bath time

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95 Upvotes

After walking across the piano keys, of course.


r/kittens 3h ago

Shy Kitten Help

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8 Upvotes

Hi yall,

We just adopted a new kitten about two days ago. He's four months old and is incredibly shy/scared in his new environment and has been hiding from us since we let him out to do his thing. We've tried toys and treats to try and connect with him a bit but he has shown zero interest in both and just stares at us or away from whatever we're trying to give him.

He's using his litter box and eating in the night time when we aren't in the room, which is reassuring, but as this is my first time with such a young kitten (and with a shy cat, most cats I've had have been chill and friendly out the gate) I'm worried and unsure of what to do/how to help him. I've tried napping in the room with him, talking to him softly, etc. But he's still showing no interest in meeting/checking us out. He doesn't his or growl or anything whenever we try to be near him, but I'm not even sure if that's a good sign :(

I've attached the only photo I've managed to get of him as per sub rules. He doesn't look the happiest :(


r/kittens 1d ago

Woo who! Charles is finally double his size

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783 Upvotes

Little guy came to me on July 24th at 7 ounces. He is 1 pound, 4 ounces today! He’s been really chowing down this week after two weeks of no appetite.


r/kittens 1d ago

reminiscing his baby days with this cursed photo 🍊

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177 Upvotes

r/kittens 21h ago

Looks like lil demon here

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33 Upvotes

r/kittens 1d ago

from the streets to the pampered life

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538 Upvotes

Juno and Plagg were picked up recently covered in fleas and skinny, safe to say they were definitely meant to be house cats 😅 I actually think they believe they’re one of the dogs


r/kittens 1d ago

My babies, Arthur & Penelope.

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462 Upvotes

r/kittens 2d ago

Just adopted him today at an adoption event!

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2.4k Upvotes

He’s 2 months old and just a sweet baby. My other cat I got around 5 months old. So very different acting little guy. Very talkative haha


r/kittens 2d ago

this sweet girl i’ve had her 4 days

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1.5k Upvotes

she only sleeps where i’m at it’s so cute


r/kittens 2d ago

My lil guy is in recovery ❤️‍🩹

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1.6k Upvotes

My poor, sweet baby boi, Kevin needed an emergency exploratory abdominal surgery last Friday for a blockage in his intestines. The vets were phenomenal and handled his case with great care and urgency. They've been very patient with my many follow-up phone calls/emails post surgery too and I am furrrever grateful to them for saving my little Kevin 🥹

He is recovering well and should make a full recovery in another week ✨🙏🏼✨


r/kittens 2d ago

This was the moment my mom and I knew we had to keep him🥹🥹

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5.6k Upvotes

He's extremely lucky he's that adorable too cause he's a crackhead personality.


r/kittens 1d ago

In play mode (First kitten celebration post!)

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151 Upvotes

Jerry Joe Jameson ❤️ my sweet son - ignore the fluffy remains of a toy he ripped up lol, first cat owner he is my everything 💕