Is this normal?

My cat gave birth a week ago and was nursing fine until today. I noticed the kittens were meowing and searching a lot and when I looked at her nipples, they weren't enlarged anymore. They're very little and almost white. Could her milk be drying up or is this normal?

Something seems amiss.  You could imagine things seeing her nipples, but as kittens are protesting, there is surely a problem incoming.

You must as quick you can get  kmr - ie kitten mother replacement milk or goat milk, and suitable gears.

Is she still taking care of them otherwise?  like warming them, washing them, helping them evacuate?

The best way to know if they get enough milk from mom is to weigh them every day.  Electronical kitchen scale measuring in grammes is best.

Also, its wise to consutl a vet.  The vet can perhaps help her with a hormone injection, or similiar...

What is she getting for food?  Its  kitten-type food?

Ie you can perhaps also enrich her food, but for this we wait to your answer.

Good luck!

Yes, it is an urgent situation you have, as these tiny newborns will not survive long without her milk.

The vets can give her something to stimulate milk production, but meanwhile it is up to you to supplement them.

StefanZ said:

Something seems amiss.  You could imagine things seeing her nipples, but as kittens are protesting, there is surely a problem incoming.

You must as quick you can get  kmr - ie kitten mother replacement milk or goat milk, and suitable gears.

Is she still taking care of them otherwise?  like warming them, washing them, helping them evacuate?

The best way to know if they get enough milk from mom is to weigh them every day.  Electronical kitchen scale measuring in grammes is best.


Also, its wise to consutl a vet.  The vet can perhaps help her with a hormone injection, or similiar...


What is she getting for food?  Its  kitten-type food?

Ie you can perhaps also enrich her food, but for this we wait to your answer.



Good luck!

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She is still being mommy for the most part. She lays and trieds to feed them, cleans them, comes when she hears them. She's not eating as much as usual. The vet told me not to run out and buy kmr and to switch her food first because she'll figure it out on her own. I'm going to the store as soon as my daughter gets home from school in 15 minutes to buy knr and whatever else I need. Im going to look into getting the scale while I'm there also. Thank you guys so much.

I bought and made the kmr but the kittens won't latch on. I've tried all the nipples that the bottle came with. Should I rub it on their mom to make it smell like her. How do I get them to eat?

Maybe a small syringe would work?

l just wanted to pop in and say to always feed them with their back up and belly down. lt's dangerous to feed them while they're on their backs, and l see it being done on youtube over and over 

Ive taken them out alone and tried to put it in front of them as if they were feeding from their mother but they keep turning their heads. I've expressed a little bit onto the tip to let them taste it hoping they would be interested but I will buy a syringe in the morning if I can't make this work over night. Thanks

Were you able to feed your kitten? My vet showed me a way to feed my cat when he was too young (long time ago..). Fill a syringe with KMR, insert the syringe through the side of their jaw so that will force them to swallow, give it a slight push if he/she doesn't suck yet, slowly to make sure it doesn't go into their lung. Once he/she is sucking the milk from the syringe you can move it to the frontal part of the mouth. 

Here is a video, where you can they first insert the syringe on the side, then move to the front.


You can see in the video, they wrap the lower part of the kitty with a towel, it makes them feel safe and it also limit their move so they can focus on the milk. The syringe should work, if it doesn't don't wait until you can consult a vet. And if you see that you're vet isn't really pro-active or told you to wait, you can always another vet. I know some are always thinking it's gonna be okay when it's so not okay. Wish you good luck and long happy life to the kitties   

Andrya said:

 
Maybe a small syringe would work?

l just wanted to pop in and say to always feed them with their back up and belly down. lt's dangerous to feed them while they're on their backs, and l see it being done on youtube over and over 

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Yes to both advices.   Small syringe (no needle) or even a dropper, is often easier,   at least to begin with.   As Andrya says, tummy down, head a little up.  The syringe or dropper in the corner of the mouth, so we wont riskt to splash it straigh into wrong throat.

Good luck!

Yes, paws should be down, do not turn baby over as you would feed a human baby, it is too easily inhaled this way.

It is very difficult for a baby to accept a bottle right off, you will have much resistence too, but slowly, tiny drops into the cheek area, never in their throat.

They are very fragile now, and take small short breaths, so take your time with this. The biggest danger is inhaling even a tiny drop, which turns into pneumonia fast and will kill the baby.

A small syringe works best if you can get this. It will allow much more control over the amt entered into the cheek.

UPDATE!!! I took her to the vet and they gave cat food with added nutrients. She got her milk supply back and the kittens are doing very well. Yesterday I woke up with a feeling to check my local kijiji pet section ( not because I wanted a new pet I just felt the need to look) and the first add I saw was someone looking for a surrogate for a newborn kitten that had been abandoned...
We now have a fourth member to this family within our family.
The mother took to the kitten instantly and began grooming and feeding him.
This site has helped me tremendously through this new adventure and I thank everyone of you that have given me advice!

Aww, how nice is that! Good for you    What a beautiful fur-family.

This is great, I'm really happy for you and your new adoptee

Help! My adopted kitten is acting funny. He's almost 3 weeks old now and is fluffy and fat which is a great improvement since we got him but he's starting to make these weird breathing noises and sometimes he looks like he's meowing but no sound comes out. Is that typical for kittens or should I bring him to the vet?

kaylielove said:

Help! My adopted kitten is acting funny. He's almost 3 weeks old now and is fluffy and fat which is a great improvement since we got him but he's starting to make these weird breathing noises and sometimes he looks like he's meowing but no sound comes out. Is that typical for kittens or should I bring him to the vet?

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Can he meow normally too?   Some kittens learn to meow late, and use other sounds.  and they do a lot of these  open mouth silent meow-movements, but no sound coming out.

I do strongly suspect they DO have a sound which cats do hear, but we humans not.  So these late learners learn with time to meow so even we dumb humans can hear and react.

My younger resident was such a one.

Others can meow, but still do experimentate sometimes with such a silent sounds.

So, this behavior  is common, and normally,  nothing much with it.    (of course,  in some  cases it can be alarming yes - depends on the situation!)

The weird breathing is more alarming.  and depends surely on circumstances to be alarmed or just make you vigilant.

  It MAY be connected with his non meowing, and thus trying to communicate in other ways.  My resident mentioned has a way of making friendly noises by weird breathing.  Typically he lays somewhere near, while Im sitting and reading.  And shows his friendly company by these sounds.   A sort of spinning, but ist no regular spinning.

If this has a connection with his being a late meower, I dont know.

Does he seems healthy otherwise, lively,  moves, begins to play, etc?  

If yes to all these calming questions, I think you can wait and see, these being variations of completely normal behavior.

But if you notice any alarming signals, fever, anything, off to the vet you go, asap.     Why, if you DO have access to a good vet, ask him anyways, just to be sure.

Pneumonia is what most often takes life of otherwise healthy born kittens.  It often takes  just hours.

Good luck!