Sould I worry? Runt...

azaria · Apr 20, 2010

My cat had kittens 3 days ago. The runt is really tiny (hence being the runt

) - much smaller than the others. I can feel her ribs and she's really skinny - while the other 4 have nice round tummies.
Is there a way to know if she's getting enough?
I tried to put her up to the nipple but she didn't want it - seemed to sleepy.

(reminded me of when my son was born - he was premie and we had to wake him all the time because he would fall asleep while eating).

Thoughts?

THANKS =)

carlysmom · Apr 20, 2010

I think if they are not eating enough that moving around takes too much out of them. They probably drop blood sugar quickly being newborns and then just want to sleep because they don't feel well. You might have to bottle feed it because I would be worried about it not having the energy to latch onto the nipple and nurse. Hopefully someone more experienced can chime in about it but maybe if you just did a few feedings a day to add weight to the kitten and let the mother nurse it the rest of the time.

StefanZ · Apr 20, 2010

Yes, he is in danger. Not sure at all if he will make it.

The only way to know if he gets enough is to weigh them every day.

Extra feeding may be necessary as CarlysMom mentions. Use a real mother substitute milk. kmr of KMR brand is best. Royal Canin for kittens is also good and cheaper. Goat milk is ok.
In some countries they use a substitute milk product Lactol - which I presume is OK...

Carlys mom mentions low blood sugars. I have seen the advice of giving them a little Caro syrup (corn syrup), putting a little on the tongue or into the mouth. I presume dextrose, ie grape-sugar, should also do. May even be yet better.

Make sure he isnt cold. If he isnt near mom he should get additional warmth.
But not too much warmth -
too much warm is almost as dangerous as being cold...

Good luck!

azaria · Apr 20, 2010

Ahh - so much info....

It's midnight here so I can't go to the vet to get milk but I will in the morning.

How often should I feed her.

Do I feed her and then put her back with mom?

I don't have any corn syrup - is there any other kind of sugar I could use like icing sugar ... anything?

And how do I know if she is getting too hot? How could I tell that?

Thanks sooooo much Stefan & Carlysmom! - I don't know what I'd do without this forum!

carlysmom · Apr 20, 2010

Look here at this site. There looks to be some really good information for what to feed, how to feed, and when to feed newborn kittens.

Keep us updated on this little one okay?

http://www.safehavenforcats.com/newborn.htm

StefanZ · Apr 21, 2010

Another good site is the www.kitten-rescue.com. For rescued motherless kittens, but useful anyway.

If you have honey it should also do.

Knock to neighbours. It is socially accepted in an emergency you can ask even neighbours you usually dont talk with. So it is in Sweden, surely also where you live.

If you use extra warmth, perhaps difficult to know what is good and what is too much... Simply use your good sense...
Cats have a somewhat higher temp than humans, so as long it is nice to you should be oK. But if you yourself feel it is WARM, it it too much...

ps
Icing sugar? As said, honey is better. Anything that contain the dextrose sugar.

But I suppose, if you dont have anything else, you can try with Icing sugar or common sugar.

azaria · Apr 21, 2010

Thank again all. I found a good resipe and started feeding her last night. She was 58grams last night and 60 this morning

When I was typing this last night it was 12:30 in the morning and I live on an acreage hours away from the big city so that's why I couldn't go anywhere for help --- so I really appreciate all your help!

I will keep you all updated =)

cutekittenkat · Apr 21, 2010

As long as she's gaining weight, that's a good thing

As sad as it is, it's not uncommon to lose a young kitten, but I wish you so much luck!

mrblanche · Apr 21, 2010

One really important (and non-obvious) point is to be sure you feed the kitten with the kitten upright, not on its back.

Bottle feeding a kitten is truly a labor of love, and one that is often rewarded with failure. However, if all you're doing is supplementing, and momcat can do everything else, you have a much better chance.

taryn · Apr 22, 2010

I don't know how many kittens 3 of the 4 had last summer(1 mom was found with her 3 kittens) but we woke up one day to 12 kittens running around, Goldie and Biter had 9 between them both(they both took care of all 9 so I have no clue who belonged to which mom, I'm not even sure if they knew, lol) they were all 4 weeks old and socialized nicely once they were here, well except 1 female but after her spay she's decided to give humans a chance and loves being loved on. Mama's were at least 6 weeks old and all but 1(little tortoiseshell girl) hit the road after being moved the other one hit the road a few months after the others did, she moved 1/4 mi and decided to be a barn cat for the Clydesdale farm. None of them were willing to be socialized so 2 weeks can make a big difference.

Well, out of the 9 we had Runt(yes we named him Runt, he's still named Runt) he was sick with a URI and we weren't sure he would make it but he did(we didn't do anything for him, we let the mom's deal with it and let nature take it's course, it was viral so there was nothing we could do anyways. This occurred right after they were moved so he was 4 weeks old) We ended up having on put to sleep(at 8-9 weeks) due to a severe URI and conjunctivitis on top of feline leukemia(didn't understand leukemia since 'Tude had just been diagnosed at that point but she was suffering so in the end it wouldn't have mattered but we might have tried to save her had she been negative), she was smaller than Runt at that point she was 1.8 lbs, Attitude at the same time was 2.8 lbs and definitely not the heaviest.

Runt is now a big boy, him and Goldie Jr are the largest of all of them, Mama his grandma, Biter, his mom(Goldie vanished not long after her spay, think she became coyote chow but she could have been his bio mom), Half-tail his tiny 4.8 lb sister. I think Goldie Jr is the only one bigger than him, they are all outside. Inside they are both bigger than any of the outside ones Nuts is 10.2 lbs and Attitude is a big fat 10.6 lbs(and yes she is overweight, Nuts isn't Nuts is larger than 'Tude body wise, he's male and Attitude is female. Attitude needs to be 9-10 lbs so she is fat but not that fat.) So Runts can grow and become big healthy hearty cats even with just mom taking care of them, of course I don't know if Goldie and Biter(or even if Mama had more than 3) had more that died all I know of are the 9 they brought to the porch when they decided it was time for them to start eating real food at 4 weeks old. Yours will have a better chance with you supplementing but don't be surprised if he/she dies but with you only supplementing and mom is giving milk and taking care of it so it could be fine. Most of the time if they have mom they fare way better than when mom isn't in the picture.

Good luck with the kitties.

Taryn

northernglow · Apr 22, 2010

Originally Posted by Azaria

She was 58grams last night and 60 this morning

That is VERY small. We also had one kitten in my male's first litter which was 51grams when she was born. We were sure she's not going to make it but she did and didn't even need bottle/tube feeding.

That was over a year ago and she is still fine so I think there is hope in your case also (unless the problem is bloodgroup incompatibility).

azaria · Apr 23, 2010

She is doing really well! She's 66grams now and she' getting feisty =)

She still snuggles and gets right in there with the rest of them -- and when I put her back in after feeding momma licks her clean.

azaria · Apr 23, 2010

Originally Posted by Taryn

I don't know how many kittens 3 of the 4 had last summer(1 mom was found with her 3 kittens) but we woke up one day to 12 kittens running around, Goldie and Biter had 9 between them both(they both took care of all 9 so I have no clue who belonged to which mom, I'm not even sure if they knew, lol) they were all 4 weeks old and socialized nicely once they were here, well except 1 female but after her spay she's decided to give humans a chance and loves being loved on. Mama's were at least 6 weeks old and all but 1(little tortoiseshell girl) hit the road after being moved the other one hit the road a few months after the others did, she moved 1/4 mi and decided to be a barn cat for the Clydesdale farm. None of them were willing to be socialized so 2 weeks can make a big difference.

Well, out of the 9 we had Runt(yes we named him Runt, he's still named Runt) he was sick with a URI and we weren't sure he would make it but he did(we didn't do anything for him, we let the mom's deal with it and let nature take it's course, it was viral so there was nothing we could do anyways. This occurred right after they were moved so he was 4 weeks old) We ended up having on put to sleep(at 8-9 weeks) due to a severe URI and conjunctivitis on top of feline leukemia(didn't understand leukemia since 'Tude had just been diagnosed at that point but she was suffering so in the end it wouldn't have mattered but we might have tried to save her had she been negative), she was smaller than Runt at that point she was 1.8 lbs, Attitude at the same time was 2.8 lbs and definitely not the heaviest.

Runt is now a big boy, him and Goldie Jr are the largest of all of them, Mama his grandma, Biter, his mom(Goldie vanished not long after her spay, think she became coyote chow but she could have been his bio mom), Half-tail his tiny 4.8 lb sister. I think Goldie Jr is the only one bigger than him, they are all outside. Inside they are both bigger than any of the outside ones Nuts is 10.2 lbs and Attitude is a big fat 10.6 lbs(and yes she is overweight, Nuts isn't Nuts is larger than 'Tude body wise, he's male and Attitude is female. Attitude needs to be 9-10 lbs so she is fat but not that fat.) So Runts can grow and become big healthy hearty cats even with just mom taking care of them, of course I don't know if Goldie and Biter(or even if Mama had more than 3) had more that died all I know of are the 9 they brought to the porch when they decided it was time for them to start eating real food at 4 weeks old. Yours will have a better chance with you supplementing but don't be surprised if he/she dies but with you only supplementing and mom is giving milk and taking care of it so it could be fine. Most of the time if they have mom they fare way better than when mom isn't in the picture.

Good luck with the kitties.

Taryn

Great story - givs me hope for her (My 6 year old has named her 'The Ice-anator' because it sounds strong and will make her a fighter =)

cutekittenkat · Apr 23, 2010

I'm so glad to hear that she's gaining weight! She's still small, but as long as she keeps gaining, that's good

Sould I worry? Runt...

azaria

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carlysmom

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