How to Take Care of Abandoned Newborn Kittens

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Every now and then, you can see abandoned newborn kittens on the streets. Is there any way to save them?

Taking care of the abandoned newborn kitten

As emergency care for the abandoned newborn kittens, you can do the following to save their lives:

Clean their body. Get rid of dirt and fleas.

Most abandoned newborn kittens are full of dirt and infested with fleas. So before you put them inside a place where they could rest, clean them first.

Do not bathe the kittens even if you prepare a warm bath for them. Newborn kittens do not yet have the ability to regulate their own body temperature.

The best thing to do is get a clean, soft rag to wipe the dirt off. As for the fleas, pluck them out using a tweezer or even with your own hands.

I personally do not advise putting anti-flea powder on them or anti-flea sprays or flea collar. The chemicals in them might just be too strong for a newborn kitten. It would only be like giving coffee to a baby.

Keep the kittens warm.

Place the kittens inside a slightly tall box lined with newspaper or rags to keep them warm. Cover them with a soft towel to serve as a blanket. But these might not be enough to keep them warm since kittens do not know yet how to regulate their body temperature.

To add warmth, get a heating pad and wrap it inside a towel. Place it inside the box. If you don't have a heating pad, you can place the box under an incandescent bulb. Know how little chicks are kept warm under a light?

Bottle-feed the kittens.

I know that most of us do not expect to see abandoned newborn kittens every day so we essentially do not have the most appropriate equipment to save a kitten's life.

Alternative for bottle-feeders:

So instead of bottle-feeding the kitten, you can use a medicine dropper to feed them. Or if you don't have a medicine dropper, you can use a small syringe. Or use a cotton bud and dip it on the milk.

What should you feed your kittens?

If you have a momma cat with milk, slip the kittens with them so that the momma cat will serve as a surrogate mother.

But if there's none, you can feed the kittens with a lactose-free milk.

What if there's no lactose-free milk?

Some of you reading this might get mad at me. But if I don't have lactose-free milk, I feed the abandoned newborn kittens with any kind of milk I have such as powdered milk or cow's milk to help them prevent low blood sugar.

It's an emergency situation, you need to help the kittens with the available resources you have.

How often should I feed the kittens?

Every 3 hours, but do not overfeed them or their tummies will bloat. After every feeding, massage their anus and urinary orifice to help them eliminate bowels.


If you ever find abandoned, newborn kittens, please save them. They can still live, contrary to what other people are saying - that the newborn kittens are surely gonna die because they are not able to drink their momma cat's milk.