HELP NEEDED with 4wk old kittens....

Hello. My family and I just took in 2 4wk old kittens on Tuesday and I have a few questions. There is a male and female (brother and sister) and the male is a little bigger then the female. He also seems to be a bit more advanceed when it comes to eating. He will drink about 1 (sometimes 2) tsp of kitten formula every 2-4hrs. His belly is staying nice and round, he is very active, very alert, etc. The female is harder to get to eat. She will drink some from a bottle but I can't get her to drink from a dish at all yet. She will only drink about 2tsp every 6-8hrs. When I try feeding her inbetween those times, she completely refuses it. How often and how much should they be drinking?? She seems to have a nice round belly (but a bit more squishy then her brother), but isn't as active. She seems alert and will follow my daughter around the house, but she mroe prefers to just lay on your lap and snooze. Both kittens still spend ALOT of the day sleeping, but I would assume that is very normal for their age. My biggest concern is that neither one of them are pooping. I stimulate them with a warm wash cloth and they pee, but neither will poop. Do they normally poop at this age?? The female pees alot once a day, and during the other times just goes a few drips. The male only goes a few drips (and sometimes nothing) but one of them (or both) are peeing on their blanket in their bed too. When I called the vet, they told me to try to mix formula with the kitten food to make mush and see if they would eat that. I tried that but niether one will even try to eat it.

We are trying to do everything we can for these precious little kittens, so if you have any advice, I would GREATLY appreciate it!! BTW, the little girls name is Teygan (teegan) Rose and the little boys name is Fred Bear (my kids named them). Thanks in advance for any help!!!

Im a little stuck, but I dont want to leave you without any answers, so Im trying....

One advice always useful is to weigh them every day. If they gain weight - good, if they not gain weigh, or gain weight really slow - not so good.

the boy is apparently developing well. the girl - is more of a question mark. Thus the weighing is double important for her.
I understand you have already consulted a vet, him not being alarmed. Good.

The poo - hopefully it will come... Good you stimulate them - both the behind and the tummy, right?
You can probably take it over the whole body too, like their mother would doo. So not only the poo will be stimulated, but they themselves will feel better.

Mild poop-looseners?

Here in Sweden we use often goat-butter. Ie butter made of goat-milk.

I saw here on this forum several times people recommend canned pumpkin, as mildly loosening and safe.

But I hope others will come with additional advices.


Good luck!

THANK YOU soo much for your advice. Trust me, ANY help is definetely appreciated

My MIL and FIL have a very touchy scale, so I will borrow that from them and weigh the kittens every day. Are their ideal weights for their age/size?? How many times a day am I suppose to weigh them?? From one of the websites I looked at (link was on here) it sounds like they should be okay eating hard and soft kitten food, but these two have absolutely NO interest in it. Do you think maybe they are a bit younger then what I was told (their momma got hit by a car and the owner was not able to care for the kittens so we took them in)??

Yes, I have actually contacted a few vets. The first one had no clue about kittens, the 2nd one was very good. They were very helpful and told me to call right back with any questions. They are the ones that suggested mush but the kittens won't touch it.

If they won't eat anything mixed in their milk (kitten food, etc) could I maybe try infant cereal??? I could mix it in the kitten formula so it is thin enough that they can't really tell IF that would be okay for them. The last thing I want to do is upset their poor little tummies.

Yep, I have stimulated both tummy and butt with a soft warm (wet) cloth and they pee, just don't poop. About how long should I keep stimulating each time?? Normally they pee right away and then whine and fight to get away.

Ya know, I have always liked cats, but considered myself more of a dog person. Then these two angels came into our lives and I am head over heels in love with them They are such sweeties, they just make me melt!!

Originally Posted by newkittymomma09

and weigh the kittens every day. Are their ideal weights for their age/size?? How many times a day am I suppose to weigh them?? From one of the websites I looked at (link was on here) it sounds like they should be okay eating hard and soft kitten food, but these two have absolutely NO interest in it. Do you think maybe they are a bit younger then what I was told (their momma got hit by a car and the owner was not able to care for the kittens so we took them in)??

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You weigh them usually once a day, preferably at the same time. Write up the numbers.

If you wish to weigh ofter you surely can, but same here; at the same time and position of meal...

Ideal weight is really hard to tell. This is individual. Especielly if you dont know the exact background.
So the simple rule of thumb is to watch if they are gaining weigh... And of course, if they seems to be healthy.


Yes, it is possible they are younger than said...


I hope others will fill in!


ps: Ah, have you seen this link? www.kitten-rescue.com

UPDATE:

I just weighed the kittens and they are as follows:
Fred Bear: 0.84/lb
Teygan: 0.56/lb.

Not even being 1 pound yet seems soo small to me, but maybe it is because I am used to lab pups. They normally weigh more then that at birth.

For some reason that website won't open up for me??

My babies were half a pound at about 10 days--these are either very malnourished or much younger than you think. I would bottle feed.

Leslie

If they are 4 wks or younger, they don't really need any other food besides the KMR. The reason they don't *seem* interested in mush, might be because they are too young to know they are supposed to eat it. Honestly, I don't know WHY they aren't pooping, but, when I found Monster he was 4 wks, and I was bottle feeding him. I always stimulated him to pee and *tried* to stimulate him to poop. He never did poop, until he started eating solids, and I was teaching him to use the litter box. That was about a week after I found him, and also about the same time as when I realized he didn't need me to stimulate him to go anymore. I am not saying that it is ok that he isn't pooping. I had called the vet and asked them about it and they had told me if he didn't go for a couple more days then to call back (He wound up going two days later.) I had started feeding him a little bit of moistened, mushed up dry kitten food. I had also talked to a woman that came into my work, who hand-raised a litter of kittens who's mother was killed. She said that they don't poop until they start eating solid food..??? I didn't believe that. I actually heard different things from different people. Sorry I kind of started rambling..

Anyway, you are a WONDERFUL person for taking on these kittens

P.S. Are you planning on keeping them??

Originally Posted by KiTTYL0VE4

If they are 4 wks or younger, they don't really need any other food besides the KMR. The reason they don't *seem* interested in mush, might be because they are too young to know they are supposed to eat it. Honestly, I don't know WHY they aren't pooping, but, when I found Monster he was 4 wks, and I was bottle feeding him. I always stimulated him to pee and *tried* to stimulate him to poop. He never did poop, until he started eating solids, and I was teaching him to use the litter box. That was about a week after I found him, and also about the same time as when I realized he didn't need me to stimulate him to go anymore. I am not saying that it is ok that he isn't pooping. I had called the vet and asked them about it and they had told me if he didn't go for a couple more days then to call back (He wound up going two days later.) I had started feeding him a little bit of moistened, mushed up dry kitten food. I had also talked to a woman that came into my work, who hand-raised a litter of kittens who's mother was killed. She said that they don't poop until they start eating solid food..??? I didn't believe that. I actually heard different things from different people. Sorry I kind of started rambling..

Anyway, you are a WONDERFUL person for taking on these kittens

P.S. Are you planning on keeping them??

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I raised Lucky from about an hour old. She pooped from day 1. I would phone a vet. They always poop every day. I have heard some people rub a little kero syrup on their gums to increase appetite. I didn't have a scale to weigh Lucky. Her little tummy was always round when she finished eating.

If you have just switched their food on Tuesday, they could be slightly constipated right now.

This is a great site about kitten care, including information about orphaned kittens (I'm assuming yours were orphaned based on the age you got them). Please browse thru this site and I suspect you will find answers to most of your questions. http://www.kitten-rescue.com/

Originally Posted by Momofmany

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

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That link is working now!



ps. There is a small forum. One of the questions is about constipation. The answers there may perhaps help some.

Thanks everyone!! Yes, they are orphaned and that is why we ended up with them. I am assuming they are alot younger then what I was told, and not malnurished, because they are plump little kittys Both drank from the bowl this morning, and the male seems to be going pee on his own quite frequently. I will definetely check out that link now that it is working The male kitten always drinks very well from the dish, but this is the first time the female did. If she doesn't seem interested in the dish at any of her feedings, we will continue with bottle feeding her.

mbjerkness- YES, we are going to keep these little sweeties!!

I will post some pics later