They're like stiff and freezing but I can feel that there's still life
They're so cold well we can't feed them anything until they're warm they're like frozen stiff right now
hey let's get you warm
frozen
but they're moving, this one's moving, this one's doing worse, but alive, but barely
they're so cold
I didn't realize it was I mean when you said like newborn like they're literally like just born
The head's still wet from birth
this one's literally like her ears are still stuck
They're still so, it's like they're just you core
Their core temperature is just so
cold
Should get them in the incubator?
We should get them in the incubator that's exactly for situations like this
Is your little body gonna start working?
That would be real nice if you're a little body wanted to start working
All black except her little tail tip is white
That's too cute. We gotta make you live cuz you're gonna be so cute
We just had a blizzard and it's absolutely freezing outside
I get a call about a woman who has an art studio a few blocks away
And she is frantic. She feeds community cats and sometimes they come into her art studio
But today a young cat has come into her art studio
given birth underneath an oil painting
and eft behind two newborn kittens still wet from birth
ell the little ear popped up finally welcome to the world
They're filthy from birth
You're alive! there's movement in there
I'm like, can they even breathe with all this
afterbirth on them?
I mean, it's interesting because when you care for orphans you have to do everything the mom does
but usually she at least cleans them after they're born
She just ran away
I think sometimes they get scared, you guys starting to warm up a little bit
Your little head is so cold
They stink yeah, I know they stink
Yeah, they smell like they were not cleaned up
They smell like a period
They do yeah, yeah you do
The smell is like a tampom
Your names will be Tampax and Pearl.
Well, you got to think right after birth
What a mom cat does is she licks them all live and these guys were not cleaned at all so
they're
Yeah, they're moving, gonna be up and running in no time look at that
You're squirming!
Oh hi! Look at you
You got a little life in there
I think they're like almost to the point where maybe we could feed them soon.
Both kittens are in horrible shape
Still wet from birth. They are stiff little icicles who had never gotten a single drop of their mother's milk
It's not safe to feed a newborn kitten until they are warmed up
And even then, you have to do so so carefully, one drop at a time
Does your body understand that or not really?
Do you understand this or not really?
She's like actually almost dry but not
Well the back end is working alright, so we need the front end to start working
but that's a good sign things are moving
Come on little one
She was meowing and she was very vocal today
Like the most she has ever been
I'm lift one of my paintings and I saw
These two guys
You didn't even know she was pregnant?
No. She's small to begin with so, I didn't know if it was from the food or
What it was, like and I just got here, so I didn't know. And then she's very vocal
And I find this two little guys
The mom ran away. Mom's gone.
She's spunky. Look at how spunky you are
I like his little spirit, he's good. This one I'm a little more worried about, but I'm surprised this one is even life, so
it's interesting to see all the different places where
people find kittens
an artist loft is new
We get back to the house and I put them in the incubator
This thing is perfect for tiny newborns. The incubator stays at a temperature of about
90 degrees and a humidity of around 40
So this is our incubator
This is an ICU unit
It has controls for temperature
and humidity
So we had to run to the store to get distilled water
And so we had to get tubing for an aquarium that goes down into
Distilled water and that is how you keep the humidity moving around in
Feels good in there
It's so hard for me to believe that people don't know
To keep kittens warm, but I guess that's because I do this all the time
Little beans
So these guys really do not weigh much this one is
91 grams
And this is the really little one, she is...
Seven one Seven two
I like hearing your little voice
71 grams is so tiny
I mean they look so different than when we got there
They were freezing cold, still wet from birth
practically lifeless and now
We're moving around a little bit
I'm worried about this one. She's so little
She's hanging in there
Good job guys. I love seeing them wiggle around oh
Okay, so what I have here is
Formula that is very diluted with Pedialyte and it also has Beneback in it
So, this is a very very diluted formula this is
Really their first time eating
For a newborn kitten that is first eating you don't want to give them full strength formula
Are you gonna eat?
It would make me so happy if you would eat
I'll be very patient with you
Right now my goal is to get them to eat just 1cc per meal
Just a very very little bit to keep their blood sugar up and to keep them hydrated
To get their stomachs acquainted with
drinking formula
Syringe feeding is really really dangerous when you're working with a kitten this little, they don't have a gag reflex at all
So you cannot just shove formula down their throat you really need to make sure they're swallowing
Which means this could take a really long time
Cause is one tiny drop at a time
The kittens are preemies, and they're not able to get a full belly of their food safely via syringe
So I have to switch to tube feeding
5 AM
Tube feeding is a skill that absolutely must be learned hands on at a veterinarian's office
It's where you put the food directly into the kittens belly by injecting it through a skinny tube
This is a more advanced skill, so please do not do this at home without training
You must learn how to safely place the tube from a vet
Once you're trained to do this it can be the best way to help these kittens
Who are very young or very sick or unable to swallow food on their own
People think working with kittens is so cute, and a lot of the time it is
But the reality is that rescue is not about cuteness
There's nothing cute about being born in the freezing cold under an oil painting
To a cat who's still a kitten herself
There's nothing cute about being born prematurely, being orphaned or being sick
This is preventable suffering and it is preventable through spay and neuter
We have to be spaying and neutering not just our pet cats
But also the cats who live outside, who share our streets in our community
Community cats create eighty percent of the new kittens born every year
We have got to be sterilizing the cats who are outside
Holding these vulnerable infants in my hand
I sometimes wonder if people truly grasp the gravity of not spaying and neutering
By her second day of life, Mink lost her battle
She was premature
She had congenital defects
And she was not viable, no matter how hard we tried
I sat there crying so angry for Mink
and so devastated for Mink
And for all the other kittens who are born outside and who suffer or die on the streets
or in animal shelters who are not able to care for newborns.
Everyone deals with grief differently
My personal way of dealing with the sorrow of losing a kitten is to try to take action
I try to learn as much as I can, I try to teach others and I try to inspire others to get involved
So, in Mink's honor, I am begging people to step up and be part of the solution
In this way, Minks tiny two day life can still have a mighty impact
And people are already stepping up and doing this
Within one day I was getting message after message
Of people saying they rescued a kitten in Mink's honor, even naming the kittens after Mink
They'd signed up to foster or to TNR
This stuff means so much to me
One of my friends was even able to go and trap the mama cat and get her spayed
so she won't be giving birth under any more oil paintings
This is why rescue work and TNR is so important.
We have to do better for these cats and kittens. It's Badgers one-week birthday today, and I am so happy for him
Even if I'm a little sleepy from having to wake up in the middle of the night
It is all worth it for this little guy who is nursing on my finger at the moment
We'll get you a bottle, you don't have to nurse on my thumb
I hope if you're watching this and you feel touched by this story, you take action, you get out there
And you do something for cats
Volunteer at your local shelter, get your cat spayed and neutered, get out there on the street and trap community cats and get them sterilized
Foster kittens, don't just be a cat lover be a cat advocate
There are so many ways to help and when we all work together, we can make such a huge difference
Badger boy, let's get you fed