Its cold. And unfortunatly are heater is broken but lucky lil kittys have a heating pad. I did t know until last week that floridas cold is to cold for kittens and that heating pads are safe. Sadly momma kitty wasnt keeping them warm she wanderd off and one died. They all had a kitty cold. Which they are getting over now. But the smallest is super tiny compared to her sisters. Im so worried about her. Just the thought of momma or her sisters accidently sitting on her is scary. They are much much bigger. She shows no growth. And at this rate i might keep her do to fear the new owners who want to adopt might not care for her right. My heats being fixed tomarrow morning so once the house is warm in gonna try to get her more active. Even if its just walking and crying, its better than nothing. But is there anything i can do? Her moms on a wetfood cat formula slurry diet.but what can i give her mom or her to help with nutrition and growth?
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
3 week old runt is 4in long and about as which as a highlighter help?
- Thread starter twckittenmom
- Start Date
- Status
They are only 3 weeks old now?
Is mom not nursing them?
They are still a bit too young to be put on canned food, but you can offer KMR warm to them if they will lap it up.
Just be sure the heating pad is on low with something over it, and contained so that they don't go scooting off of it and freeze.
At 3 weeks they are pretty good about holding their body temps but the runt, well just too small yet.
When holding her you can drop her down your top, they stay toasty warm down there
Are you able to weight them in grams?
Is mom not nursing them?
They are still a bit too young to be put on canned food, but you can offer KMR warm to them if they will lap it up.
Just be sure the heating pad is on low with something over it, and contained so that they don't go scooting off of it and freeze.
At 3 weeks they are pretty good about holding their body temps but the runt, well just too small yet.
When holding her you can drop her down your top, they stay toasty warm down there
Are you able to weight them in grams?
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
Ill go find my scale in the morning. I got her apetite up by offering warm KMR on my finger then gave her to her mom who was snoozing on my bed. Ive been doing so for the past hour or two. Whenever she wake. She wouldnt take the bottle. Its to big even though it says for kittens(more like for puppies!) Ill have to find a droper or spend an hr feeding formula off my finger
For now though im letting her have mommy time while the siblings sleep.
For now though im letting her have mommy time while the siblings sleep.
Last edited:
This sounds pretty good. Moms milk is best, IF she gets it! And if she gets = gains minimum 6+ grammes a day, you know by weigthing every day. In beginning even every 12 hours, till she is stabilized. If unsure, yes give her extra KMR or goat milk. Syringe is probably easiest, but if you dont have syringe (no needle of course), you can use a dropper as you mention.
Just be careful, better slow than too hasty.
On the tummy, head up. In the corner of the mouth, to not risk you happen to spray straight into her wrong throat. If she swallows actively is good, but if she is weak and dont swallow actively, take it extra slow and careful. Burp her afterwards, to be on the safe side.
Your tricks to get her to eat are sound and good. Just proceed along these lines.
And when she isnt with mommy, Catwomans hint about carrying at your chest is very good. (here women have some real advantage over male caretakers.
)This is a wonderful trick for prematures and other weak kittens (AND human babies).
Good luck!
Good advice from StefanZ.
She will not take the bottle at all, kittens won't as long as they have momma to nurse from they refuse to make the transition.
So eye dropper or syringe is best. She will resist so be careful none goes down without her swallowing it.
Inhaling even a drop will cause pneumonia.
She will not take the bottle at all, kittens won't as long as they have momma to nurse from they refuse to make the transition.
So eye dropper or syringe is best. She will resist so be careful none goes down without her swallowing it.
Inhaling even a drop will cause pneumonia.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
She activaly swallows when i use my makeshift cotten bottle cloth tip. She hated the pastic. To dificult to set in her mouth. She even kneads but only fot a few then she cant find anything but my fingers to push on then looks elswhere......even though she was getting milk...shes a silly lil thing. I will note she looks slightly better and i have witnesed twitchy kitten sleep activity. Also she can walk. Even better than the chubby ones whom two roll upside on every other step. Though she gets exhausted. Unlike the other two whom just clunk out and take a nap she forces herself to stay awake. Sitting up shell be dozing off then shake her head and try to stay awake. I eventually have to hold her until she sleeps. Then hope she doesnt wake when i put her in the pen. I cant tell by her tummy how much she is actually eating. I also cleaned her bottom with a warm wash cloth a few times and am seeing no poop. I might be over worrin. But after the second to largest randomly dieing im freaking over the runts every move. Im to the point its my goal to make her live and im a stay at homr wife so i have all the time in the world to devote to her.
Last edited:
No, its difficult if you arent very experienced, with lotsa of litters behind you. That is why measuring with a scale in grammes is so useful... You dont need to guess. (although some own observance is still wise to do).
If mom is washing her, etc, she probably eats up the poo. Many breeders never see the poo of small kittens, its almost only rescuers and caretakers of orhpans who regularly see the poo, as they themselves must help with it.
If she has difficult to sleep on her own, use the trick with having her at your bosom. Make perhaps a pocket of fleece, fleece feels alomst as moms fur. You can also try to have fleece around the bottle, if you try again with bottle. It may help some.
Good luck!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #8
I went out of my way and bought a scale today. Mine broke...shes 2.38oz which ik is under birthweight of most cats. But momma cat is a munchkin cat at 5 to 6 lbs maybe more since added fat from pregnancy. And the kittens were very much premature at birth and less than an 3oz because they were much smaller than the runt. Its been a week and shes gained weight my question really is. How much should she be eating in one setting? She eats about two teaspoons every hr or less. Depending if she wants to wake up. She cries when hungry. She louder and more vocal then the othet two chubby ones. And has the strength to walk. She followed me back out of her cage. Could she just be stunted? Or possibly just unfortunate genetics?
They should all get 8 mls per ounce of weight per day. They should gain a minimum of 6 grams per day, but desirable is 8-10 or more daily.
Divide this amt up into the number of times fed per day.
Divide this amt up into the number of times fed per day.
She being that small, count with this gaining 6-8g a day as normal and proper. The recommendations of 10+ are thought for these more "normal" at birth.
The very small ones CAN survive with good help. Our record on this Forum is one at 48g - who survived and managed.
(-That story ended tragically, but it was by totally different reason. The crisises of his early childhood he did overcome.)
I see you bought a scale measuring in ounces /oz. I hope you manage to recount grammes into parts of ounce. I being a simple minded Swede cant.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #11
It does grams as well. We americans sadly forget that the metric units are much more accurate lol
She was 2.38oz last night at 9pm or 28.349 grams and this morning she weighs 2.98 oz or 84.48 grams. Is sh gaining right?
She was 2.38oz last night at 9pm or 28.349 grams and this morning she weighs 2.98 oz or 84.48 grams. Is sh gaining right?
Last edited:
Here you seems to write something wrong, probably the 2.
But taking in the oz number, she seems to have added considerably. whatever it is in grammes, about 9??
Anyway, if she gains its not the same panic, and she seems to getting some from mom.
But it must be stressed: if she doesnt gains at least 6 grammes a day (0,20 oz, I think,) you must give her extra.
Round up the hundreds parts of grammes to nearest fully gramme, it will be easier to see and remember.
Last edited:
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #13
She constantly has to fight for a nipple (3 cats 6 niples) and the bigest is a nipple theif. Constantly playing musical nipples. So i have to pull him off and let her drink without him making a fuss. They are three weeks today so im gonna try and introduce him to a small bowl of kmr. Maybe it will keep him full longer and asleep when she feeds
Yes, these are useful tricks. Giving the healthy "brute" the kmr - him its not pity about. and letting the weaker get their full share.
Or, when he is satisfied and sleepy, put him aside in his own little nest, on a fleece bed, and a little heat pad, so he sleeps there contend and happy. And not protesting so his mom gets nervous... And during the time, the weaker siblings will get qualtiy time with momma.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #15
My only issue with that is he is fully a big baby momma boy and her favorite. She infact growls not meanly but in protest when i move him away. Its quite annoying she never rejected the runt but if the runt screams it takes her awhile to come if he screams she freaks. And he scream if he cant see her...
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2015
- Messages
- 119
- Purraise
- 19
The kitten needs to see a veterinarian. Make sure you keep him in a safe area. Purchase a product called ChildLife Essentials Echinacea Natural Orange Flavor and give him three drops of this three times per day. Can you put a humidifier in the room where the kitten is? Clean his eyes daily. Warm any food before feeding it to him. There is a supplement called NutraMedix Samento Microbial Defense and you can add 2 drops of this to each of his feedings. But, she needs to see a vet. If any of the kittens or cats are sick, they need to be isolated. Keep all of them indoors. Clean her nose daily. A humidifier will help. So will warming her food. You should also be giving her a lysine supplement. Let her eat as much as she wants. If you don't have a humidifier, I encourage you to purchase one. You can make a very healthy food for her by mixing ground chicken, potato flour, green pea flour, chickpea flour, duck fat, potato starch, whole egg powder and ground chicken organs - just add water!
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #17
Thank you. But being shes so tiny and behind in growth im avoiding anything thats not a KMR milk and it has lysine and taurine in it for heart and eye health. Im not sure she can digest pure fats like duck fat. It might be to harsh on her premature tummy.
Very true.
Regarding the fight for nipples, here's a little fyi that you might get a kick out of.
Kittens, by the time they reach 10 days old have their favorite nipple and will nurse on that particular one the rest of their nursing time.
The biggest always get the best milk producing ones, and the smallest get the higher ones that don't make as much milk, which is often why runts just don't get enough to thrive and grow stronger, unless they are the type to be very feisty and relentless
This is why you will see babies stealing another's nipples, carrying on like mad to get the current one off of HIS nipple!
Weight gain looks great! As long as this continues daily he should be in good shape to survive, but is still VERY small as you know so keep a close watch on his gaining.
Last edited:
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #19
I cleaned her earlier. She strained extremly hard pushing out her anus as if trying to poop but nothing ever came out. Do i need to stimulate a bit longer?; i only ask because shes refusing to eat more than drops of kmr and goats milk. Her tummy feels more dense compared to her usual hallow gut that scared me before. She drinks from mom in small portions. Also im using fresh goats milk and liquid kmr i have powder as a back up
Personally I would not give both goats milk and kmr, one or the other, as that makes 3 types of milk she is getting and is likely to cause gas and a hard tummy that is uncomfortable.
If she seems constipated then she is not getting enough liquids.
Liquid pre mixed kmr tends to constipate for some darn reason, I always go with the powder.
If she continues to strain but doesn't poop, start adding a couple of drops of mineral or vegetable oil to her formula.
If she seems constipated then she is not getting enough liquids.
Liquid pre mixed kmr tends to constipate for some darn reason, I always go with the powder.
If she continues to strain but doesn't poop, start adding a couple of drops of mineral or vegetable oil to her formula.
- Status
