On Thu, 6 Dec 2012 20:09:30 -0800, "Julie Bove"
> wrote:

>
>"Brooklyn1" <Gravesend1> wrote in message
>news
>> On Thu, 6 Dec 2012 20:49:44 -0600, "MaryL"
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>"Brooklyn1" wrote in message
...
>>>
>>>On Thu, 6 Dec 2012 10:14:14 -0600, "MaryL"
> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>"Gary" wrote in message ...
>>>>
>>>>Janet Wilder wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> She has started taking formula from a medicine dropper. I have to put
>>>>> it
>>>>> in the side of her mouth and then she will slurp and swallow.
>>>>
>>>>A plastic syringe is great for hand feeding small animals. It holds more
>>>>food than a medicine dropper and is also easy to control the flow. Just a
>>>>thought for you. I've used them for hand feeding ferrets when they are
>>>>sick
>>>>and won't eat on their own.
>>>>
>>>>Gary
>>>>
>>>>~~~~~~~~
>>>>Good suggestion! My vet gave me several syringes (no needles) so I could
>>>>follow a pill with some water when my cat needed to be medicated.
>>>>
>>>>MaryL
>>>
>>>Any pet shop sells tiny nursing bottles with nipples for feeding baby
>>>kittens and puppies... I have several, they work very well, never had
>>>a kitten that wouldn't nurse from a bottle... a medicine dropper or a
>>>syringe is just not normal and the animal knows the difference.
>>>
>>>~~~~~~~~~~
>>>That's what I usually would suggest, but I think the OP said in her first
>>>message that this little one will not nurse. That can be quite a problem,
>>>and kittens are very delicate at that age.
>>>
>>>MaryL
>>
>> They are not going to nurse from an eye dropper or a syringe.
>
>Generally no but the idea is to inject it into their mouth.

Inject... WRONG... a great way for the liquid to go down into the
bronchials and give the poor thing pneumonia. I've bottle fed four of
the cats I have now, two from three days old, two from three hours
old, and I've bettle fed several kittens and puppies previously. A
healthy kitten will nurse from a bottle almost immedietely if not
sooner... there are ways to urge them to nurse (the same way the
mother cat does) but it's much easier for someone to demonstrate than
to explain. If the kitten is not healthy then bring it to a Vet. If
you don't know how to nurse a kitten with a bottle ask a Vet, or Vet
Asst... most anyone with any authority at a legitimate animal shelter
certainly would have demonstrated before releasing a kitten that needs
to be nursed, and have the person actually bottle feed the kitten in
their presence to be sure they are successful, in fact they would have
given the person a couple of bottles with nipples (and shown the
proper hole size) and a can of kitten formula as a starter kit, and no
way would they ever mention eye droppers and definitely not
syringes... this entire story reeks of BS.