Injured Abandoned kitten

Question
I took my dog for a walk this morning and saw him jumping and pouncing near what turned out to be a fresh born baby kitten. There are a couple cats at my parents house that have been noticably pregnant. I'm afraid he scared the mother off and this kitten will die if i do nothing. The umbilical cord was attached to what I'm guessing was the birth sac, and was wrapped tightly around the kitten's hind leg. I removed it and it looks like the leg might be damaged. I haven't seen the mother cat come back, but we do have another cat that had a batch of kittens about 2 weeks ago. Is it possible for me to put the kitten with her litter and see if she will adopt it? I'm not sure what to do and I'm afraid this kitten will die. My vet isn't available on the weekends or I'd go to him.

Answer
Hi Rebecca,

The answer is yes, it is generally safe to do so.  I assume you have done so by now, or else you will have lost the little one.  There is a small risk that newborns under the age of 48 hours or so may have a conflicting blood type with the queen.  This can cause the kitten to suffer a reaction to antibodies in her milk.  However, this is possible with the kitten's natural mother, as well, so there is no major reason not to foster out an orphaned kitten to a lactating mother.

The only thing you will need to be cautious with here is that your cat's litter is quite a bit older, so this little one certainly won't get all the milk it needs fighting for it on its own.  While the litter sleeps, put this baby up to a teat to nurse all alone.  But be sure it isn't after the big kittens have just fed.  Mom will be completely dry!  When I have a foster kitten who is much smaller than the litter, I will often use a cage to let the little one have some uninterrupted meal time until she is old enough to shove her way into the mix.

Good luck!

Jessica