I found a kitten. What do I do in the first 24 hours?

If the kitten is clean, has a full belly and is sleeping quietly, the mother is probably out hunting and will be back within a few hours. A kitten with its mother has far better odds than one raised by us.

Watch from a distance for a few hours before deciding. Take them if they are dirty, thin, cold to the touch, crying without stopping, injured, or if the place is dangerous — a road, dogs, temperatures below freezing.

This is the rule that saves the most kittens and that almost nobody knows: a cold kitten cannot digest. Giving milk before they are warm can kill them, because the milk simply sits in the stomach.

Touch their ears and paws. If they feel cold, warm them for about an hour before giving them anything at all. A hot water bottle wrapped in a towel, never in direct contact with the skin, and always with room for them to move away if it gets too warm.

Cats do not digest lactose. Cow's milk causes diarrhoea, and in an animal this size dehydration kills within hours.

What you need is kitten milk replacer, sold in pet shops, veterinary clinics and pharmacies. It costs very little. Buy a proper syringe or a kitten bottle at the same time.

On Tuga's first day I gave her cow's milk, because it was what I had to hand. It turned out fine by luck. Don't repeat it.

Belly down, the way they would nurse from their mother. Never on their back like a human baby — in that position the milk goes into the lungs and kills.

Slowly, drop by drop, at their pace. If milk comes out of the nose, stop immediately and sit them upright. Never push the whole syringe at once.

At two weeks old they feed every three hours. Yes, through the night too. That's the price, and it only lasts a few weeks.

Until about three weeks, kittens cannot do it on their own. The mother licks them to stimulate it. Without her, that job is yours.

After every feed, dampen a cotton pad or gauze with warm water and stroke gently around the genital and anal area until they go. Without this, it builds up and they get ill.

In the first weeks a kitten cannot regulate its own temperature. In a winter like the Polish one, this isn't comfort: it's survival.

A lined box, in a heated room, away from draughts. At night, the towel-wrapped hot water bottle beside their bed to help them through the coldest hours.

A cotton pad with warm water, wiping the body slowly. Besides keeping them clean, it gets them used to being handled from the start — and a cat used to handling lets the vet examine them without a fight.

No immersion baths at this age.

From about one month. Look for pouches that say kitten on the packaging — adult cat food doesn't have what a growing kitten needs.

Start softened, mixed with the milk replacer, and reduce the milk over two or three weeks.

Book the first appointment as soon as you can: weighing, general examination and deworming. Almost every street kitten has parasites, and they hold back growth.

Vaccines come after deworming, and the schedule is set by the vet according to weight and age. Don't copy dates from the internet — not even from this guide.