Runt kitten help!

So the cat that I took in gave birth to 4 kittens only 2 days ago. 3 of them are eating very well and already look bigger, but the last one born is about half the size, always seems to be sleeping, and feels very weak. The mom hasn't abandoned this kitten, still cleans her and everything. I'm just very worried as I have tried to get her to latch on to mom, but it's not working...

Any advice? If I have to bottle feed, what brand of replacement milk is best? Any other tips?

Does it not eat at all when you let him latch to mom?  Or do the others push him away?  If the others, do it when they are sleeping.  Rotate them even, so they wont get a clear favorite nipple, and thus, wont fight either.

Weigh him every day - yes even twice a day, so you know exactly if he gains or not.   With such a little, dont expect any 10g  a day which is the normal minimum.

6-8 grammes a day is more reasonable, and what you may realistic hope for, if he survives this crisis.

But yes, if he isnt eating himself, you must give him.  With dropper or a small 3 ml syringe.  Slowly, so he manages to swallow down - which he will do slowly in the beginning.

Tummy down, head up.

Goat milk, preferably fresh, but bottled is OK, is always useful.  You may perhaps need to dilute it a little.    Some forumties add a little plain full fat youghurt, instead of diluting.

Of  kmr, the brand KMR is most renown. Use the pulver version, stage one.    The ready made solution is less safe.

Royal Canins  kmr is also good, - at least this sold in Sweden is.

There are also other acceptable brands - so it depends on what you have in shops nearby.

Get home glucose sugar (brand name may be Dextrose or Dextropur, you can prob find it in your usual shop.  In the sports sections they have surely flavored glucose sugar tablets, they are OK too to use).

If he is weak or especielly if he becomes lethargic, you can try and boost some energy

continuing  @Melon86  

by smearing a little glucose sugar on his gum.  It goes from there directly into the blood.

In emergencies, if you nor your neigbours dont have proper glucose sugar, you can use  white caro syrup or honey too...

Be sure he is warm.  Being so little and weak, his ability to hold warmth is even lesser than this of his siblings.  So prepare you must hold him warm by actively warming up, and even massage him up now and then.   TOO much warmth is dangerous too, but the biggest danger is to be too cold.

Also, make sure he has water, he doenst become dehydrated.  So, some water (or pedialyte) inbetween the feedings may be necessary.

Sorrowfully so small weak mini-kittens, their chances arent too good.   Fight on, the victory MAY be yours and his.   Some DO survive and live many long healthy years!

But dont despair too much if he goes away.  Or even suddenly collapses before he is adult.

*vibes!*

I've had this problem before - one of my cat's kittens was terrifyingly skinny compared to the rest of the litter - as in bird bone skinny! - and I wasn't sure she was going to make it. But fast forward a year later and she is a beautiful, healthy cat! Keep trying to encourage her to drink from her mother; when the other kittens are sleeping, if her mother will feed her, you should keep trying to get her to feed. If she's too weak for that, you will have to bottle feed her round the clock yourself. KMR is a great brand of kitten replacement milk, but there are many others too. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Thank you both so much!

Mom is still grooming and cuddling this little one which I imagine is a good sign... I've tried to get her onto mom quite a few times but she seems more interested in sleeping. I will try again when siblings are sleeping. Definitely will keep you updated!

The baby felt cool to the touch so I warmed her up with blankets and a heating pad. Pet supply store opens in just over an hour. Hoping for the best!

I found a kitten at a garbage dump.  I used KRM.  I got it from Petco.  She did fine on it.

Melon86 said:

The baby felt cool to the touch so I warmed her up with blankets and a heating pad. Pet supply store opens in just over an hour. Hoping for the best!

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Begin with giving it a little glucose in some form, so it gets some energy and manage to suckle.  Perhaps also drop in some water with a dropper.

Observe, if he is very weak, its not sure he suckles from mom, even if he seems to do it... So be prepared to give it KMR or goat milk yourself.  Make sure that KMR or goat milk is body warm! Also the water you are giving.

Fight on!  As the others do witness, it is often worth it - the kitten has good chances if you are vigilant and vigorous enough.

Esp as mom is still caring for it.

ps.  Use fleece when YOU are nursing it. Fleece feels almost like momma, very calming.

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that... You did the right thing though by warming her up! I'm sure she will be fine once you give her some kitten milk replacer, she's probably just weak from not feeding enough. Sending lots of prayers for her to pull through!

Okay so I went and bought KMR and a nurser for the baby. I attempted to feed as the siblings were nursing.. She really wanted nothing to do with it.. I did manage to get a couple drops in her mouth until she wouldn't stop crying. She does seem to have some strong lungs! I'm not sure if what she got was enough for a feeding but I tried my best. When I put her back with mom she cuddled right up to her... Mom started to groom her too. I'm going to wait til next feeding and hope it gets a little better.

I am definitely open for any other advice or your experiences because they are helping me, it's been a long night/morning and I'm determined to help this cutie the best I can

Melon86 said:

Okay so I went and bought KMR and a nurser for the baby. I attempted to feed as the siblings were nursing.. She really wanted nothing to do with it.. I did manage to get a couple drops in her mouth until she wouldn't stop crying. She does seem to have some strong lungs! I'm not sure if what she got was enough for a feeding but I tried my best. When I put her back with mom she cuddled right up to her... Mom started to groom her too. I'm going to wait til next feeding and hope it gets a little better.

I am definitely open for any other advice or your experiences because they are helping me, it's been a long night/morning and I'm determined to help this cutie the best I can

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what is a nurser, is it a bottle?   A dropper or a syringe is easier in the beginning, esp with the weak ones...   Also, several tries may be necessary with a bottle, until he gets the idea.

So, dont wait too long for the next try.  Time is running.  Good he has still enough with forces to protest loudly, it hints he isnt very weak as yet.  A healthy feisty kittens may manage surprising long without food.  But he has hardly much margins, and time is running out for him.

In the meantime,  I will call on three of our members with lotsa of experience of weak kittens - one of them will be enough, but I dont know whom of them is at hand!

@catwoman707   @Red Top Rescue   @CatPack

ps.  If you dont have a dropper or a small dosage syringe at home, go around your neigbours and ask.   Almost any dropper will do.  Clean it off at first.

Tummy down, head up, into the corner of the mouth, squeeze slow and gentle, so he can swallow properly.   Yes, it may take some time if he doesnt swallow actively.

ps.2 Also, if you have time over, look at the places about hand-rearing orphans, to get ideas.  YOu see links at our site.

One extrnal is www.kitten-rescue.com,  whose owner is one veteran forumist from here,  Hissy.

The fact that she got even a couple of drops of milk in her is great news! And the fact that her mother acknowledges her is great, too. Just keep feeding her yourself periodically, and who knows, she may even start drinking from her mom. That's how it was with my litter. The other kittens were pushing our runt out of the way at feeding time, and she would just give up. When the others were sleeping, all fat and contented, I would help her to latch onto her mom, and although she didn't listen at first, after some attempts she eventually started drinking. I understand how worrying it can be, though, and it takes a lot out of you, but don't give up, you're doing a wonderful job!!

Okay so the last time with the bottle it came out of her nose... Started using a dropper instead in the corner of her mouth. Much easier but I'm trying to do it in between her cries. Poor baby.

There are lots of videos on youtube showing how to bottle feed newborn kittens properly. If in doubt, try checking those out. I really wish somebody with experience in hand rearing such young kittens could give you some good advice. Try PMing one of the members mentioned in Stefan's post, I'm sure they could help you out a lot!

Okay so where to begin.

First thing is, the bottle doesn't work well for supporting a newborn, as they don't want anything to do with nursing from anything but momma.

So you will need a syringe, as an eye dropper will not allow you enough control over the amt that goes into mouth.

A few key tips-

Always feed with baby on tummy as it does nursing from mom.

Never try to feed a baby that is cold, the organs have become dormant and will not digest the milk, it grows bacteria quickly and will kill the baby.

If syringing takes time, and it usually does, especially at first, then have a heat source to keep on him warm while you are syringing.

I just got a call with another urgent kitten issue I have to handle but will be back very shortly to continue!!

For my runt I warmed up wash clothes in the dryer and wrapped him in while I was feeding.  I was afraid the heating pad was too warm.  I received no sleep while I was feeding him. He did latch on to his mother once he was a little stronger.  I kept trying and kept the bigger kittens from pushing him off. Now he is 14.5 lbs.

Alright so where was I.....

Runt babies often times don't survive for one main reason, they are smaller than the others and will constantly be kicked off of a specific nipple for bigger babies to have.

They give up and go off to sleep, eventually this lack of feedings catches up to them and they will go downhill.

Occasionally there will be a real fighter, who will not allow this to happen, and will fight with everything they've got to stay nursing where they are, those do survive.

Babies like yours get off to a rougher start because they are so small, weak, they lack the drive to nurse and grow, and need a huge helping hand to get them some strength so they can catch up to the others and thrive.

This is where you need to come in.

By supplementing/syringing this baby now, and likely for a good week or so, maybe more, he will do fine, IF he gets enough milk to become strong enough to nurse for himself.

You NEED to get a weight, and be able to weigh everyday, or twice a day at this time, to closely monitor progress.

You also need the weight to feed the correct amt of formula.

My personal fave is KMR brand. Powder.

Take an empty water bottle or gatorade bottle and make up some kmr to store in the fridge, not alot though since what is not used within a day or so should be tossed out.

Make it up, when it's feeding time, pour out a small amt to feed, warm it with hot water. I use this small little cup thingy I have where I can take a coffee mug, fill it with HOT water and float the cup on top so that the kmr doesn't get cold during syringing.

Baby on tummy, use one hand to hold head up a bit, and the other to slowly, gently put a couple drops into the cheek area, never throat.

You need to really watch the breathing/crying, after a cry, or a swallow, baby inhales. The crying is because he is starving.

He needs to be fed 8 mls/cc's per ounce of body weight daily, and needs to be fed every 2 hours at this critical time.

So divide feedings into about 10 a day, if he weighs 3 ounces then he will get 24 mls a day, which is 2.4 mls per feeding.

If you can't handle every 2 hours or 10 a day, do every 3 hours, but NO more than that, not now. 2 hours after feeding, everything in tummy has been digested, and there is literally NO reserve what-so-ever. So even at 3 hours, it's pushing it a bit.

Every 3 hours=3 mls per feeding.

You may find you are able to feed more the first few times, this is very helpful, as he is falling far behind, and at a point there will be no way to turn him around, he just won't make it.

Beautiful advice there from the wise catwoman707!

How's it going, Melon86? Sending lots of positive vibes for the little cutie ^__^

kagami said:

 
Beautiful advice there from the wise catwoman707!

How's it going, Melon86? Sending lots of positive vibes for the little cutie ^__^

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Thank you!

How's it going @Melon86  ??