One of my kittens is pretty small

and I'm thinking I should supplement him a little bit. The rest are already growing but he's pretty small and I see him nursing. Should I go ahead and supplement him and if so would goat's milk be okay as a supplement?

Have you weighed them? All of mine were 3 oz or alittle more at birth and they are doing great. Supplementing wouldn't be a bad idea but i'm not sure about the goat milk. You can google "kitten glop" and use that.

I would do one of two things(or both) I would take some of the kittens away and let this one nurse uninterrupted for a feed and also get some kmr powder is fine as long as you mix it and feed warm(to cold and this will hurt the kitten as it will have to use alot of energy trying to warm up the milk.

Originally Posted by catsallaround

I would do one of two things(or both) I would take some of the kittens away and let this one nurse uninterrupted for a feed and also get some kmr powder is fine as long as you mix it and feed warm(to cold and this will hurt the kitten as it will have to use alot of energy trying to warm up the milk.

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Yes, try to get it a few extra feeds every day. Take it to her when the others are sleeping. Also give him the nipples closer to her head - they are fuller. I had a kitten quite a bit smaller than the others and she did fine without supplementation, she was just on the scrawny side for quite some time.

Haha, it's the white kitten in my siggy. That's her brother, and he was average size in the litter, not the largest; see how much smaller she was!

Goat milk is useful as substitute milk. Of the industry made kmr, the brand KMR is best. Royal Canins for kittens is also OK.
There are surely also others, but this is these I know and thus - can recommend.

If you dont have issues with salomonella, egg yolk mixed into the goat milk makes it even better and more nourishing...


But if you can do as the other advise you, the the kitten can eat more often and undisturbed from the mom, it is probably better.

One reason is,
To take substitute milk is easier than to suck mom, so some kittens quit sucking their mom when they get extra milk...


Good luck!

Originally Posted by StefanZ

One reason is,
To take substitute milk is easier than to suck mom, so some kittens quit sucking their mom when they get extra milk...

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I have heard of it vice versa too where the mother sees that you're doing the work and doesn't think she needs to feed the kitten, but by your description of Carly, that doesn't seem to be much of a factor- she seems like a very good mom.

I'm going to give him some extra time with her and see if that helps but he has a round belly and he keeps up with the rest of the litter so he might just be a smaller cat like Carly. Carly is only about 6 pounds now that she's no longer pregnant. I'll keep a special eye on him but right now I'll let her handle this.