kittens in need of some help

Question
My friends cat just had 2 kittens. The situation is that she is not properly feeding them. And the umbilical cord is still attached to them after 2 days born. I have read about the KMT (milk for kittens) however my friend has no money right now to purchase the milk for them. Secondly she just told me that the umbilical cords are very hard and difficult for her to remove.

Answer
Are the umbilical cords still attached to mom cat? If so, they need to be cut. The umbilical cord should be tied about 1 inch from the body with fine thread and cut on the side of the knot away from the kitten. Apply a drop of iodine or merthiolate to the cord end after it is cut. The part that is attched to the kittens should not be removed. It will fall off on its own soon enough so just leave it there. As far as feeding, kittens need to eat every two hours around the clock. If the mom cat isn't doing it, you have to or they will certainly die. It is absolutely necessary that they be fed the milk replacement for kittens (KMR) that you refer to. No substitute will work. Regular milk is an absolute NO-NO. It will cause diarhea which can be fatal to the kittens. A proper kitten bottle looks just like a baby bottle, only smaller. There really isn't any alternative if the mom cat isn't feeding them, or they will surely not survive. The kittens also will need vet care for dewormings and shots and so on. You also don't mention how the cat got pregnant but if the father is unknown, the kittens will need even more vet attention. Additionally, with the inability to afford the kitten care you mention, it is imperative that this not happen again, so the mom-cat needs to be spayed right away as well. Youc an contact the local aspca or humane society as they usually have low cost spay/neuter programs available. If she cannot afford the proper care of the kittens, she should consult the aspca, human society or your vet to see if they can recommend anything locally offering lower cost products or perhaps to see if the kittens can be handed over to a foster home that can give them the care needed. But please act quickly because if the kittens aren't being fed they will not survive.