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- Oct 25, 2017
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my poor (pedigree, properly registered) Ragdoll mommy just gave birth to her second litter overnight. She had 9 (!) kittens. 7 were stillborn or deceased by the time I woke up and found them. 2 were alive but very cold.
The surviving two are in an incubator set to 35 celcius. They have had half a ml of kitten milk replacer each but I am scared because they dont seem to be able to swallow very well and I dont want them to aspirate. They otherwise seem very strong considering their circumstances. Their mom is still interested in them and showing them love but she doesn't realise how delicate they are so I'm supervising them closely and mostly leaving the kittens in the incubator for now. I would really like some tips regarding feeding these tiny babies without causing them to aspirate?? mom has very patiently sat while I tried to get them to latch but they just can't suck at all. If I can get them to swallow better I will feel much more confident. they seemed exhausted after just getting half a ml and I'm sure they should be having 1 or 2 full ml?
the formula is extra watery and being given via a 1ml sterile needleless syringe. I have plenty of these on hand.
I'm also wracking my brain trying to figure out just why this happened at all my cats have high quality cat food and are well looked after. mom has been on kitten food since 2 weeks into pregnancy. all meals are high in protein. She has showed no signs of being unwell and was acting completely normal, there were no signs she might go into labour at all. If she has another litter in a year or so is this likely to happen again? considering her first litter (6 kittens) went perfectly. I just cant see why this should have happened
The surviving two are in an incubator set to 35 celcius. They have had half a ml of kitten milk replacer each but I am scared because they dont seem to be able to swallow very well and I dont want them to aspirate. They otherwise seem very strong considering their circumstances. Their mom is still interested in them and showing them love but she doesn't realise how delicate they are so I'm supervising them closely and mostly leaving the kittens in the incubator for now. I would really like some tips regarding feeding these tiny babies without causing them to aspirate?? mom has very patiently sat while I tried to get them to latch but they just can't suck at all. If I can get them to swallow better I will feel much more confident. they seemed exhausted after just getting half a ml and I'm sure they should be having 1 or 2 full ml?
the formula is extra watery and being given via a 1ml sterile needleless syringe. I have plenty of these on hand.
I'm also wracking my brain trying to figure out just why this happened at all my cats have high quality cat food and are well looked after. mom has been on kitten food since 2 weeks into pregnancy. all meals are high in protein. She has showed no signs of being unwell and was acting completely normal, there were no signs she might go into labour at all. If she has another litter in a year or so is this likely to happen again? considering her first litter (6 kittens) went perfectly. I just cant see why this should have happened