Help! My orphans aren't going potty!

Hi,

I picked up four 2-week old kittens from a tow yard where some people had found them a day and a half ago. I'm bottle feeding them and they are eating and peeing just fine but I still haven't got them to poop and I'm getting worried. These are my very first bottle babies so I'm not quite sure if I'm doing it right.
After I feed them I put them on a towel and take some wet paper towels to rub their stomachs and rear with and they always start peeing right away. Their pee looks like it should and comes easily but I just can't get any poop. I keep rubbing as they are peeing and keep at it for a while but norhing comes. I've also tried rubbing them with a wet wash cloth but it doesn't work either. What am I doing wrong?

The people who found them on Wednesday morning fed them some regular cows milk so I expected the kittens to have diarrhea. I wouldn't think that the milk would have caused them to be constipated but I'm not sure. The kittens' stomachs are a bit round now even when it's been a few hours since their last feeding. I assume that it's because they haven't pooped yet.
It's been 36 hours since I picked them up and about 48 hours since they were found. Should I worry?

Does anyone have any suggestions about what I should do? Any good tips would be helpful. When I stimulate them I lay them on their bellies on a towel. Should I maybe put them in a different position?

I just fed them and usually they stop crying and go to sleep after I feed them but this time they are still crying. Please help!

Thank you

First don't panic just yet. I have an almost 3 week old bottle baby and he doesn't always poo every day. Normally every other day is his schedule.

What formula are you using? I switched to powdered KMR but I've heard that Newborn from Walmart is good as well.

When Jax didn't go poo for almost 48 hours I began to worry. So I hit the internet researching and found that if I add 2 or 3 drops of Carro syrup to his formula it would help with constipation.

Another bit of info is using a really warm (not hot) but warm wet towel to stimulate them. Switching back and forth from cold to warm will sometimes
do the trick as well. If they seem to become raw from the rubbing adding a dab of olive oil to their rectum will help sooth the bottom.

Make sure you are rubbing right at the base of the tail and not just where they pee.

I found that Jax is less agitated if I take care of peeing before and after each feeding.

Oh and whenever Jax poos he meows like crazy so don't stop rubbing just because they start crying.

Let me know if I can help you with anything else.

About the carro syrup, I'm not a vet this was just something I found on the internet and I recommend talking to vet.

This seems to be excellent advices Snosrap.

There were a couple of similiar threads lately.
One, where the orphans didnt poo several days. We were quite nervous, but as the vet wasnt too worried (their overall health and behavior was ok), we hoped for the best.
They come along, first big brother, after that little sis.

Another thread the little kitten was delivering on schedule.

Thus, they do deliver, but apparently not all every day.

This carro syrup. Is its name carro or does it have a full name?
What is it??
I have a vaque memory I saw this advice earlier too.

Goat butter is another mild constipation-resolver.


Good luck!

Originally Posted by StefanZ


This carro syrup. Is its name carro or does it have a full name?
What is it??
I have a vaque memory I saw this advice earlier too.

Click to expand...

The brand name is "Karo" syrup. It is nothing but corn syrup.

When I bottle fed kittens this same advice was given to me to use a tiny bit of corn syrup by my vet.

Always best to check with your vet first. Good luck to you and hang in there.

I suggest that you use a cloth based towel to wipe them, not paper towels. Paper products can be abbrasive, and they have delicate little behinds. Short term not an issue, but you will be doing this for another 2 weeks, so you don't want them to get sore behinds.

When switching from 1 food to another, some kittens will get a bit constipated.

I don't think this is completely conventional but I don't think it can hurt either; you might try also gently rubbing from their belly area down (towards the tail) to give things a little help moving in the right direction. We did this with our litter of bottlefeers; if mama cat had been there, she would have been licking them all over, which would rub them all over, so, maybe for some kittens it helps.

Another vote here for corn syrup.

Are their stomachs swollen or distended? Do they cry if you touch them? Those can be signs of kitten constipation.

Maybe a strange question, but do you have older cats that are spending time with the kittens? I had a litter earlier this summer that I was worried about - I'd had them 4-5 days, no poop despite regular stimulation. Turns out my older cat (who thinks they're toys) was licking them and then ingesting what came out. Kept him away from them for 24 hours, lo and behold, I got them to poop.

Good luck!

The first week I bottle fed our newborn kitten, I would also use a dropper of grape flavored Pedialyte a couple times a day right before feeding. As for the Karo, I didn't put it in his bottle, but rather moistened my fingertip with it and placed it near his mouth so he would lick it off. I also used warm, moistened cotton rounds instead of wash cloths or paper towels to stimulate his rear end.

The lil guy never had a bowel problem. We began to laugh when he was about 1.5 weeks old because his poop was sooooo stinky, we had to flush the cotton round in the toilet.

Karo syrup is corn syrup....Mothers have used it forever to make a baby poop. It cause the fliud in the body to move to the intestine and allow things to move, you might try a little warmer milk, cats run about 100% don't they. So maybe the very warm milk will cause the tummy to move things down.