Just over four weeks ago I took on the job of hand raising a premature kitten. Four days ago my kitten died and I was left contemplating what else I could have done to save her. I want to write this in memory of Moonlight, in the hope that it will help other premature kittens.
Moonlight was abandoned by her mother and was only 61g when I got her. She got to just over 90g when she died, a very small weight increase. She had problems with digestion and I think that this is the biggest issue facing premature kittens. Moonlight alternated between bloat/constipation and diarrhoea. I fed her Divetelac at dilution A (recommended for newborns) initially but even this caused diarrhoea. When the formula was diluted even more, as is suggested in some cat forums, she lost weight. Bit by bit, though, she grew more fur and put on a little weight. I made many adjustments to the Divetelac formula strength but she still didn't put on weight and still had occasional diarrhoea. Eventually, I decided to try a different formula, one called Wombaroo that was recommended to me. I very gradually added some of this to the Divetelac until she was having all Wombaroo and she seemed to cope with it. I made up a new batch of this milk. last Saturday. This formula separates out when it is mixed so that there is a very creamy layer on top. I mixed it up as much as I could then poured it into containers to freeze. I fed Moonlight from this fresh batch on Sunday morning, not realising that she had more of the creamy layer than in the past. Within a few hours she had terrible diarrhoea and seemed very uncomfortable. In only a few more hours she died. Lesson 1: don't feed Wombaroo or rich kitten formulas to premature kittens. They need diluted formulas (how dilute? I don't know) and small volumes every few hours round the clock.
When Moonlight opened her eyes at about 12 days old, I was worried that she was blind, as her eyes were a totally opaque dark blue, no pupils were visible. Just before she died, her eyes had started to clear and I could make out her pupils. She also seemed to see a little. Lesson 2: Don't give up on your kitten if you think her eyes are opaque, wait a little longer. I had people telling me that I should have euthanased Moonlight as soon as they saw her eyes weren't normal.
When Moonlight started to crawl about, it looked like she had some neurological issues also. She seemed to be double jointed and kept getting her front legs stuck over her head. She looked quite disabled. This also righted itself so that she was walking almost normally by the time she died. Again, don't give up too soon. This is lesson 3.
If you do take on the care of a premature kitten I wish you more success that I had. Although Moonlight didn't make it, I still think it is worth trying to save such a life.
Moonlight was abandoned by her mother and was only 61g when I got her. She got to just over 90g when she died, a very small weight increase. She had problems with digestion and I think that this is the biggest issue facing premature kittens. Moonlight alternated between bloat/constipation and diarrhoea. I fed her Divetelac at dilution A (recommended for newborns) initially but even this caused diarrhoea. When the formula was diluted even more, as is suggested in some cat forums, she lost weight. Bit by bit, though, she grew more fur and put on a little weight. I made many adjustments to the Divetelac formula strength but she still didn't put on weight and still had occasional diarrhoea. Eventually, I decided to try a different formula, one called Wombaroo that was recommended to me. I very gradually added some of this to the Divetelac until she was having all Wombaroo and she seemed to cope with it. I made up a new batch of this milk. last Saturday. This formula separates out when it is mixed so that there is a very creamy layer on top. I mixed it up as much as I could then poured it into containers to freeze. I fed Moonlight from this fresh batch on Sunday morning, not realising that she had more of the creamy layer than in the past. Within a few hours she had terrible diarrhoea and seemed very uncomfortable. In only a few more hours she died. Lesson 1: don't feed Wombaroo or rich kitten formulas to premature kittens. They need diluted formulas (how dilute? I don't know) and small volumes every few hours round the clock.
When Moonlight opened her eyes at about 12 days old, I was worried that she was blind, as her eyes were a totally opaque dark blue, no pupils were visible. Just before she died, her eyes had started to clear and I could make out her pupils. She also seemed to see a little. Lesson 2: Don't give up on your kitten if you think her eyes are opaque, wait a little longer. I had people telling me that I should have euthanased Moonlight as soon as they saw her eyes weren't normal.
When Moonlight started to crawl about, it looked like she had some neurological issues also. She seemed to be double jointed and kept getting her front legs stuck over her head. She looked quite disabled. This also righted itself so that she was walking almost normally by the time she died. Again, don't give up too soon. This is lesson 3.
If you do take on the care of a premature kitten I wish you more success that I had. Although Moonlight didn't make it, I still think it is worth trying to save such a life.
