A few weeks ago I saw an add on CraigsList for blue-point siamese kittens. I had one growing up, as did my mother, as did my grandmother, so since I am now expecting, I contacted the poster. We went 2 weeks ago to see the kittens and choose one. She said they would not be old enough to take home until June 22nd (at which point they would be 8 weeks), but she was taking $50 deposits to hold the kitten of your choice until then, with the rest of the money due upon pick-up (she was asking $80 for each). I chose the runt of the litter, a female, and put down the deposit. When I saw her then, it was obvious she was the runt, but there wasn't a huge size difference between her and her littermates.
Fast forward to the day before yesterday. The woman called me and said that the mother had stopped feeding the kittens and she was concerned about mine. She does breed cocker spaniels for a living but has never had any experience with kittens, and this particular litter hadn't been planned on. She said that my baby was eating solid kitten chow and drinking water just fine, but that her growth seemed stunted and she didn't know what to do, especially without any help from momma cat. She asked if I'd like to take her now and see what I could do for her, or take my chances leaving her there. I have very little experience with kittens, but still more than she has so I opted to go get her. The woman refunded my deposit and waived the additional $30 because she felt so horrible about the situation.
It didn't look like she had grown at all in the 2 weeks since I had last seen her, while her littermates seemed to have had a growth spurt. They were easily twice her size now, some three times her size. When Mira had her kittens, they were bigger than this kitten even before they were walking.
She IS eating well and drinking water. Her first BM was very liquid and she didn't quite make it to the litter pan. Her second BM was much more solid. So far, she's peed twice and had 2 BMs. I don't know if that's normal for a 6 week old kitten. Now I've had kittens before, but never this young without the mother, and even the older ones I've gotten, there was always another kitten of similar age in the house. She sleeps alot and doesn't do much else. I try to play with her for 20-30 minutes every couple of hours. She loves the laser pointer. When she is awake she's very alert and has tons of energy. She seems healthy and has a good tummy on her but she's still incredibly tiny. I tried to weigh her but all I have is a regular scale, I stepped on it alone, and then with her in my arms and the reading didn't even change a tenth of a pound.
I am going to pick up some KMR tonight on my way home for her. At her age, is it better to simply supplement the kitten chow with KMR, or should I try bottle feeding too? Also, is the sleep/play schedule I mentioned above okay for a kitten her age? Any other ideas to help her grow? I will be calling Monday to schedule an appointment with the vet but until then I could really use some advice.
TIA
Fast forward to the day before yesterday. The woman called me and said that the mother had stopped feeding the kittens and she was concerned about mine. She does breed cocker spaniels for a living but has never had any experience with kittens, and this particular litter hadn't been planned on. She said that my baby was eating solid kitten chow and drinking water just fine, but that her growth seemed stunted and she didn't know what to do, especially without any help from momma cat. She asked if I'd like to take her now and see what I could do for her, or take my chances leaving her there. I have very little experience with kittens, but still more than she has so I opted to go get her. The woman refunded my deposit and waived the additional $30 because she felt so horrible about the situation.
It didn't look like she had grown at all in the 2 weeks since I had last seen her, while her littermates seemed to have had a growth spurt. They were easily twice her size now, some three times her size. When Mira had her kittens, they were bigger than this kitten even before they were walking.
She IS eating well and drinking water. Her first BM was very liquid and she didn't quite make it to the litter pan. Her second BM was much more solid. So far, she's peed twice and had 2 BMs. I don't know if that's normal for a 6 week old kitten. Now I've had kittens before, but never this young without the mother, and even the older ones I've gotten, there was always another kitten of similar age in the house. She sleeps alot and doesn't do much else. I try to play with her for 20-30 minutes every couple of hours. She loves the laser pointer. When she is awake she's very alert and has tons of energy. She seems healthy and has a good tummy on her but she's still incredibly tiny. I tried to weigh her but all I have is a regular scale, I stepped on it alone, and then with her in my arms and the reading didn't even change a tenth of a pound.
I am going to pick up some KMR tonight on my way home for her. At her age, is it better to simply supplement the kitten chow with KMR, or should I try bottle feeding too? Also, is the sleep/play schedule I mentioned above okay for a kitten her age? Any other ideas to help her grow? I will be calling Monday to schedule an appointment with the vet but until then I could really use some advice.
TIA
