Need help with my runt kitten

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werra

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I have a 1 week old kittens they are all 6 but the the other one is a half the size during her first 4 days I observed that she is very thin and that I intervened by giving her unpasteurized goat's milk right now she gained some weight and I also give her own space to nurse to her mom and temporarily remove all the big siblings while she is nursing.She is doing fine and nursing good both with goat's milk and her mother. Before I go to sleep I checked her out and she is ok now when I woke up I saw her on sleeping on her mother's back while the others are in front cuddling their mom. When I hold her she is crying in distressed and won't nurse at the moment. She is also bit cold when I touched her that is why I am putting her in between of her big siblings to be cuddled, She is crying like she is in pain right now is is because if the unpasteurized goat's milk? I always give a warm milk before feeding it using a syringe, I bought a glucose powder now. Please help what should I do? Should I bring her the vet? She is just 10 days old,
 
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tulosai

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You are right that the first and most important thing is to get her warm. At that point you should try again to syringe feed her.  DO NOT feed her until she is properly warmed up, that can actually cause death.

She is probably not crying because of the goats milk or anything you did.  It sounds like you have been doing everything right. The truth is that sometimes kittens just go south and it's no one's fault.  If you can, taking her to the vet may help, if the vet is a good one and skilled with young kittens, but often they unfortunately are not.

But yes, getting her warm and comfortable first and then syringe feeding her every few hours is probably your best bet for right now.

How is mom acting toward her? Does she seem to still accept he and be taking care of her? Is it possible she needs to be assisted in using the bathroom or are you pretty sure mom is still doing this for her?
 
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werra

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Hi, thanks for the reply.I put her on her mother's chest now and her mom is cuddling her, I also tried warm water dip cotton balls to help her defecate. Is it ok that I am giving her glucose powder? Her mother still seem rattled everytime she cries She is still cold and weak now that is I am not giving any milk again yet, She is very small like half the size her sibling . She is doing fine yesterday and starting to fight to nurse to her mother, I am just worried what might happened while I am sleeping that is why she became weak all of a sudden today
 
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werra

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I made sure that my kitten is warm before feeding her milk but after giving her some she suddenly collapsed is it my fault? She is really weak this morning and crying in pain

Does this happen to runt kittens she seemed healthy and doing well for the last 6 days I intervened started prioritzing her to nurse to her mother she also gained some weight and just today she became weak all of a sudden
 
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catwoman707

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It's extremely common for the runt to not make it.

But it is not necessarily because of size, it is because they don't get to nurse enough, NEVER are allowed by the others to have one of the better nipples, and with a litter of 6, I guarantee he is not getting to nurse much at all.

You need KMR for supplementing by a syringe (no needle type) unless you are able to pull out the others on and off all day long so he can nurse to his little heart's content.

Okay so I had a phone call and just came back to continue posting and saw your latest post.

It doesn't sound like she is going to make it.

Can you possibly take her now to have her pts?

Sometimes it is not an easy passing, and it's hard to watch. They usually don't simply stop breathing, it's a bit of a struggle.

I'm so sorry about this, it takes time for the lack of nursing to catch up to them, so yesterday she was actually not fine, every day she went with not enough milk built up and eventually took her down.

You did what you knew, and of course it's not your fault, it is common unfortunately. 

Now keep an eye on everyone else, big or not so big, they can take a turn downhill easily as they are so fragile at this age.

Your best bet is to weight them on a gram scale daily, to ensure they are all getting plenty of milk and gaining the appropriate amt every day.
 
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werra

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Hi unfortunately she didn't make it she was doing ok yesterday she's the smallest one in the picture, that photo I just took yesterday. She was nursing well yesterday  morning and evening sucking the syringe with milk like it was her mother's nipples and nursing well on her mother as well and just today she became really weak when I checked her out and crying in pain. She didn't want to nurse to her mother like she did yesterday and didn't want to accept the milk I am giving to her either it all started just today she suddenly became weak so I decided to gave her some glucose and making her warm enough to give some milk replacer thru syringe but she suddenly collapsed after it,
 

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You did the very best anyone could have done - made sure she could nurse, supplemental feeding, weighed her. Loved her. Sometimes that's just not enough. I'm so sorry for your loss.
 

catwoman707

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So sorry, I know it's sad. You did what you could to help her, but we can't always fight what nature has intended, unfortunately.

Very sad, RIP tiny baby angel.  


BTW, what a great looking group you have there :)
 

betsygee

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We will lock this thread now as the kitten has passed on.  On behalf of the TCS Moderation team, we are so sorry for your loss of this little one.
 
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