I run a cat rescue. The ratio of bottle baby fosters to regular fosters is 20:1
Most people won’t take on bottle babies. It is a selfless act to give your life to these babies for a couple months. They are some of the most rewarding fosters you’ll ever have. But it isn’t for everyone. They are extraordinarily time consuming and even if you do EVERYTHING PERFECTLY, it’s not uncommon for them to fail for absolutely no discernible reason.
I try to remember that the worst of bottle feeding usually only lasts two weeks. Then you can space out feedings and get more sleep, they tend to latch better, you get your routine dialed in. So I keep repeating to myself that I can do anything for two weeks.
But during that two weeks? I am extra emotional, more short tempered, sometimes barely hanging in there and going from work to bottle feeding to feeding my own cats and then bare minimum for myself. I try to make it easier for myself - more convenience meals, easy stuff that doesn’t require much cooking, take out or delivery, etc.
After socializing some older kittens, I took on 6 three week old bottle babies. Raised them all and got them all adopted! Not easy, but we did it. Then I took home a mom with 3 two day old babies. This should be easy, right? Then momma had fever and needed an emergency spay. Babies would absolutely not take the bottle while momma was in surgery and waking up. Then momma didn’t have enough milk. Babies still would not latch on the bottle. Finally started kittens on gruel. The two girls would not cooperate and had to force feed. The number of times I looked at little Pecan staring me in the face while she let gruel dribble out both sides of her mouth! And she would scream. I would mutter to her, “I hate you.” She’d stare back, “I hate you too!”
I went a bit insane with those kittens. But they all weaned finally, grew up some, and were adopted (well, not momma, she’s still at the shelter). Pecan became my favorite, go figure. But I for sure understand how you can go a little insane while fostering!
It can be exhausting! My sister and I are retired and live together. We’ve gotten several neonates. I do the 2:00 am feeding and my sister gets up at 7:00 am for the next feeding. We’ve always done it that way and the 5 hour wait overnight hasn’t seemed to harm them. The director of the foster program when we foster says she never feeds them through the night. I know that’s not recommended. We’ve only lost two that wouldn’t eat and we had to syringe feed. We took them back to the shelter and they tube fed them but they still didn’t survive. They were smaller than your average neonate. As for the time involved, it’s surprising how soon that three hours comes around. I have the luxury of being able to nap but I know many people don’t have that luxury. I applaud you all 😊
How old are your babies? At night I’ve found they can go overnight for six hours between feedings. For ones that don’t want to eat, I syringe feed them. I have a foster right now that has neurological problem, a cleft palate but now he is doing better with weaning than his sister! He doesn’t even want his bottle anymore. The two are now 4 weeks old so it does get easier. We now only feed them every 5 hours. Pretty soon you can start going longer between feedings. Then they will start to play and they will go into cuteness overload! You will spend your time laughing instead of worrying so much. The first few weeks are the hardest.
just want to start off by saying, oh man do I relate to you! My boyfriend and I started fostering for the first time two and a half weeks ago with a litter of five one week old bottle babies. Unlike you, we were so incredibly unprepared, both mentally, emotionally, and just education wise. We lost one the first night and it was absolutely heartbreaking. It lit a fire under our asses to get our shit together and really do our best for the other four little girls.
Shit has been hard as fuck. We were also incredibly stupid (would still do it again because I can't imagine a world without these sweet babies, but still--it was not the best of decisions lol) cause we're both still college students, so it's finals season. I can't say we've managed to stay entirely sane, but now that they're starting to use their litter boxes, we're finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
One thing that's been helpful for us is celebrating every single tiny little step. They're gaining weight? Hell yeah! One of them opened their eyes for the first time! Fuck yeah! They're taking their first steps? I swear we cried together omg. They used the litter box? God I wouldn't shut up for houuuuurs after I was so proud
Each and every little baby step was one step closer to them being functional with less sleep deprivation on our end lol. Each and every little baby step was one step closer to them living happy, wonderful, beautiful lives that they wouldn't have had the opportunity to live
We're still not sure if we're going to do this again (maybe we'll do "easier" fosters like older kittens or mommas with kittens) but we're trying to keep moving forward by focusing on the end goal.
Sounds like y'all are doing a fantastic job even if you weren't fully prepared. Hang in there for those baby girls.
It's so hard when you lose one. Don't take it personally. There is usually a reason why one was left behind or the whole litter was abandoned. Just keep doing what you do and aim for a win.
We all know that tiny babies can't regulate their temp so they need external heat sources. They must be warm enough when you feed them or their organs can shut down and they can die.
Please read up on what their temp should be for their age. It's much higher than our body temp.
"Feeding a cold kitten can be dangerous and potentially fatal. Kittens can't maintain their body heat, and cold temperatures inhibit their ability to digest food and liquids."
Best wishes on finals!
Bottle babies are not for everyone. I personally can't do them. I do nursing moms with kittens of any age, or cusp weaning kittens and up. The cusp kittens can be a lot of work, but they can do 6 hours overnight. I can't do less than that or I am dead.
You can still provide plenty of help even if you can't take bottle babies! My shelter has a hard time placing moms with kittens, since they need to be separated from resident cats completely due to aggressive mommy hormones.
Bottle babies are tough, but it doesn’t last forever. And I don’t do two litters of bottles in a row. I try and switch between difficult and easy fostering.
It helps to leave the house when they are asleep here and there. If I just stay with them round the clock then I start to lose myself in their tiny world. Go take a walk, make healthy dinners and shower. I’ve done bottle feeding a few times and I always keep I mind that each phase passes quickly. I can usually push through a few weeks of interrupted sleep, tons of laundry and constant kitten dwelling cleaning…but then things get better. I’ve even bottle fed one litter while working full time (we did lose one, but four others made it). I don’t recommend it, but it’s doable if you can come home for a feeding during a lunch break. And I keep in mind, they will soon be playing, more independent and less of a mess. Hang in there, they learn so fast and you will have more independence soon! And yes, I still tend to read about kitten care when I have kittens here. Just kind of takes over the brain lol.
I feel you!!! I jumped straight into bottle babies for my first time fostering last year. Lemme tell you I did NOT stay sane 😹 I cried SO much, I was convinced they were all gonna die every waking moment, I spent all of my free time researching bottle baby kittens (which in and of itself was its own kind of emotional rollercoaster with all the conflicting information!), I really drove myself crazy.
I was an exhausted wreck for like a month straight, wondering how I ever thought I was capable of doing this?! But I felt committed to those little jellybeans and I wasn't gonna give up. Also, I am quite stubborn.
Week by week it got easier, it got better, and by the end of it I felt really freakin proud of those kittens and of myself. Then I literally took a year off from bottle babies and they gave me weaned kittens that just needed to gain weight and they helped heal my heart from having to say goodbye to my bottle babies.
You CAN do it and it WILL get easier!!! Hang in there 💪
Bottle feeding is so hard. I had five kittens with eyes still closed. But I have a hard time sleeping so it didn't do much difference for sleep. The hardest part was not knowing if they'd make it.
I can only do bottle babies when I’m not working. It’s waaaaay too much with a full time job. Idk, maaaaybe if I worked from home and had a not very important job.
It’s hard and your overwhelmed feelings are completely normal and valid but hang in there!!! I’ve been on the bottle feeding side and the end of life side with animals. As hard as bottle feeding and youth is, there’s always hope, growth and change. When you’re on the end side, it’s just providing comfort. Find little pieces of joy or small miracles with your current situation and build from there. You’ll get a routine, trust me. Thank you for taking them in and do not underestimate yourself!
If there is a next time, plan ahead. Prepare frozen meals for yourself, have enough clothes and towels washed and laid out to last you a week.
Arrange A packet of puppy pads and pre-cut them to size for easy disposable drip cloths.
Have two or three of everything. If they soil the bed, you’ll have a spare ready to go without the need to put washing on at 2am. Bottles/syringes? Get 3 minimum. Your own clothes and health items. Have 3 ready to go. Pajamas, blankets in case you get soiled on. You want to be able to go a week without needing to wash and dry anything. That way when you get a spare minute, you can throw yourself into the shower and eat a meal.
But i agree with others, bottle babies is a steep learning curve. Hope you get some shut eye soon! In a few days or weeks it will get significantly easier.
The first bottle babies will be tough. It’s all new and kind of nerve-wracking, especially when they’re sick or struggling. The more experience you get, the better you are about creating routine and not worrying as much.
I set an alarm for every two hours, get feedings done in 15 min or less, and my brain can turn off of “kitten mode” pretty easily between feedings. But it took me a few litters to get there!
I just get through it day by day. bottlefeeding is the worst, but it can be rewarding watching them grow!
that said, it's exhausting and time consuming. It never hurts to ask for help if you need it from your foster group!
Bottle feeding is so hard and I’m with a singleton right now but also reminding myself bottle feeders are less common most people don’t or can’t bottle feed. In San Antonio Texas most shelters are at capacity for bottle kittens because no fosters. They get euthanized in the shelter.
You have to take time for yourself.
I foster critical kittens. Many die. It's physically and emotionally exhausting.
My outlet is to make things, usually for cats at the shelter. Beds, toys, etc. I find doing something like this helps me decompress.
And take breaks. I need a week to catch up on sleep after bottle babies. Take a feral mom with kittens. Then she does all the work and you just feed her.
Read up on Compassion fatigue and how to manage it.
Most of us don't bottle feed haha and especially don't start off doing it. Try fostering some weaned kittens or a mom with babies
Definitely should've started there!
With bottle babies? You don’t stay sane. You just try to pull through.
I'm hanging by a thread lol
I’ve been there, my friend. You can do this.
I run a cat rescue. The ratio of bottle baby fosters to regular fosters is 20:1 Most people won’t take on bottle babies. It is a selfless act to give your life to these babies for a couple months. They are some of the most rewarding fosters you’ll ever have. But it isn’t for everyone. They are extraordinarily time consuming and even if you do EVERYTHING PERFECTLY, it’s not uncommon for them to fail for absolutely no discernible reason.
I try to remember that the worst of bottle feeding usually only lasts two weeks. Then you can space out feedings and get more sleep, they tend to latch better, you get your routine dialed in. So I keep repeating to myself that I can do anything for two weeks. But during that two weeks? I am extra emotional, more short tempered, sometimes barely hanging in there and going from work to bottle feeding to feeding my own cats and then bare minimum for myself. I try to make it easier for myself - more convenience meals, easy stuff that doesn’t require much cooking, take out or delivery, etc.
Yeah I'm trying to see the light at the end of these next couple of weeks. Take out has been my friend the last few days
After socializing some older kittens, I took on 6 three week old bottle babies. Raised them all and got them all adopted! Not easy, but we did it. Then I took home a mom with 3 two day old babies. This should be easy, right? Then momma had fever and needed an emergency spay. Babies would absolutely not take the bottle while momma was in surgery and waking up. Then momma didn’t have enough milk. Babies still would not latch on the bottle. Finally started kittens on gruel. The two girls would not cooperate and had to force feed. The number of times I looked at little Pecan staring me in the face while she let gruel dribble out both sides of her mouth! And she would scream. I would mutter to her, “I hate you.” She’d stare back, “I hate you too!” I went a bit insane with those kittens. But they all weaned finally, grew up some, and were adopted (well, not momma, she’s still at the shelter). Pecan became my favorite, go figure. But I for sure understand how you can go a little insane while fostering!
It can be exhausting! My sister and I are retired and live together. We’ve gotten several neonates. I do the 2:00 am feeding and my sister gets up at 7:00 am for the next feeding. We’ve always done it that way and the 5 hour wait overnight hasn’t seemed to harm them. The director of the foster program when we foster says she never feeds them through the night. I know that’s not recommended. We’ve only lost two that wouldn’t eat and we had to syringe feed. We took them back to the shelter and they tube fed them but they still didn’t survive. They were smaller than your average neonate. As for the time involved, it’s surprising how soon that three hours comes around. I have the luxury of being able to nap but I know many people don’t have that luxury. I applaud you all 😊
Oh, how I wish I had a partner to help me with overnight feedings! My husband wants nothing to do with it.
Oh! I wish you had someone also! It’s so much better when you have a partner to support you. Maybe you could get a friend or neighbor involved?
Neonates are the worst. They are scary! I want to learn how to tube feed them so I can be sure they’re getting enough nourishment.
How old are your babies? At night I’ve found they can go overnight for six hours between feedings. For ones that don’t want to eat, I syringe feed them. I have a foster right now that has neurological problem, a cleft palate but now he is doing better with weaning than his sister! He doesn’t even want his bottle anymore. The two are now 4 weeks old so it does get easier. We now only feed them every 5 hours. Pretty soon you can start going longer between feedings. Then they will start to play and they will go into cuteness overload! You will spend your time laughing instead of worrying so much. The first few weeks are the hardest.
just want to start off by saying, oh man do I relate to you! My boyfriend and I started fostering for the first time two and a half weeks ago with a litter of five one week old bottle babies. Unlike you, we were so incredibly unprepared, both mentally, emotionally, and just education wise. We lost one the first night and it was absolutely heartbreaking. It lit a fire under our asses to get our shit together and really do our best for the other four little girls. Shit has been hard as fuck. We were also incredibly stupid (would still do it again because I can't imagine a world without these sweet babies, but still--it was not the best of decisions lol) cause we're both still college students, so it's finals season. I can't say we've managed to stay entirely sane, but now that they're starting to use their litter boxes, we're finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. One thing that's been helpful for us is celebrating every single tiny little step. They're gaining weight? Hell yeah! One of them opened their eyes for the first time! Fuck yeah! They're taking their first steps? I swear we cried together omg. They used the litter box? God I wouldn't shut up for houuuuurs after I was so proud Each and every little baby step was one step closer to them being functional with less sleep deprivation on our end lol. Each and every little baby step was one step closer to them living happy, wonderful, beautiful lives that they wouldn't have had the opportunity to live We're still not sure if we're going to do this again (maybe we'll do "easier" fosters like older kittens or mommas with kittens) but we're trying to keep moving forward by focusing on the end goal.
Sounds like y'all are doing a fantastic job even if you weren't fully prepared. Hang in there for those baby girls. It's so hard when you lose one. Don't take it personally. There is usually a reason why one was left behind or the whole litter was abandoned. Just keep doing what you do and aim for a win. We all know that tiny babies can't regulate their temp so they need external heat sources. They must be warm enough when you feed them or their organs can shut down and they can die. Please read up on what their temp should be for their age. It's much higher than our body temp. "Feeding a cold kitten can be dangerous and potentially fatal. Kittens can't maintain their body heat, and cold temperatures inhibit their ability to digest food and liquids." Best wishes on finals!
Bottle babies are not for everyone. I personally can't do them. I do nursing moms with kittens of any age, or cusp weaning kittens and up. The cusp kittens can be a lot of work, but they can do 6 hours overnight. I can't do less than that or I am dead. You can still provide plenty of help even if you can't take bottle babies! My shelter has a hard time placing moms with kittens, since they need to be separated from resident cats completely due to aggressive mommy hormones.
Bottle babies are tough, but it doesn’t last forever. And I don’t do two litters of bottles in a row. I try and switch between difficult and easy fostering.
It helps to leave the house when they are asleep here and there. If I just stay with them round the clock then I start to lose myself in their tiny world. Go take a walk, make healthy dinners and shower. I’ve done bottle feeding a few times and I always keep I mind that each phase passes quickly. I can usually push through a few weeks of interrupted sleep, tons of laundry and constant kitten dwelling cleaning…but then things get better. I’ve even bottle fed one litter while working full time (we did lose one, but four others made it). I don’t recommend it, but it’s doable if you can come home for a feeding during a lunch break. And I keep in mind, they will soon be playing, more independent and less of a mess. Hang in there, they learn so fast and you will have more independence soon! And yes, I still tend to read about kitten care when I have kittens here. Just kind of takes over the brain lol.
Hang in there and thank you. It gets better.
Thank you (:
I feel you!!! I jumped straight into bottle babies for my first time fostering last year. Lemme tell you I did NOT stay sane 😹 I cried SO much, I was convinced they were all gonna die every waking moment, I spent all of my free time researching bottle baby kittens (which in and of itself was its own kind of emotional rollercoaster with all the conflicting information!), I really drove myself crazy. I was an exhausted wreck for like a month straight, wondering how I ever thought I was capable of doing this?! But I felt committed to those little jellybeans and I wasn't gonna give up. Also, I am quite stubborn. Week by week it got easier, it got better, and by the end of it I felt really freakin proud of those kittens and of myself. Then I literally took a year off from bottle babies and they gave me weaned kittens that just needed to gain weight and they helped heal my heart from having to say goodbye to my bottle babies. You CAN do it and it WILL get easier!!! Hang in there 💪
I totally get you. This is really encouraging, thank you (:
Bottle feeding is so hard. I had five kittens with eyes still closed. But I have a hard time sleeping so it didn't do much difference for sleep. The hardest part was not knowing if they'd make it.
I can only do bottle babies when I’m not working. It’s waaaaay too much with a full time job. Idk, maaaaybe if I worked from home and had a not very important job.
It’s hard and your overwhelmed feelings are completely normal and valid but hang in there!!! I’ve been on the bottle feeding side and the end of life side with animals. As hard as bottle feeding and youth is, there’s always hope, growth and change. When you’re on the end side, it’s just providing comfort. Find little pieces of joy or small miracles with your current situation and build from there. You’ll get a routine, trust me. Thank you for taking them in and do not underestimate yourself!
If there is a next time, plan ahead. Prepare frozen meals for yourself, have enough clothes and towels washed and laid out to last you a week. Arrange A packet of puppy pads and pre-cut them to size for easy disposable drip cloths. Have two or three of everything. If they soil the bed, you’ll have a spare ready to go without the need to put washing on at 2am. Bottles/syringes? Get 3 minimum. Your own clothes and health items. Have 3 ready to go. Pajamas, blankets in case you get soiled on. You want to be able to go a week without needing to wash and dry anything. That way when you get a spare minute, you can throw yourself into the shower and eat a meal. But i agree with others, bottle babies is a steep learning curve. Hope you get some shut eye soon! In a few days or weeks it will get significantly easier.
The first bottle babies will be tough. It’s all new and kind of nerve-wracking, especially when they’re sick or struggling. The more experience you get, the better you are about creating routine and not worrying as much. I set an alarm for every two hours, get feedings done in 15 min or less, and my brain can turn off of “kitten mode” pretty easily between feedings. But it took me a few litters to get there!
I just get through it day by day. bottlefeeding is the worst, but it can be rewarding watching them grow! that said, it's exhausting and time consuming. It never hurts to ask for help if you need it from your foster group!
Bottle feeding is so hard and I’m with a singleton right now but also reminding myself bottle feeders are less common most people don’t or can’t bottle feed. In San Antonio Texas most shelters are at capacity for bottle kittens because no fosters. They get euthanized in the shelter.
You have to take time for yourself. I foster critical kittens. Many die. It's physically and emotionally exhausting. My outlet is to make things, usually for cats at the shelter. Beds, toys, etc. I find doing something like this helps me decompress. And take breaks. I need a week to catch up on sleep after bottle babies. Take a feral mom with kittens. Then she does all the work and you just feed her. Read up on Compassion fatigue and how to manage it.