URGENT! Kitten not gaining weight!

Ok, 6 of the 7 foster kittens are gaining weight just fine, but our little runt, while eatting a ton, and having solid poop (yay!), is still MUCH smaller than the others.

They're all eating wet food fine, and the 2 older fosters are munching on the dry food just fine and the little ones started to taste the dry food last week and are eating it when it's got some water or KMR in it and since the Humane Society told us they shouldn't need KMR, we stopped and moved to straight water when it ran out. Now our black runt is dehydrated (though he is drinking water) and eating wet food but not gaining weight and not playful like the other kittens. Should we call our HS emergency number and do sub-Q fluids or try to find a place open to buy more KMR (which he won't drink straight, only if it's mixed with wet food).

PLEASE HELP!

ok, i sent my fiance off to the store to buy some KMR for him, any advice? should we call our emergency #? wait until we see if he takes the KMR?

No advice here, but prayers for the little black baby.

Keep us posted.

If you're checking back here , I'd call the emergency clinic and ask them what to do. If he throwing up? Did he take to the KMR/water mixture? Is he having any other problems? Rattley breathing (put your ear up to his ribs )? Snotty nose? Diaherra? Is he warm enough? I usually put my little ones in the front of my shirt to warm them up, if he's a little cold . I believe some have used Pedialyte for dehydration, but I'd ask the vet about it first...Sorry, that's all I know to check for. I hope he's doing okay ...

ok, while the other kittens were running around like monsters in the bathroom, i mixed the KMR with the wet food and he ate some of that, but not a ton, and it definitely not interested in the KMR/water mixture. All in all, he did eat a fair amount tonight, he ate wonderfully this morning, then at 6 (normally he doesn't get fed that late, but we couldn't help it with Easter and all), then at 8 and now at 10 (with the KMR mixed in). He hasn't thrown up at all, no diarrhea, no runny nose or eyes, no problem breathing (but quick to purr).

I'll post a pic in a second of him compared to one of his siblings, he came in a little smaller than everyone so he's been fed sep. with the other runt, who's gained a ton of weight. But he's not very active and just whines until we pick him up or he crawls in our lap and starts purring.

ok, this first picture shows him with some of his siblings. You can see he started a bit smaller than the others (ignore the brown tabby, he's 2 weeks older). This picture was taken in the middle of last week so his siblings had already started to gain.




Now you can see him tonight next to one of his siblings from above. He hasn't gained any week. Granted, we've only had them for a week, but the others have all gained a lot of weight and are VERY playful.

oh yeah, i can't call any vet since they're the Humane Society's kittens, i have to go through the woman in charge of all the foster parents first, that's why I was asking if I should call her.

The runt of the litter usually prefers momma's milk to solids. And momma's running out of milk. What you need to do is separate him from the rest at meal times. Put him and the baby food together for about 1/2 hour. He will eat because he's forced to! In my recent litter of 2, the runt is 1/2 the big brother's weight - so he's undergoing the regiment above. After 2 days, he's gained 100 grams.

Stress not, he sounds healthy enough - just needs a bit more water and food!

Hope this helps!

He did eat plenty this morning, we've been feeding him away from the rest of the litter ever since we got him to make sure he was getting enough. He's also starting to taste the dry food, which is encouraging. Still solid poop. I put 2 water bowls in the cage last night, one with just water and one was a water/KMR mix and none of the kittens touched the KMR mix, any ideas why?

I was happy to see he still attacked his wet food/KMR mixture this morning, but he's still content to sit in the cage by himself while the other kittens play and wrestle around him. If they happen to bump him, all he'll do it meow or growl but not move. I really only see him get up to walk around to go to the litterbox, food bowl, water bowl, or to one of us (my FI or I) so we'll pet him.

Poor little guy I have such a soft spot for black kitties. I really hope you can get him to eat better and gain some weight. Just keep trying and take him to the vet if you think he is in danger.

I took him to the vet yesterday after work, he has lost a bit of weight over the last week (down to 10.75 yesterday), his gums were a little paler than the vet liked, and his temp was only 99. She gave him 10 cc of sub-Q fluids and rewormed him. I've got to give him 10cc of subQ tonight and tomorrow and then I'm taking him back on Thursday to be looked over again.