During the summer feline breeding season, known as kitten season, animal shelters across the country are flooded with homeless and newborn cats. Caring for newborn cats is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process, as these young animals require round-the-clock attention.
Here are some tips to help you comfort an abandoned kitten you've adopted.
Keep The Kitten Warm
Did you know that kittens have a hard time regulating their body temperature? In fact, orphaned kittens have the lowest survival rate because they rely on their mother and littermates for body heat regulation.
Keeping your neonatal kitten warm is critical! When a kitten has too low of a body temperature, they are less likely to metabolize their nutrients in their food and medication. The average temperature of a 4-week-old kitten should be anywhere from 99-101 degrees Fahrenheit.
Try A Snuggle Kitty
There have been quite a few ways in which Snuggle Kitty has helped orphaned kittens adjust to life without their mother and littermates. In The Kitten Lady’s YouTube video, ‘How to Set Up Space for Foster Kittens’, she highlights how Snuggle Kitty has impacted her rescue kittens that she cares for.
Snuggle Kitty mimics the warmth of a mother and includes a Real-Feel Heartbeat. For a kitten who has been abandoned, Snuggle Kitty plays into their natural instinct and comforts them when they don’t have their littermates and mother to snuggle with. Being separated from their family is critical for kittens because they cannot regulate their own body temperature.
Other Resources
The Kitten Lady’s YouTube channel is a great source for information on caring for orphaned kittens. Unfortunately, many shelters do not have the tools to care for orphaned kittens and because of this, many orphaned kittens are euthanized. The Kitten Lady, Hannah Shaw, is a professional kitten rescuer, bestselling author, and humane educator on a mission to change the world for the tiniest felines.
In her videos, she lists Snuggle Kitty as a tool to recreate the familiarity of having a mother when kittens are abandoned at such a young age. In some of her videos, she cares for orphaned kittens as young as a few days old.
Snuggle Kitty’s impact is so strong when it comes to easing the crying of newborn kittens who do not have their mother. Eric, a Snuggle Kitty owner, shares how Snuggle Kitty impacted his orphaned kitten, Jasper. He shared, “The Snuggle Kitty is a life saver. Last year was our greatest challenge as we found a less than 1-day-old kitten that had been abandoned by his mom. The weather was cold, and he was hypothermic. Jasper weighed only 58 grams. Without the constant warmth of Snuggle Kitty, and the Real-Feel Heartbeat, I sincerely believe our little guy would not have made it.
Overall, caring for an orphaned kitten is not easy. Always consult with your veterinarian for the safest ways to care for them. For more information on caring for neonatal kittens, visit the ASPA’s website. Interested in learning how Snuggle Kitty and Snuggle Puppy help other orphaned animals, check out Brody the bear’s story on our blog.
