Help needed please with kitten not gaining weight.

Hi Guys, I will try to be succinct.

I had a lone kitten born to a mother that had no milk (even after meds given). I have hand reared the kitten according to the guidelines. When he was 2 weeks old I had a new small litter born so I popped him in with them and mum accepted him no problem. He was approx 280gs. For the first few days I was unsure if he was actually feeding from her so I carried on feeding via syringe. He failed to gain weight for the next few days despite still being syringe fed and so I was concerned that he was getting some milk from his new mum and myself so was being overfed. I backed off from the feeding to 2 - 3 times a day but because he has been on a nipple he would no longer have the syringe and now he is 3 weeks old and having tube feeds but not gaining weight. Over the last week he has varied between 280gs and 295gs. Today I gave a little Panacur. I have given him Clavamox, probiotics all along as he got no colostrum. 

I am a little lost as to what to do next. His new mum stimulates him to pee but when I feed him I do too but for the last 3 days there has been no urine. Also over the last few days I have not been able to stimulate him to pee. He is alert and active. He dives out of the nest to get to me. I have noticed that sometimes he feels a little dehydrated when skin is pinched and that is when I feed him but only 10-15 mls.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as those of you that have cared for such kittens know how hard it is to see them stall. Cheers, Karen x

What kmr do you use?

Do you have any possibility to get goat milk - preferably fresh, but bottled is OK too.  Im not saying goat milk is better than a good kmr, but still, this could be the change to try with as next.

You can also add egg youlk to either the goat milk, or the kmr, if you want to get it even more nourishing.  (hopefully there is no problems with salomonella in eggs at your place)

Re he doesnt pee on your stimulating: if mom is washing him, he hopefully is already stimulated enough and already emptied.  But it may also be in some degree a sign of some dehydration.

A little  pedialyte - home made or bought, between the feedings?

Catwoman707 gives the  amount of 8 cc/ml on each ounce body weight every day.   He has now roughly 10 ounces, so it gives the total of 80 cc a day he shall have to gain his minimum 6 g a day..

The question is,  how much of this  he gets from mom?.   If you suspect he mostly  suckle on her, but actually arent getting almost anything, it means YOU must increase your daily givings.  Tricky to know for sure.

A healthy kittens who himself swallows actively, its difficult to overfeed.   Its more tricky with a weak kitten who doesnt swallow easily himself - you must take it slowly to not get food in wrong throat, nor get any reflux.

You use tube feeding (unusual - it demands somenone knowleable did showed you) - so you are somewhere in the first position - you can give almost as much as you want, as long as you dont overdo or give it too hasty - you dont want refluxes you neither.   Burping helps some of course.

Some thinking aloud.

Hope others join in!

Good luck!   *vibes!*    @I LUV WEGIES

Hi,

I am in Australia so we feed Woobaroo Cat Milk Replacer. I did get some urine today and it was normal. I can no longer get him to take anything orally. I tried with a little R/C Babycat Mousse. He is the most stubborn kitten I have ever met. He clamped his jaws shut like I knew he would. His weight has been the same for one week and so I don't know whether to back of from feeding or perhaps take him away from his foster mum and go back to feeding him so I know exactly what he gets. I was hoping to wean early but it did not go well today and he is the strangest kitty he claws and claws at his mouth, when he would take the syringe but he won't now. I know how to tube feed safely so that's is not an issue.

I have never had a kitten that I have had to feed entirely replacement milk for 2 weeks and so I don't know how normal it is for no weight gain for 1 week. I don't know what else to do but thank-you so much for the advice. Xx  

he stopped gaining weight when I put him in with the foster mum, a week ago.......I am tempted to take him out and put him back with his real mum. She has no milk. What do you think Stefan?

I LUV WEGIES said:

 
he stopped gaining weight when I put him in with the foster mum, a week ago.......I am tempted to take him out and put him back with his real mum. She has no milk. What do you think Stefan?

Click to expand...

I suspect he dont get much from her, really. Its most comfort and the washing - which is important enough.

So I agree with you.  You take the responsibility and take charge for food - reckon with this 8 cc / ounce, ie 8 ml / 30g body weight a day.

Do the swich soon - time is running for him.

If you can get fresh goat milk, he will get some of the natural antibodies from there too, I think and hope.  Anyways, goat milk works nicely for almost all rescuers and caretakers who did tried.  So unless you have the unluck to find some inferior bottled variant, it should be worth to try.  If there are several different bottled, use the full fat version.  No funny reduced fat.

And if his biological mom or foster mom is there to give him comfort etc, do so, let her help.

Otherwise, use lot of fleece and do everything yourself.

It seems kittens feel the fleece almost as from a real cat.   And of course, make sure he is comfortably warm.

Good luck!

ps.  Are you sure he hasnt any problems with his mouth?  Like a hole in the mouths roof "palate" ?   Such kittens cant suckle succesfully.

They can often be saved, but must be given kmr by tube feeding or syringe.   Mom nor bottle doesnt work.

Is the kitten doing okay? If he isn't gaining weight from his new mom, you should feed him again. He's obviously not getting what he needs, and a kitten not gaining weight should be avoided where possible. I know feeding a kitten every 2 hours, even during the night, is quite a task, but hold on a little. In a few weeks he can start eating different food that he can go and get himself. That usually gives a boost to those that are a little less on milk.

I would also, if you can, get him checked if he doesn't grow well even with feeding. There might be something else up. If he does grow while you hand feed him, and he does fine on different food later on, then it should be okay. Just make sure he gains weight and doesn't lose any.

Please keep us updated!

Hi,

thank-you. Week 2-3 there was no weight gain. Week 3-4 he gained 100gs and 4 days into week 4-5 he has gained 50gs. He is now 4.5 weeks and 45ogs. I have him on Babycat with egg yolk and a little milk replacer 4-5 times a day. He is currently doing very well so I have hope for him. He is very lively. 

I decided to leave him with his foster mum. Her other 3 babies are 380-470 gs at 2.5 weeks old and haven't suffered.

Thanks for the advice guys