If anyone has been following the thread about blood group incompatibility i have now found out that 25% of my litter is at risk.

Does anyone have any advice on hand rearing and what i will need?

I currently have cimicat and a catac foster bottle.

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Ali.

A life without animals isn't worth living.



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I use these:

Mikki Mothering Kit-Hyperdrug

find that kits take to them better than bottles, also this:

Col-late Cat Breeder Nutri-Drops 30ml-Hyperdrug

cimi-cat

I buy all this everytime I have alitter anyway just incase so its always good to have around.

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I am very choosy about the type of bottles I use... I prefer the squeezable plastic ones with small teets (hate the hard plastic ones) ...but many people prefer those banana shaped "open top" glass bottles, especially with newborns with a weak sucking reflex, these can be far better. But again this is all personal choice.. I just know if I hadn't hand reared before I would be wanting a selection of bottles and teets for the first time.

oh and just incase... have syringes at hand. No bigger than 2.5 ml. If you can get the really skinny ones that vets use to to get medicine out of bottles (you know when you stick the syringe into a medicine bottle then flip the bottle upwards then suck the fluid down into the syringe) well those are very good for syringing very young kittens. And a dropper (bulb dropper I think they are called) is also something i woudl have on hand... if the kitten has no sucking reflex and you're not having much success with syringng (I am not a fan of syringing very small kittens) then a bulb dropper can be a life saver.

like TJE i would suggest you buy the

lactol/sherleys/beaphar bottle (same bottle just different brand names).

Its much easier to control the flow and much easier to master as a newbie. TJE is also right that i personally always reach for the glass bottles, but they take quite a bit of mastering and not something i would suggest for your first time at feeding!

My favourite milk for handrearing is the royal canin.

Can i offer some friendly advice? Get hold of your nearest rescue (who uses foster mums), and see if they will put you in touch with a foster mum experienced in hand rearing. I am 100% positive that for a small donation you could have someone on hand who has all the experience you need. They will have dealt with handrearing much much more than your average breeder, and be in the best position to help you. Editing to add, that if any of the kittens are weaker then its quite possible that a foster mum for rescue will be experienced with tube feeding and so could very well save their lives!

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I like Royal Canin milk too ... used to use KMR but now I've got used to Royal Canin I really like it. I never get any lumps.

But I hate their bottles with a passion. Useless stupid things they are.

The Lactol / Shellys / Beaphar ones... yep, those are my favourites.

Do you have a reliable heat source for the kittens ???

Also make sure the environement they're kept in isn't too dry or you could get skin problems .... what with central heating and everything sealed fro draughts ... rooms can get very dry. A soaked face cloth usually does the trick, or one of those "hang on the radiator" thingies filled with water.

yep moist atmosphere is essential

as is a good heat mat


ooh and some cotton wool (face pads) for cleaning up milky chops and stimulating bowels

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please donate if you can!

If the only issue is blood group you will only have to feed those kittens for 24 hours, not hand rear them. The gut won't absorb the antibodies after that time and they can safely feed from their mother. Has anyone suggested you get in some colostrum for them? They won't get any from their mum because you'll need to remove them during that crucial time when the gut will absorb antibodies.

Alison, if you haven't read this yet, I think you should: The Cat Breeders Handbook - Google Books

It's from The Cat Breeder's Handbook. I have the book, but I found the two pages from the section on feline blood types and neonatal isoerythryolysis, and it includes a few ways of handling the kittens for the first 24 hours.

I would also consider making a wrap for her out of a few layers of old stocking, or even better (less likely to be pushed out of the way) a converted babygrow, so that you don't have to separate her from the kittens, especially as this is her first litter.

It really would be a pity if she ended up rejecting the whole litter because she didn't get to bond with them when her hormones are at their peak soon after birth, and then you would end up hand-rearing the entire litter, which is not only exhausting and difficult, but you are more likely to lose some or all of them if you have to do it.

Ive hand reared many tiny pups over the years , yorkies and papps and they are terrible for getting them to suck , much harder than kittens and the best bottle to use in my opinion is the shirleys beapher bottle , the teats are softer than any of the others so feel a bit more natural for them and you can slightly squeeze the bottle a bit if you need to to get them going , the glass bananna shaped ones are ver difficult to control if you have never done it before so id say stay clear of these or you could easily end up aspirating the kittens .

As atlantys has said get something to make some kind of body stocking for the mum so the kittens can still stay with her and she can bond with them plus she'll do all the cleaning they need to stimulate their bladder and bowels , when ive had a bitch in the past with eclampsia and she has not been allowed to feed the pups ive used a pair of tights around the bitch so i could feed the pups and then put them back with her .

Echo the advice re colustrum etc I used a tiny syringe when I had to handfeed millie for a few days before she latched on as I found the bottles tricky and so did she so my advice would be to have allsorts of supplies at hand!

Lots of hugs and best wishes on this Alison - touch wood all the babies will be fine