Help wanted: how do I care for kittens?

[Sammy Boy]

Okay... this is not really a "tutorial" thing, but I am asking for help, so it seemed appropriate.

Anyway.... I am sure many of you have pets. I've never had any pets. I don't know how to take care of them. But, I kind of have pets now. So, I would like some help, please. Thanks.

We noticed what seem to be two stray cats with no owners, always hanging around our backyard. They are skinny, and always seem to be looking for food. They always seem to sleep too, I am not sure if this is because they are hungry.

My dad decided to put up a temporary shelter for them when they are around. He got a cardboard box, and raised it with a foam foundation so the water won't soak through the box. It's left under the eaves of our neighbour's roof, which is connected to our yard. So when it rains, that area will still be dry.

Next, I went and bought dried cat food. I got the one that's for 1-12 month old kittens, because they are around that age.

The question I have is, I am not sure how much to feed them. Anyone have any guidelines? I get the impression that if I keep putting food out, they will keep eating it. Last time I did this with my grandparents' cat when I was in China, she ended vomiting part of the food because she ate too much.

I don't want that to happen to these kittens, but at the same time I don't want them to go hungry.

Each cat biscuit is only around the size of your fingertip, and I put out around 30-40 cat biscuits for both cats. They are also very shy of people, whenever I try to go out and put more food, they run away. So I have to do this when they are not around.

They keep licking the bowl when the biscuits are all eaten, and I get the feeling they might still be hungry. But I am not sure if they are hungry, or whether they just liked the taste of the biscuits.

We don't consider the kittens to be ours. As far as we know, they belong to no one.... so I guess we feel we have some responsibility to take care of them.

Admittedly, I am more partial to cats and dogs than say, cockroaches, even though they are also part of God's creation.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Esoteric]

Are they really small or just skinny? Usually the food package will say how much of it to feed a kitten depending on it's age. Either way, if these are strays, it's a sure bet they're going to be hungry even when you feed them a proper amount. That said, two handfulls (handfull=half a cup)of food a day, one in the morning, one in the evening (per cat) is a pretty safe rule. After a while, if you don't notice them gaining any weight on this amount, you could increase it.

It's not uncommon for cats to vomit either. They ingest hair when they lick themselves and it collects in their stomaches. When the hairball gets big enough, the vomit to out (usually after they've just eaten). But I also had a cat once who simply had a sensitive stomach. It was annoying, but he would vomit a lot for no apparent reason. While these strays are getting used to the food, they may vomit some as well since they are simply not used to eating very much.
Cats also have a reputation for sleeping ALOT. They'll sleep anywhere from 12-20 hours a day!
Oh, and you may not want to leave any cat food out over night. It attracts other animals, like opposums, skunks, and other strays.

[MyrrhLynn]

Well Esoteric pretty much gave you the ultimate tutorial to kitten care right there! I second the "don't leave food out at night" thing. It could attract other critters (or other stray cats) that could be a hassled and even potentially hurt "your" cats.

Some cats will eat until they are hungry, others just keep eating until they get sick or get distracted with something else. And cat can vomit if they eat their food too fast! Which is actually something these cats are likely to do, since they will be trying to eat it as quickly as possible.

I don't know if you are trying to turn them into pets or not, but if you want to tame them I suggest talking to them as much as possible. Even if they run away, chances are they are still in earshot. You may feel dumb, but if you want to tame them they have to get used to you first.

Oh and cats will lick out the bowl if they like how it tasted. You could try very slowly increasing their food if you think they need more, but most likely they just love how it tastes so they are trying to get ever last bit.

Good luck!

[Kaligraphic]

Remember, if they're cute, you should enlist them as child soldiers in the Kitten War.

[Sammy Boy]

Thanks to all who gave advice and help, much appreciated. Wow, I didn't know there were so many interesting things about cats!

They are a bit bigger now, with more weight as I think they have some food now. I really need to read the cat food box - how could I have forgotten about something like this?!

I haven't seen any other critters around my yard, except maybe small lizards, one of which the cats once caught. I saw one of the kittens catching a cicada and eating it too. Hmm... they must love critters.

Oh, I will also try talking to them, hope they won't run away in the future.

[Mithrandir]

Remember, if they're cute, you should enlist them as child soldiers in the Kitten War.

If you've never done it, you MUST click on the "losingest kittens of all time" link. Few things in life will affect you in this way.

[termyt]

Remember, if they're cute, you should enlist them as child soldiers in the Kitten War.

I'm not sure which is more surprising. That such a website exists or that Kaligraphic is the one who knew about it.

[Raiden no Kishi]

Also, if you're going to keep them, keep them in the house. It's safer for the kitties to be inside and stay inside. Every time I see a stray cat, I seethe a little that the owner didn't pay attention and keep track of their kitty.

BE EXCELLENT TO THE KITTIES.

And party on, dude!

.rai//

[Yumie]

It seems that almost all the angles have been covered, but I thought I'd mention that I've heard that strays will always eat and eat and eat so long as there is food. They always eat whenever they find food because they don't know when they'll find food next (I'm sure their thought process is not as logical as that, but they have some sort of instinct that tells them to keep eating.) We took care of a stray kitten for a few days, and seriously, he ate like 5 times more than my fully grown (and very fat) cat eats at a regular meal when we kept adding food every time he emptied the dish. Then we finally caught on and quit refilling the dish every time he emptied it, and at future meals he proved to be content with just a good handful of food.

Also, on a more disgusting topic, in the case you ever consider leaving out a dish of milk, don't. It gives them diarrhea. Sorry to mention such a gross detail, but believe me, it's better to read about it than to have to clean it up.

Good luck with the little guys!

[Mithrandir]

And check your catfood to make sure it wasn't part of the pet food recall

[Raiden no Kishi]

Also, on a more disgusting topic, in the case you ever consider leaving out a dish of milk, don't. It gives them diarrhea. Sorry to mention such a gross detail, but believe me, it's better to read about it than to have to clean it up.

Good luck with the little guys!

Quoted for truth. Milk messes with my kitty's digestive tract too.

.rai//

[bakura_fan]

And check your catfood to make sure it wasn't part of the pet food recall

agreed. For those of you who remeber Suki *my parent's black and white pomeranian*, she has a toxin problem *levels in her system were at 500, now the're around 150 thanks to meds*, she was eating the same food that was in the recal. So yeah, always be careful with food and what not.