NEED some help with one of my kittens !

Ok, so my cat had kittens almost 4 weeks ago. The runt lately seems like it has no will to live. for about 4-5 days he would just lay in the corner by himself unless another kitten went and layed next to him, he never lays with the mother. He doesn't seem like he is growing much but the others are. And I never see him eat, but he must be because he is still alive. He was the most adventurous when they first started crawling around. so to see him acting like this is really bothering me. Today when I looked in the closet he was laying on the mother, like on her belly and side, and now he doesn't seem like he wants to leave her side. He also has one eye that keeps getting gooped up and closing, I clean it every chance I get, but the next time I check on him it is usually closed again. His nose is white, I thought it was more pink before, and he seems dehydrated, but I can't get him to eat from a bottle either. I don't want him to die, but I have no money to take him to the vet right now. Any help that any of you could give would be very much appreciated.

one of my orphans was like that. I picked up some nutri-cal at the pet store and gave her some each time the others ate. She is finally eating on her own again.

I've heard that if you put Caro (sp?) syrup at the top of the kittens mouth, and as soon as it start sucking put the bottle in its mouth.

heres some pics

he is in the back there, the black and white kitten, this is what he was doing for days.


now he's doin this



heres a size comparison to the others



heres some pics of the all of them

He may be getting squeezed out at feeding time, it doesn't take much for them to get weak, and then they cant get in there. I would get a syringe and give him KMR or any supplement. I have saved little runts this way. And once he is stronger make sure he gets lot of time alone with mom to feed. Just take the other guys out for a little bit.

we have taken the other guys out, but as soon as she hears the others meow at all she jumps out too. We have even closed the closet door so she can't get out and leave her in there and take the others downstairs for a bit so she can't hear them, but I still don't think he is eating.

Use a syringe? I got one of those small bottles, does that not work? should I get a syringe instead?

he likes it when I bundle him up in a wash cloth and hold him, sometime he falls asleep, sometimes he just sits there and seems content, but then when I try to feed him he won't take the bottle, and he gets very mad when i try to force him to take the nipple, the vet told us to try force feeding him, but I really don't like doing it, epecially when he gets so upset.

Wow, he does look quite a bit smaller than the rest of him. Is it possible for you to get him to suck on mamas teat, help him out a little? It you put her in w/ the baby in a carrier or box w/ top or something, maybe she willnurse him. Its possible that shes not feeding him at all or much, because she senses that he is weak.

tried.... he seems like he doesn't even want to eat. locked him up in the closet with her by himself and all.... i think he eats sometimes, but not enough, because he still alive, but he seems to be getting sick and weaker, and not growing like the rest. I work 10 hour days, so its hard for me to care for him much, and my fiance does what she can when shes not at work. I just don't know what to do.

The syringe is because a lot of tiny kittens wont drink from the bottle. How is he doing today?

he passed during the night, and we had another pass yesterday, we found the mother has swollen teats and I can't get any milk from them. So I am syringe feeding the last two.

You need to take mumcat to the vet as she may have mastitis. It's a good thing that you're syringe-feeding the kittens. Have you tried feeding them with a bottle?

They didn't like the bottle. The female would fight a lot when I tried feeding her, but today she actually just sat there and ate it all without a fuss. The male would struggle, but didn't nearly put up the fight the female did. They both seem to be doing really good now. I also bought some nutri-cal and have been giving them some, and the mother is getting some nutri-cal herself and is doing very well herself.


The story with these cats is that one day when me and the fiance' came home the mother was sitting on our back porch. She was so friendly and after that day she was always at our doorstep and hanging around our house. We asked neighbors if it was their cat, but it wasn't. We also put up flyers.... but got nothing. So we took her in, not knowing she was pregnant....

I've had many cats in my life, when I lived with my mother we had about 22 cats at one time because we had 3 females that had litters all within days of each other. I've been throught the cat pregnancy before, but I never experienced these problems before, and I wasn't expecting to have another litter when I took this cat in, we were just trying to help her out. But I didn't mind the new litter at all, I like having kittens around. The fiance' and I just moved recently, so were are a little low on money right now, and probably will be for a little while. I just spent money i shouldn't have buying the cat formula and nutri-cal..... so its just hard right now.

I can fully understand the struggle when it comes to money. You are doing a great job with this mumcat and kittens. Hang in there, we are all here for you.

if 2 kittens have died, then there is obviously something wrong. Money or not, you need to take them to a vet immediately.

Some people don't have money to take animals to the vet. I know it's sad but sometimes it comes down to either money to eat and buy gas. When people only make 5.15 an hour how can they afford health care for their pet or themselves.

That's a good question Lisa. This article talks about what you can do if you can't afford vet care: http://www.thecatsite.com/Health/76/...erinarian.html

ohh, i'm sorry. they are all so cute. the mama looks like my kitty, Had.

aww that is just so very sad my heart goes out to you the kittens look so cute i do hope that things will only get better good luck hunny and i look forward to updates x