Orphaned kittens

Question
I have 3-4 week old kittens (all girls, I found them in my backyard) I don't think they're eating properly and they're not putting on any weight. They drink half an ounce of mothers milk replacement at each feeding (3-4 times daily) they have teeth but they aren't getting the hang of drinking ad eating out of a dish. They sleep mostly all day and when they are active all they do is cry and I can't get them to stop. If you have a list of instructions please let me know my vets office really isn't that helpful with my questions. Thanks so much.

Answer
Bless you for taking these little innocents in! Did their mom get hit by a car? So sad...

Maybe the milk replacer was old when you bought it and it hasn't got much nutritional value left in it. Get some fresh. If you can, get some Nurturall, it's the best we have ever used.

Are you feeding them at night before you go to bed a well? That will help them make it all night.

Make sure they are warm. Cold kittens will cry a lot. Put a heat lamp way above them so that you can barely feel the heat when you hold your hand about 2 1/2 feet above the kittens. Make sure they have a lot of soft, but not shreddable bedding. Tee shirts are good for this reason and towels are really bad. The strings can wrap around their toes and feet and cut them off!
Spend time with them as well. Are they eliminating on their own are you are having to help them by stroking them?

The best way to get them to start eating is to just leave it out for about 15 mins or so. If they are only 4 weeks old, or 3 to 4 weeks old, (not sure which it is by what you wrote), they are too young to eat. Most kittens won't eat solids until they are starting into their 5th week. If they can't smell the food they are less tempted as well to eat it. Get them some really smelly tuna cat food and start them with that, slowly working into some Science Diet kitten growth in canned and then dry. It's made with superior nutrition to help them really be healthy and strong.

Kittens do cry a lot when their cruise around if they are not sleeping. It's just the way they can be. If their little tummy's are barely rounded when they are done drinking then they are getting enough. A four week old kitten should pack in about 1/2 to 3/4 of kitten baby bottle. They are really growing fast at this point.

I'm sorry that your vet office isn't being more helpful. Here is an article with all the information you might need to get them on track:

http://www.petplace.com/article-printer-friendly.aspx?id=305

Let me know how they are doing in a week or so!