I need a little advice

We have a little kitten born on the 26/4/08 who seems to have not eaten since last night, that we are aware of.
We rushed out this morning to get formula but he is not taking it.
He is constantly crying which breaks out heart and it looks like he is gasping for air.
The soonest we would be able to get to a vet is 4pm, 5 hours away, so I was wondering if anyone has any advice to get him to feed or to keep him alive?

If you are using a bottle, you might want to try an eye dropper. He isnt required to suckle the eye dropper and you can slowly squirt the milk in the corner of his mouth. You can try putting a little corn syrup on the dropper and you can even wipe some inside his mouth.

One thing to note: NEVER feed a COLD kitten. Be sure he is warm before you try to feed him. If the kitten is cold you can warm him with towels fresh out of the dryer, or a sock filled with rice warmed in the microwave, or even a covered heating pad. Feed him tummy side down (to avoid aspiration) and push the KMR/formula in slowly.

Good luck and please keep us posted!

If he doesnt take to the eye-dropper either,he may even be too weak to nurse.

There are some other steps you can take, but sometimes - despite our best efforts - they just dont make it. I hope your little guy is a fighter!

If you pinch the skin on the back of it's neck, does it retract very slowly? If it does not rebound quickly it means he is dehydrated.

If the above feeding doesnt work, you can administer dextrose solution subcutaneously. This is best done by a veterinarian, but if you must and you trust yourself, it can be done at home. The shelter teaches us to do this for fading or orphan kittens. The supplies can be bought at a store that sells cattle supplies (or maybe even a feed mill). Use a very small needle, we use 3ml 21g1 needles and 50% dextrose solution. Suck up 3ml into the needle, pinch the skin on the back of their neck and insert needle through the skin. Push the plunger slowly. After they are hydrated you will notice a big difference in their actions! They might even seem like they are ok, but it only lasts a short time. While they are feeling well, try to get them to nurse off the mom, the eyedropper or whatever you can. And be diligent! It only takes 3 short hours for them to dehydrate again!

Lastly a kitten can be tube fed but you would definitely want a vet teach you how to do this and give you the supplies. Tube feeding can cause serious and fatal complications such as pneumonia and aspiration, and constipation/blockage of the intestines. This is a last resort, but often highly effective, method of trying to save a kitten.

Good luck again!!!!

Thank you for the advice, Marianjela.