Taking in a runt?

A friend of a friend's cat just had kittens (they didn't know she was pregnant), I think there were four. One, "the runt" is apparently not doing very well and she's been trying to bottle feed it. The kittens are five days old now. She asked my friend if she knew of anyone that could take the runt and bottle feed it, of course my friend came to me. Between Mike and I, we'd be able to feed the kitten more then enough. Is it wise to separate the runt from the mother and littermates though? She wants it to go back to them after it's been weaned, does that make sense? I have an area where I can keep the kitten separated from the dogs and my cat, I guess I'm just second guessing my ability to do this and whether it's really wise to remove the kitten from the litter, then return it. 

Advice? 

A lot of times the mother will not really pay attention to the runt because she knows it's weak and that her other babies have more of a fighting chance- just natural instinct. She could push it off to the side or refuse to nurse it, and the others can probably easily fight it away while nursing- so I would say it's best chance is to have a caretaker to bottle feed and attempt to save it.

I really am not sure about returning it to the litter after it's healthy again, hopefully someone else can help you with that from their experience.

Thanks! She emailed me a few hours ago but I haven't heard anything since. It's probably going to be one of those things that doesn't end up happening but just in case, and for future reference, I thought I'd ask to get some info on here. 

If the mother is willing to care for the kitten AT ALL, it's best to leave it with her and simply pull it for supplemental feeding a few times a day. That way she cleans it, socilaizes it, and keep it warm, basically so the baby gets the best of both worlds. So my vote is not to separate the baby from it's mother and littermates unless the mama cat totally rejects it.

Willowy said:

If the mother is willing to care for the kitten AT ALL, it's best to leave it with her and simply pull it for supplemental feeding a few times a day. That way she cleans it, socilaizes it, and keep it warm, basically so the baby gets the best of both worlds. So my vote is not to separate the baby from it's mother and littermates unless the mama cat totally rejects it.

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I agree with Willowy, if they aren't able to bottle feed can you take mum and all the kittens?

Otherwise, for the sake of the kittens survival then take the little one and raise him yourself.

Agree absolutely about leaving the kitten with mother.  The only way to know if the kitten is getting to suckle enough is to weigh it each day at about the same time - the gain per day should be 10g or more.  10g is about 1/3 oz.  I use electronic kitchen scales that are fairly cheap (under $30), and they are useful in the kitchen as well!

Bottle feeding isn't as easy as with babies as tiny kittens don't have a cough reflex, so it's awful easy to feed too fast and have it go down the wrong way.  You are also having to make tiny amounts of feed accurately and keep the bottle and teat clean.

Unfortunately, I don't have a safe space to take the mother and all of the kittens here. I doubt that she would let me anyways, I don't know her personally and the mother is their family pet. I tried to get more info (whether the runt was gaining weight, etc) but she hasn't gotten back to me. They'd be 6 days old now I think. I would gladly go over and bottle feed to supplement if I could, but she lives about 30-45 minutes from me and I couldn't afford to be driving that far every day to help out. 

Like I said, I'm trying to get more info. From the first email it sounded like the owner was worried about the kitten but wasn't going to go out of her way to save it herself. 

Willowy hit it right on the head!

But for this baby to survive and grow, it definitely needs supplementing. At least 3x a day pulled and fed KMR. Runts usually die because they are smaller and get bullied away, not being able to nurse with the rest of them, then often times, from lack of being able to nurse, lost the drive/will, which quickly results in dehydration/death.

Just an FYI, but a runt who gets supplemented grows up into a perfectly healthy cat, even when momma tends to ignore it as a weak link, which she instinctively believes is a threat to the rest of babies, and treats it as an outcast. This does not mean there is always something wrong, just the weak link. Often there is nothing wrong, just smaller in size.

However you mentioned that the owner isn't likely to go out of her way to make certain this runt will make it, and it does need to be supplemented!

I've had to do this many times, it makes me smile remembering since about half the time this same kitten ends up being food aggressive towards other cats. Funny to see a 8 week old cutie kitten put their arms across a food dish and growl. They do outgrow it btw.

If they are not willing to supplement, or at the very minimum put the baby on moms nipple and making sure it has a good grip, several times a day and check to make sure it's feeding for a while without interruption from the others, then I would take the baby and bottle feed.

If you are not experienced in doing this, a newborn so small will so easily inhale, even a small drop of formula, and get pneummonia and die.

Be sure baby is laying upright on it's tummy, do not turn on it's back! Picture the position babies are in while nursing on mom, and imitate this. The nipples hole should not allow baby's mouth to get filled with milk, this means it's coming out too fast.

At this young age, if the baby won't suck the bottle yet, start off with a small syringe, or even an eye dropper. Never squirt it into the throat, it must be tiny drop at a time, into the cheek, which allows the baby to swallow it.

Always poddy baby before and after feeding, some use a warm wet q-tip, gently rubbing to stimulate, I just stick babys bottom area under warm water and tap with finger under water.

Be sure to dry and place on a warmed heating pad. BTW, at this age they can not maintain body temp (why kittens dogpile) so it must always be on a COVERED low temp heating pad, 24/7.

Without daily weighing you have no idea if the kitten is gaining weight at an appropriate rate or not.  Supplementing when a kitten doesn't need it is a risk the kitten doesn't need.  Your friend might see it always being pushed out of the way but not happen to see when it does nurse.

However you haven't heard from your friend in all this time, so either the kitten is managing to feed enough or I'd guess it has died by now.

I haven't heard anything back from either of them, so I am hoping that everything is alright rather than the other option. 

Yesterday I was on Kijiji looking for a few Xbox controllers (I gave mine away when our old one broke, not thinking that we'd get another one). I came across TWO different people rehoming kittens that still had their eyes closed  

Kitten season is definitely upon us.