Hand-Raising the Orphaned Kitten [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Myrna L. Papurt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Here's detailed advice on weaning and nurturing newborn kittens that have been orphaned or abandoned by their mother. Topics include:

Equipment you'll need in order to keep newborn kittens safe and help them flourish.

Instructions on keeping the animals clean, handling them correctly, and raising them to the point where they can begin to take care of themselves.

Important nutritional information - setting up a feeding schedule and knowing what and how much to feed.

What to do when your kittens get sick.

The book includes full-color illustrations, line art, sources of equipment and supplies, and a glossary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 97 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; illustrated edition edition (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764107275
• ISBN-13: 978-0764107276
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #584,776 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mostly good guide, January 4, 2002

By	Patricia O'Tuama "rissa" (Illinois) - See all my reviews

I have hand-raised over 100 orphaned kittens over the last seven years for the humane society where I volunteer, and am the former manager of it's temporary home care program where we care for an average of 300 orphaned kittens every year. I like some parts of this book very much but I can only recommend it with reservation. Especially good is the information on: 1) bedding materials (I liked her admonition that you want to keep the kittens warm, "not cook them"); 2) how to feed kittens from a bottle; 3) commercial and home-made milk substitutes; 4) kitten illnesses and disorders; 5) early spay-neuter of young kittens; 6) zoonosis (ie, the diseases and parasites cats and humans can transmit to each other); and 7) the terrible problem of cat overpopulation that exists today.

The parts I find troubling begin with the author's suggestion that someone with orphaned kittens first attempt to find a mother cat to care for them. Dr Papurt is concerned about diseases or parasites the stepmother might pass to the kittens but doesn't mention the fact that you may be putting the mom cat at risk for contamination by the kittens, especially if you found or were given the kittens and don't know anything about their medical history. I speak from experience -- after several success stories of adding orphans to the litters of other mother cats, I gave three orphans to a four year-old mom with one kitten of her own. We knew the history of the mother cat -- she had been an inside cat, she and her kitten had been given up for adoption after their owner died. But we knew nothing about the orphaned kittens who had been found on a farm. Within two weeks, all of the animals were dead of feline panleukopenia, spread from the orphans to the mom cat and her kitten.

The biggest problem I have with the book, however, is Dr Papurt's suggestion that kittens be separated from the time they are born until they are weaned six or seven weeks later. Her reasoning for this is that unless they are kept isolated from one another, infant kittens will chew or suck on each other's ears, tails, paws or genitals. In my experience, not only is this reaction very rare, but of the nine or ten cases I've seen of this behavior, all but two were directly attributable to the kittens being underfed (the isolated cases were two "neurotic" kittens that continued this behavior through the time they were adopted at the age of four months). I think baby kittens need to be together, they keep each other warm and they enhance each other's sense of safety and well-being. A kitten that feels isolated or abandoned will rapidly become unhappy and agitated, crying loudly for it's mother. Furthermore, older kittens must have contact with their littermates in order to become properly socialized with other cats plus they need to play with each other in order to develop motor skills.

I also found Dr Papurt's suggestion that you can mark the kittens with "ink, paint or nail polish" or cut their hair in various patterns after they are weaned and put with their siblings in order to tell them apart to be just plain bizarre. It can be difficult to tell infant all-black or all-white kittens apart but after a few weeks, differences in size, demeanor and face are usually apparent, as is the sex of the kitten. (...)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Saved By the Book!, December 2, 2001

By	Joyce Cummings (Missouri) - See all my reviews

As a foster mom in a local humane society, I took in a small, scrawny, crippled and very pregnant kitty. She hardly looked old enough to be out of kittenhood, herself. When her eight (yes, eight!) kittens were born, I knew I would have to watch closely in order to save them all. One gray tabby lay on his side, quiet and cool to the touch. I grabbed "Hand Raising the Orphaned Kitten" and quickly learned that the kitten needed a sucrose solution immediately. Reacting as quickly as possible, I mixed a solution of water and white syrup in a glass and gently fed it to the kitten with an eye dropper. Within half an hour, the kitten was less dehydrated and had higher blood sugar. Soon he began to search for his mother, strong enough now to compete for a place at the dinner table. Two months later, little Julius and his seven siblings are alive and thriving, thanks to the valuable information contained in this book. The text is simply written, understandable to the layman and easily applied. Even though Julius and his siblings were not completely hand raised, I supplemented their nursing with bottle feedings for six weeks, according to careful instructions in this book. I am certain Julius would not have survived if I had not read the information in M. L. Papurt's wonderful book!

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a helpful guide to raising young "FLOOFIES", March 10, 2003

By	Stephanie M. Holland "Self Help GURU" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I rescued an abandoned kitten from the yard of a friend who was moving (during the moving process, the mom left him behind), I had no idea where to begin. I called the local pet store for advice and they told me what kind of kitten formula to feed him since he was only about 3 weeks old at the time, but they gave little advice on any other care. This book helped show me how to keep him clean, how often to feed him, housebreaking tips and so forth. I recommend it to anyone inheriting a new "baby" Floofie into the family.