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How to care for week-old premature kittens if mom isn't interested?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Maine Coon | Female | unspayed | 7 months and 26 days old | 9 lbs

I have three premature kittens I would like to give 24 hour care. It's their mothers first litter and she doesn't seem interested in her kittens, she leaves them often and sits on them, I believe this is how one of her kittens has died already. My problem is though, where I am available to take care of the kittens, the mother will not be. Is this okay? Will it still increase their chances of catching up ? They are a week old.

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jeffrey Milner

Veterinarian

Published on June 9th, 2017

If you choose to care for them, your primary goal will be to keep them warm, stimulate their bowels / urinary tract, and feed them up to every 2-3 hours at first. The use of a blanket and heating pads may be required for warmth. If you do not have a heating pad, I would recommend going out to obtain one in the morning. As for stimulation, you need to rub their bellies and behinds to get them to go to the bathroom after each time they eat. As for feedings, you will need to obtain kitten milk replacer and a bottle. The kittens should be fed in an upright position as to avoid aspiration of the liquid. It is a tiring job and they still may not make it, so do not take it personally if things do not work out. You can certainly try to keep the kitten with mom if you think she isn't going to hurt them, but I would monitor them extremely carefully. If there is any indication of aggression remove them entirely. Hope this helps.

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    Answered By Claudia Fioravanti

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 13th, 2018

    Hi, sorry to hear that Loka passed away. You need to start bottle-feeding the kitten using a formula milk for kittens and bottles. They need to be fed every few hours, the formal milk box will tell you exactly how much and how often according to their age. You need to make sure they are fed in sternal position (NOT on their back or held as babies as they could get milk in their chest and die). You also need to massage they tummies after being fed to stimulate them going to the toilet. Please look at this web site : alleycatsalliance.org, into the education section for further information.

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