abandoned newborns

Question
I have an all outdoor cat so I tend to leave her food and water out on the porch so she can come and go as she likes. Recently, a stray has been living around our house also. Although this cat did not appear to be pregnant to me, she had two kittens under my car about 3 days ago. As Texas summers can be extremely hot, I slid a mat and some towels under there so maybe they wouldn't be on the hot cement. I checked yesterday to see if they were okay and the mother was gone, one kitten still had the majority of the cord attached, and the other had its cord and the sack all of which were dried up. I cut those off and left the kittens there thinking that the mother might return. I checked back a few hours later and she was no where to be found. She returned to eat and lounge on the porch but paid no attention to the cries of her kittens. I brought them up on the porch and put them in front of her and she still paid no attention. I had to leave for a few hours so I put them in the shade in an open pet box thinking that maybe she might take care of them if I wasn't around as she is afraid of any human. When I came back one of the kittens had crawled up out of the box and all the way across my yard and half way into my neighbors yard and I couldn't find the mother anywhere. I've gotten them to drink a very small amount of formula from a bottle, they wouldn't take much. I'm very confused about what to do. Any advice is very appreciated.

Thank you,
Lauren

Answer
Well, the titla of your question says it all - abandoned. It is an unfortunate fact that many young female strays are just not good mothers. They probably didn't have a great life on the street and often they are pregnant way too young. It is not that unusual for them to not know or care what to do. There may be nothing at all you can do that will make her a good mom so I am afraid that you will have to be surrogate mom if you want these kittens to live. My first advice is, if its any way possible, bring the kittens in your house somewhere. It is the only way to keep track of them. I suggest you get a large cardboard moving box and keep them in it with towels in the bottom. This will keep them safely contained and they can stay like this until 5 weeks old. Just let them out a couple times a day for supervised paly and they will mostly sleep otherwise, just like a human baby. Feeding by bottle should be at least every four hours at this young age. If they aren't eating it could be because they aren't eliminating. Kittens cannot poop on their own. They need mom to stimulate them to go by licking their bellies. Without mom doing it, you need to. You should gently rub their tummies with your fingers. They should both pee and poop while you are doing this. That is the only way to be sure they are eliminating waste. This needs to be done every morning and again after every feeding and again before sleep for the night. I cannot stress enough that this must be done. They will surely die if they are not given this stimulation to eliminate their wastes. In addition, they should see a vet for deworming. Many strays are born with worms and these too can cause death in a kitten. I see you mention formula and that is good - no milk. Milk can cause diarhea; potentially fatal. Kitten formula also known as mothers milk replacement, is the right thing to use. Just follow package directions for feeding. These are the basic things you need to do. I also suggest, if you can ever catch mom again, that you try to get her fixed (spayed) so no more kittens appear. Obviously she is not cut out for motherhood and absent your kindness, any kittens will just suffer and die a very bad death. Often your local ASPCA will offer spay at little or no cost in an effort to control the stray population. ALso, the kittens should be fixed as soon as they are ready for the the same reasons. If you do not feel you are in the position to provide the amount of time needed to care for the kittens, try calling around to shelters. Usually they will not accept kittens too young to eat on their own - yours are too young - but if they have a nursing mom-cat in the shelter they may take the kittens and she can surrogate. Otherwise, if you just leave them at a shelter or SPCA, they may be put down right away unfortunately. But call around - local to you, maybe things are different and you can find help. Otherwise, if you are going to be mom, feel free to contact me further with any issues that come up. I am happy to help.