1 Week Old Kitten Questions

I have been raising little June since the day she was born because her mother abandoned her. I'm a first timer at hand raising kittens and have a few questions that have been unanswered.

June is 9 days old today and seems to be doing quite well, considering her only momma has been a human. We keep her on a heating pad set to low and feed her kitten formula about every 2-3 hours during the day. While she seems to be growing and everything, her little tummy seems bloated and sometimes it gets a bit hard. She's been urinating after every feeding and defecating 1-2 times a day so I don't think it is from constipation, but I'm still worried. Any idea as to what this could be?? Also... when are these little eyes going to open? I'm dying for her to be able to see!

Thanks for taking care of that baby.

What and how much are you feeding her?
Are you rubbing her belly to help her burp after feeding? I had to do that with baby squirrels last year so I am assuming it's the same for kittens.

Here's a good link if you haven't seen this site :

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/

I'm feeding her kitten formula that i bought at wal-mart. and she drinks a small bottle (about 5 tablespoons worth) throughout the day... about every 3 hours. i have burped her a few times... she wasn't too happy about that haha... but her belly is still so big. could it be due to worms or some other kind of sickness?? she doesn't seem to be in pain and sleeps quite contentedly most of the day

I recently had an abandoned baby kittie, newborn , her tummy was always big after she ate, about three weeks old it stopped, the vet told me it was normal, you do have to burp her

It is entirely possible that you may be overfeeding her. At every feed make sure the belly is nice and round but not distended. Worms may also be entirely possible. For some unknown reason all kittens have worms. You may want to change her formula to goat's milk intead of KMR or other milk replacement formulas. If you are too concerned, do get her to a vet for reassurance.

Originally Posted by Abymummy

It is entirely possible that you may be overfeeding her. At every feed make sure the belly is nice and round but not distended. Worms may also be entirely possible. For some unknown reason all kittens have worms. You may want to change her formula to goat's milk intead of KMR or other milk replacement formulas. If you are too concerned, do get her to a vet for reassurance.

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i hope everything contuines to go well. will you be keeping her ?

oh yes i will definitely be keeping her she's become my little baby!!! and i took her to get checked for worms and she's in the clear so hopefully all goes well from here on in

When Tubee was a baby, his tummy was always big. We just thought it was normal.

btw I can't wait to see pictures! Have you thought of a name yet?

Manda

This is certainly very young to be away from her mother. Keep close watch over her and stay in contact with your vet. I've heard of people bringing such kittens to female cats for necessary care and tending which may or may not go well. I would keep looking for options and try to predict obstacles before they occur. You may need to stimulate her anus to make her defecate. Good luck! It sounds like it's so far so good. I hope it keeps getting better.

X

Aww, I just wanted to say good luck and I hope she continues to be happy and healthy!!! You're an angel for hand-raising her!

It's certainly a full time job & good on you for looking after her. Blossom, 11 mths yesterday, was 3 weeks old when my son saw someone drop her out of a bag, onto the side of the road. He brought her home to me & I happened to have KMR in the cupboard I had used to feed orphaned baby mice. I took her to the vet & he gave me worming paste to give her every 2 weeks. I used to rub her back after every feed to burp. Rub her bottom to go to the toilet. She was fine with urinating but was constipated & the vet gave her an enima at about 4 weeks. I found all the info I needed from the net & library books. I didn't discover forums until she was about 5 m/o. It would have been so much more reassuring if I had.
The hardest thing was getting her used to eating & drinking on her own. Litter training was a snap, I showed her once & she's been fine ever since.