ORPHANS:
It is very hard to perform all the functions that a bitch does for her puppies or a queen does for her kittens. She keeps them warm with her body, she cleans and stimulates them with her tongue and she feeds them with her milk, which if she has been vaccinated will give the puppies or kittens antibodies against diseases until they are fit enough to have vaccinations themselves.
For warmth you can give a hot water bottle (heated regularly), a microwave heat pad, or an electric pad (with a circuit breaker for safety) or a plastic bed with a heater inside it on which you can put a towel or vet bed. Young animals lose body heat very easily so they must be kept warm.
I would not want to bathe a puppy or kitten in case it got chilled, however if the it fell into a toxic substance like oil or had an onset of diarrhea which stuck to its fur I would of course wash it and dry it thoroughly afterwards. It is difficult feeding orphaned animals as nothing is as good as mother’s milk but when they are very tiny you can use small droppers or syringes to feed them. I advocate goats’ milk and goats’yogurt with acidophilus as the most acceptable food for the very young. When they are first born they require feeding approximately every two hours, day and night, so it is very tiring work indeed.
Alexandra is the founder of the ABC Animal Sanctuary on www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk We are all volunteers and are most grateful for any adoptions of animals or any donations. £2 .50 would pay for a bale of hay for instance. We have a Paypal button and a PO Box number on the website.
Alexandra has also written “Beware Dobermans, Donkeys and Ducks” (now being serialised on the website in the abc friends section along with the current sanctuary diary blog and Pip’s Diary) and the veterinary recommended “The Healthy Dog” and “The Healthy Cat” books. A few remaining copies are available from our web site shop.
Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.
