Bloated 4 day old kitten

Hi Everyone, 

My husband and I recently took in a stray when we noticed she was pregnant. We were going to get her spayed but she was to far along in the pregnancy. She had her litter of 8 on 2/20. The first born, a little orange tabby, was the runt (at first) and couldn't latch on to the nipple..I watched him for hours and never saw him nurse, so I started to bottle feed him. I still have yet to see him nurse, so I am bottle feeding every 4 hours.

He became bloated yesterday morning however, and I can get him to produce stool, only urine. He currently weighs 3 3/4 oz. His momma, Smitten, does a good job of cleaning him too, so he may be going with her and I just don't see it. The bloating has me concerned, he's even thrown up his milk once after feeding...I called the vet and they old me to lessen the amount he drinks during feedings until the bloat has gone down. Well I've done so but he's still very bloated. I had a friend tell me the same thing happened to her kitten and she gave him goats milk instead of KMR and he cleared up within 2 days and she didn't bloat again.  

I was curious if anyone else has had this problem?  Also I have 3 other babies who are under weight...the smallest weighs 2.5 oz, I see them nursing (except for one, a black and white one who was very lethargic today and wouldn't even take the bottle, so we fed him through a syringe just to get something in his belly to give him some energy to try to nurse). In a litter of 8 is it normal for 3 babies to be so small? There are 3 others who are gargantuan! The biggest one being 4oz.

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated...the vet techs I've talked to all kind of say the same thing and its not very assuring. 

Thank you!

Sorry there is a typo, I meant I CAN'T get him to produce any stool.

Have they been dewormed yet? If not, worms could be the problem. Did the vet suggest bringing them in?

I wouldn't worry about some being bigger than the others, maybe they stole some nutrients in the womb or something. I have 5 adult cats from the same littter; one of them is really big, one is little, but they're all doing well.

Do you know what you'll do with the 8 kittens? Kudos for caring for all these kitties.

No they are only 4 days old, they can't be dewormed at such a young age yet. I just spoke with the Vet and they suggested bringing the kitten in because they were concerned about the kitten vomiting up his milk earlier. I can't afford the vet visit since the mom was a stray and these were unplanned and am looking for alternate solutions if there are any. I'm also concerned the other 3 underweights are dehydrated as they are very lethargic and barely cry when they open their mouths. Also one of the kittens has slightly yellowish urine. I heard mineral oil could help with the constipation of the one or diluting the KMR formula. So far I have homes for 4 or 5 of the kittens. 

Diluting the kmr formula may be one way to lessen on the constipation.

If you have access to goat milk, it may also be tested. As you yourself mentioned your pal did.

Raw goat milk best, but processed is OK.

If they are very weak, you can try to have a little wet dextrose/glucose sugar on their gums, to boost up energy.  A more common tip on the same idea is a little white caro syrup.

Be sure they are warm,  but also not too warm. To warm is almost as dangerous as too cold.

Cats body temp is a little higher then humans.

Against dehydration, a working basic home made pedialyte is:

1 litre water

1 soup spoon of dextrose/glucose sugar (other sugars do work, but dextrose is best). You can have a little more than 1 soup spoon if you want, if they dont get anything else for example.

1 tea spoon kitchen salt.   Minerale kitchen salt is best, but common na/cl kitchen salt OK:

Stir up by cooking up, let it be 39 Celsius or 102 F, use.

Dont spare for long, better to make anew.

Works nicely both for kids as for kittens.

Good luck!

If you are unable to afford the expenses of vet bills, it may be better if you surrender the family to a shelter so they can get the care they need. Don't get me wrong, you rescuing them was fantastic and I have no doubt you saved a lot of little lives,
Lethargy is a sure sign of dehydration which can cause death within a matter of hours in such young animals, the description you have given suggests that they are at the stage where they need IV fluids. As for the bloate kitten can I ask what equipment you are sing to supplement feeding?
I think a cat rescue really would be the best place for this family, not only will they get the medical attention they need right now but it will also ensure they are all vaccinated and neutered before they are rehomed which I'm guessing you are unable to offer them?

If you can't afford a vet then you need to keep them warm and hydrated.  When you feed them or give them rehydration fluid they need to be on their tummies with the head slightly up, like when they feed from mum.  If you feed a cold kitten it can't digest the milk and it does more harm than good - when cold they should just be rehydrated with warm fluid, made using Stefanz's recipe.  They only need a tiny amount - a couple of ml - and you need to check after an hour or so to see if they are still dehydrated.  Giving too much won't help.

If you surrender them I suspect the kittens will be pts as they are already not well. 

Has the bloated one ever produced any stool?  It's possible he has a malformed rectum / anus and can't, in which case pts would be the kindest thing for him.

It is with heavy and sad hearts that we returned home from the emergency vet tonight with only one kitten. Around 10pm we noticed one of the tabbys was barely breathing and couldn't even muster up the energy to meow. We decided to take him along with the bloated runt and the two other lethargic and possibly dehydrated kittens into the emergency vet. I had called the vet earlier today and he had recommended bringing in the bloated runt because he could possibly be constipated and was concerned about his vomiting up his milk. We consulted with the vet, who told us how bad of shape all 4 were in. The orange tabby was so obstructed from a rare abnormality where his bowels did not connect properly, that there was nothing that could be done for him. The vet told us he was in a great deal of discomfort and pain. We decided to make the difficult decision to humanely euthanize him to end his suffering. The other brown tabby passed away while we were consulting with the vet, his heart rate had dropped too low and even though they had gotten some fluids into him, he was too far gone. The black and white one with the kinked tail also passed away in the same manner unexpectedly. The remaining masked tabby was fed and hydrated and is back with Smitten now. She will be bottle fed every 4 hours to recover and is showing the drive to nurse from Smitten still which is good news. We did everything we could for the babies and will continue to put all our efforts into ensuring the remaining 5 kittens thrive. 

This was my first experience raising kittens, more or less the kittens of a stray..it breaks my heart that the 3 kittens didn't make it, but I didn't recognize the signs until it was too late. I have homes for the remaining kittens which is why I didn't want to take them to a shelter for fear they would end up in bad homes or put down. The Queen, Smitten..knows me too, and since she was a stray I wanted to make her as comfortable as possible and keep her in familiar territory. 

I am sorry to hear this outcome, but it is a fact of nature that we cannot save them all, and at least none of them are suffering now. Good luck witht he remaining little ones.

Charloodles said:

If you are unable to afford the expenses of vet bills, it may be better if you surrender the family to a shelter so they can get the care they need. Don't get me wrong, you rescuing them was fantastic and I have no doubt you saved a lot of little lives,
Lethargy is a sure sign of dehydration which can cause death within a matter of hours in such young animals, the description you have given suggests that they are at the stage where they need IV fluids. As for the bloate kitten can I ask what equipment you are sing to supplement feeding?
I think a cat rescue really would be the best place for this family, not only will they get the medical attention they need right now but it will also ensure they are all vaccinated and neutered before they are rehomed which I'm guessing you are unable to offer them?

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This really isn't a good idea if you are in a position to care for the remaining kittens, especially if you have already arranged homes for them. those shelters are usually way too full of animals, with not nearly enough staffing or funds to care for so many sick kittens, and a lot of them won't always find homes. I am really sorry to hear about the loss of the babies, it can be hard. 

It sounds to me like she may have been mated with several days between, possibly more. It can sometimes happen, resulting in half the birthed litter being great, and the other little ones being too small or weak or underdeveloped to live outside the womb without vet interference for a few days up to maybe a week, and they may have been too small or weak to fight off the larger kittens for the nipples. I am glad the queen is getting the kind of care and attention you are giving her. Kudos for taking in a stray like you did.

Hey gsrottie, sorry you had to go through the loss of those kitties. What I wanted to hug you for was sacrificing something else in your life to try and save the kittens. I have been where you just were. Taking kitties or my dog to the emergency vet to save them even though I really couldn't afford it. But I found a way to do it and it did mean giving up something or working more hours and blessings to you.