Hi friends!! Writing to you from state wide quarantine. These are odd times. But I’m here to share some positivity in these dark times! An orphaned kitten!
Long story short, she was born in our basement to a feral cat we had adopted. She was timid and never really came around. She hid her newborn kittens up in a small six inch hole where our copper pipes ran to our bathtub. Her kittens were literally living below our bathtub on the floorboards.
No way for us to retrieve them, we figured they’d be fine with her tending to them. Until she moved 3 of the 4 out into the basement, leaving one up there crying for an entire day. Hubby and I figured she’d eventually go back for it but she didn’t. Time was ticking and this kitten was cold and hungry. For an entire day, I stuck flashlights up into this hole using my phone camera as my eyes to see if I could spot this kitten. No luck. Leaving the flashlights up there, I checked back often and what do you know. There she was at the edge of the hole.
I quickly placed her in a box with a blanket and drove to Tractor Supply to pick up some kitten replacement formula and baby bottles. With the help of google and a friendly Instagram friend who had tons of experience, we are working on keeping this little one alive. She is fed around the clock every four hours through a syringe. Bottle feeding hadn’t quite caught on for her yet. In between feeds she spends her time sleeping as any kitten should and playing around on our laps.
This poor little baby was rejected by her mama and now it’s our responsibility to make sure she thrives. I think of this as the perfect learning opportunity for Ryan, my toddler as she actively participates in feeding and caring for the little one.
She is actually kept in a larger, soft basket with blankets, and a wrapped mason jar of hot water for heat. We’ll be swapping that out for a heating pad here soon, but for an emergency situation, we did what we could with what we had.
I’m so excited to finally share the animal part of living on our farm, and how we raise an orphaned kitten!
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