My 9-day old kitten isn't gaining weight

he is a premature kitten, was at 79 g at birth. cat mom was overwhelmed and confused on the first two days, so we bottle fed the kitten every two hours with diluted formula, and he had diarrhea on the third day. we brought to vet that night, but vet didnt prescribe any medication, just told us to keep an eye on him and make sure he has no dehyration. we let cat mom feeds her kitten since then and give him tiny bit of yogurt and probiotics. the kitten puts on at least 10 grams in the past few days even tho the diarrhea has not totally gone. but these two days,his weight gain decreased, yesterday gained only 7 grams from 157g to 164g, and he didnt put on weight in the last 24 hours. i am so worried, can someone help?

Hi 

I must respond very quickly now but will come back later if more people haven't responded and give more detailed advice.

Simply put you must start bottle feeding him again even though mom is feeding him now.  For some kittens mom is not enough and they will need extra help.  Unfortunately that is the case here.  Since he has not gained for 2 days it is approaching a crisis situation as he is SO young.  Begin bottle feeding immediately, every 2 hours again.  If he is receptive to it and not fading all will likely be well.  If he does not want to eat he may be fading.  Some glucose on the gum may help that and energize him so he will want to eat more.

Also make sure he is warm during this time. That is also of crucial importance.  But right now you really have to start bottle feeding again.

Good luck.  Please let us know how you get on.

I will also ask this be moved to the pregnant cat and kitten forum where you will get more specialized advice than here!

I agree if he's not gaining weight you need to supplement feed him, he is not getting enough from the mother.  At this age he should be fed every few hours. 

tulosai said:

 
Also make sure he is warm during this time. That is also of crucial importance.

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Excellent advices by Tulosai.

One little addition.  Being warm means here, you must actively make sure he is warm, as he himself cant keep his body warmth, and especielly not when he is weak.

Use a heating pad / warm bottle in a towel / carry him at your chest...

I suppose his mom is warming him?   If it is no cold place, it may be enough.  But it may still be wise to have some warming pad on low heat in there in the nest.

Too much heat is dangerous, but the most common problem is they get cold.

Being cold takes forces from them.  They cant either process the milk properly.

Good luck!

I just totally lost my story of Stewart the baby cat I nurtured since he was about a week old. Regarding heating pads,I  had read that the people kind could get too hot, so I  would put some dry rice in a heavy duty freezer bag, heat it in the microwave for about 10 minutes, wrap in towel and it would stay warm for several hours, Yes baby kitten needs to  be warm and formula has to be warm, or baby will have some adverse problems!  I  used to heat the KMR  filled bottle, I  think I  would fill it to the 3 mark on the side, heat  in the microwave for like exactly 11 seconds, shake to distribute any hot spots from microwave heating ,test and feed. Also don't forget to wipe the little bum area with a warm damp cloth shortly after feeding to stimulate kitty potty, as they can't go by themselves just yet. I  also kind of burped him a little bit after feeding.I t is a very rewarding experience. I  also would weigh him daily and he put on the appropriate 1/2 oz. per day - or whatever the proper amount was. Think I  fed him every 3-4 hours - he slept through the night, but I  would feed late at night, and first thing early morning. He slep very soundly in his towel insulated carrier and wrapped in an old cashmere sweater.

Are you familiar with how to supplement a baby?

Please let us know and we will be happy to walk you through it.

It's not difficult really!

Thanks everyone! i use electronic heating pad and set it to low with a few towels on top, and a small towel to cover the baby, is it too warm? i tried supplement feed him 4 hrs ago, but he didnt like it, i ended up use a syringe and fed him 0.7ml only... i suspect that he had diarrhea before was because of the formula, so i don't know how much i should feed him now, should i dilute the formula in 1:3? he is still nursing from mom. actually, how can i tell if cat mom has enough milk?

It's difficult to find the brand KMR in HK, but i use Royal Canin BabyCat Milk... 

for burping, sometimes i hear "bubbling" sound from him, is that the burps?

Mienati said:

 
Thanks everyone! i use electronic heating pad and set it to low with a few towels on top, and a small towel to cover the baby, is it too warm? i tried supplement feed him 4 hrs ago, but he didnt like it, i ended up use a syringe and fed him 0.7ml only... i suspect that he had diarrhea before was because of the formula, so i don't know how much i should feed him now, should i dilute the formula in 1:3? he is still nursing from mom. actually, how can i tell if cat mom has enough milk?

It's difficult to find the brand KMR in HK, but i use Royal Canin BabyCat Milk... 

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You know this by weighting every day...   when you supplement feed, it gets more unclear. Its no exact science, you must make some  intelligent guesses.  But as long he gains as he should be happy.

In any case, snuggling with mom and mom taking care is worth much, so even if you suspect he gets way too little from mom, continue with it.

Royal Canin BabyCat milk is nowdays really good.  Our swedish breeders are quite happy with it.

Look in the Lilly-Micheif thread for a formula for home made pedialyte.  It may become useful in many situations. For example if he gets strong diarrhea. 

Probably useful also as  diluter to milkformula.

Good luck!

I just found that the temperature in nest is too high.... I placed a thermometer between baby and the blanket he sleeps on, it's 107F, i switched off the heating pad straight away, now the immediate environment is about 91.5F.... what should i do now? should i bring baby to vet?

Phone your vet if he gives phone advices.

I myself Im not sure what help it would give to rush him in.  Having a  normal temp should be enough I hope..

ps. Give extra supplement of water or pedialyte.

StefanZ said:

 
You know this by weighting every day...   when you supplement feed, it gets more unclear. Its no exact science, you must make some  intelligent guesses.  But as long he gains as he should be happy.

In any case, snuggling with mom and mom taking care is worth much, so even if you suspect he gets way too little from mom, continue with it.

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This.  He isn't getting enough from mom because he isn't gaining enough weight, end of story.  It may be an issue with her or with him, it does not really matter-all that matters is if he is gaining weight or not.  I strongly agree with Stefan Z that you should keep him with mom no matter what though- there are many benefits there! 

As to how much to feed, I'd start with every 2-4 hours if you can, and just feed him as much as he will eat. If it were me and if it were at all possible, I'd start now with every 2 hours because he is so young and hasn't gained enough weight in several days, but every 4 may be enough if you can't do more than that. After a few days, if he is hopefully gaining, you will just have to play it by ear and make some guesses and see what works as StefanZ says.  I've often had litters and had to supplement just one kitten while the others all were doing fine, and it has varied a LOT how often I had to feed the kitten and how much they would eat depending on a lot of things- how old they were, how strong they were, how m uch they would eat at one time, and how much they were getting from mom.  Sometimes one supplemental feeding a day ended up being enough, other times it was every 2-3 hours with a longer break overnight so I could get some sleep for many days.

He sounds still strong and like a fighter though, so if you begin frequently feeding him as much as he will take now, I really do think chances are good he will end up being just fine!

Thanks StefanZ and tulosai.

Baby rejects the bottle, so i need to use syringe, even tho he doesn't like syringe too, but i can "force-feed" him by slowly inject the formula into his mouth while he is tired and sleeping. Every time after i feed him and put him back to mom, he suckles for a while....

Meanwhile, I'm feeding him every other 2 hour with 2ml formula, so he gets milk from mom, formula, mom, formula... etc. Hope this won't make his diarrhea worse....

I have another concern... don't know if it's my feeding schedule or i dilute the formula too much (1:4) or other reason, baby urinate on its own and the urine is clear, not pale yellow.... do you have any idea?

Yes, of course he rejects it, they make those nipples hard and ugly, nothing to simulate mommas nipple what-so-ever!~

Even when I have to bottle feed an orphaned litter, and they aren't getting milk from anywhere else and should be starved, they resist like mad.

By the 4th try, they suddenly 'get it'.

With yours, being in between, it will take extra tries for sure.

It may be that his pee is clear or super light from the formula dilution. It's 2 to 1.

1 part powder to 2 parts water is all.

catwoman707 said:

 
Yes, of course he rejects it, they make those nipples hard and ugly, nothing to simulate mommas nipple what-so-ever!~

Even when I have to bottle feed an orphaned litter, and they aren't getting milk from anywhere else and should be starved, they resist like mad.

By the 4th try, they suddenly 'get it'.

With yours, being in between, it will take extra tries for sure.

It may be that his pee is clear or super light from the formula dilution. It's 2 to 1.

1 part powder to 2 parts water is all.

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Since he has diarrhea, i try to  dilute it a bit, seems 4:1 is too much, i just switch back to 3:1.

How about his spontaneous urination? most of the articles and materials on the internet says baby need mom's stimulation to pee and poo.....

Mienati said:

 
Since he has diarrhea, i try to  dilute it a bit, seems 4:1 is too much, i just switch back to 3:1.

How about his spontaneous urination? most of the articles and materials on the internet says baby need mom's stimulation to pee and poo.....

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If you are certain of his age, it is indeed unusual for him to be peeing on his own. Sometimes there is a brief lag between when mom will stimulate them and when the pee/poo actually comes out. Are you sure that is not what is happening?

I would definitely advise that you not dilute the formula as much as you are and in fact would  do 2:1 instead of 3:1, but if you feel doing 3:1 is helping with the diarrhea noticeably, keep on.

Mienati said:

he is a premature kitten, was at 79 g at birth. <snip>

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79g is a fairly respectable birth weight.  One of my kittens was 66g and he did just fine, though his mum looked after him.

I think that if he was more than a day or two premature he wouldn't have survived.

Keep going, what is the recommended way of making up the forumula?  For KMR it's 1 scoop powder to 2 scoops water.

Spontanious peeing at his age seems to happen sometimes for some reason, not sure if it is due to an overfilled bladder or not but that's always a possibility I guess.

The main thing right now is his gaining weight every day, at least around 9gms or more.

I want you do do something, when you think he is latched onto mom and nursing, gently pick him up slowly, and see if he is infact latched on well, he should have some resistance and not just come right off.

If he has a good suction on her, great.

Also do you ever see mom act like she doesn't want to nurse him for more than a few minutes? Like she might get up and move, or nudge him away, or lay in an upright position where he is unable to nurse?

I'm just trying to get the entire scenario.

Next is, stop diluting the formula. He badly needs it full strength. The more it is watered down, the more empty nutritional value it will have to give.

Leave the diarrhea issue alone for now, it is highly possible he will have parasites which can be addressed in another 1 1/2-2 weeks, plus of course he will have worms.

The biggest factor for saving his life is nutrition and weight gain at this point.

His temp should always remain even, at around 98-100 degrees.

A low temp setting heating pad with one towel covering it, and an area he is able to scoot onto that is not heated is correct. Not out in the open, but like a small box. He won't need anything covering him.

Never, never feed him if he is not at least 98, baby's organs go into a dormant state when the temp drops down, and formula will not be processed and WILL kill him fast.

Pneummonia is the leading cause of bottle fed babies deaths, due to even a tiny drop being inhaled rather than swallowed. This means never squirt formula in his throat, it takes patience and a slow process of tiny squirts into his cheek area, allow him to swallow it and take a breath.  Also NEVER feed baby on his back. He should be bottle fed on all 4 paws with head slightly raised, as he does when nursing from momma.

Just wanted to give a small rundown of the DO NOT'S in case you didn't know.

To potty, the easiest and best, fastest way I have found is, after he is fed, I turn the faucet water on and make sure it's good and warm, not hot but very warm, hold him with left hand and put his butt right under the running water and tap with your finger on your right hand. This tapping prevents the very common sore red butt/genitals that most bottle fed babies get when they get pottied, every article or "how-to" info says to gently rub to stimulate, no, don't rub, tap with your finger. Excellent results!!

Be sure to dry him well and keep warm.

I also meant to ask, mom only had 1 kitten? Or were there others that died? Do you own her or was she a stray/found cat? Her age?

Thanks catwoman707!

i stopped diluting the formula, and fed him twice, stimulated him for poop, and cat mom did that as well, nothing happened yet, hope he is ok =)

mom gave birth to 3, but the other 2 were stillborn, so this baby is the only survivor, that's why i am so nervous. mom is five yrs old...

Hope your kitten is OK, and I hope you are arranging to get mum spayed as soon as the vet will do her.