Cat had one kitten and won't feed it

Hey, so my cat had one kitten this morning. I didn't even know she was expecting. So it was just the one kitten, her abdomen is soft, and she's acting normal. I don't expect any more kittens.

Anyways, when the kitten was born she didn't detach and eat the placenta, but she removed the sac/minimally cleaned the kitten. She was sort of distressed after it was born and ran away, but I got them settled in a box and she was attentive to it. Cleaned it some more, etc. I eventually had to detach the placenta myself. She keeps wandering away from the kitten and so I put them in the closet to isolate them.

It's been over 12 hours and as far as I can tell the kitten hasn't nursed. He's not really crying or anything, but she keeps laying on the opposite side if the box from it, and kind of alternating between ignoring it and licking it. The kitten crawls all over her looking for food then just kind of gives up. I've tried guiding him to a teat and he makes weak sucking noises but won't latch, or doesn't acknowledge the teat at all. Meanwhile, I can't get her to lie still, she rolls around and wants me to pet her, etc.

Her teats are weird, the two closest to her hind legs are swollen and red, but the rest are barely puffy.

I have no idea what's going on and I'm confused as to how to proceed? This is her first err... kitten? I guess it's not really a litter. It's her first birth. She's a little over two years old.

Help? Should I be finding a foster mom to nurse him? I have a friend who's cat has week old kittens. She's affectionate towards the kitten so I'm sure she'll be upset if I give him away. What should I do? She hasn't really abandoned or rejected him... It's more like she has no idea what's going on and she gets hired with him? And it's like he hasn't got a clue how to nurse either? I'm really upset and worried, I don't want him to die,

motherfaerie

Put him with your friend's cat immediately!!! He will die soon if he does not eat!

Your cat is clueless. She also sounds like she needs warm compresses on her two red, swollen nipples.

This baby will not survive the night if he does not eat. He must eat. When you take it to your friend, do not leave until you are sure he has latched and is nursing. I am concerned that he is too weak to latch on. In this case you must use a dropper or syringe and give him at least some sugar water or honey water asap!!! But he must not choke!

Tummy down, head up as though nursing from mom. In the side of the mouth, couple of drops, let him swallow, breathe and go again. This is to revive him!!!

Right away! Do this, call your friend, and give an update! I will post again soon!

motherfaerie

I hope you are taking action and will post soon. I have some ideas about him possibly returning to his mama in a couple of days perhaps, but he must first survive! This is not about mama being sad, this is about baby surviving right now. You should consider spaying mom when this is all done so she does not conceive again. I will wait for you to post before saying more. I hope you are reading this information !

I thinks you are right about him being too weak to eat. I had a friend bring me over some milk replacer and I got him to eat about half of a teaspoon. I left them alone and let them snuggle for about an hour and then tried to encourage him to nurse, I expressed a bead of milk and let it sit in her nipple, he seemed interested in eating and would open his mouth and I could barely hear him trying to suck but he just couldn't keep the nipple in his mouth. Then he fell asleep. I tried for 35 minutes and I could never get him to latch, nothing more than a few feeble sucks. My husband thinks im being crazy and that he has to be eating when I'm not looking because he's not crying or anything?

I can't go with my friend to her house, she's coming to pick him up. Should I have her try to dropper feed him before introducing him to her cat?

I think you are right about him being too weak to eat. I managed to get maybe half a teaspoon of milk replacer into him, maybe less, and then I let him rest for about an hour. I expressed a tiny bead if milk onto her nipple and tried to direct him to it again and he seemed interested in eating, but his suck sounded so weak and he couldn't seem to get/keep the nipple in his mouth. Then he fell asleep. I tried for 45 minutes.

I can't go with my friend to her house, she's coming to pick him up. Should I have her feed him with the dropper before introducing him to her cat?

He isn't crying because he is too weak!

Try to give him a bit more formula before she leaves with him. Can she sit up and make sure he latches? If he doesn't latch he will need to be hand fed every two hours until he is strong enough to suckle. He can stay with the litter and the mama for warmth and potty stimulating, but be removed for feeding. Seriously, every 2 hours as newborns! Give this friend the milk replacer in case she needs it. Let me know how it's going!

I'm sending the milk replacer with her. I'll tell her what you said, I hope she listens. I really hate having to trust somebody else to do this, but I have a newborn baby and I can barely manage feeding him every two hours. Earlier while I was trying to feed the kitten he woke up and was screaming and obviously you can't breastfeed a baby a dropper feed a kitten at the same time.

Is the kitten warm enough?

He doesn't seem like he's shivering, and she does cuddle with him, but she gets distracted. I Know he's at risk for being too cold without litter mates.

Oh goodness, you have your hands full! Try to explain everything and really impress the need upon her. He could be ready to latch soon, he just needs a boost! Let me know what she says. Thanks for getting on this !

Kittens won't eat if they aren't warm enough.  Cats have  a higher body temp than we do.

PS: Wrap him in a blanket for the trip, but make sure he doesn't suffocate.

motherfaerie

Handsome Kitty is right. A kitten cannot eat or digest if they are not warm enough. Can you fill a sock with rice, microwave for five minutes, wrap in a towel and place beside him in a box or basket? This would be ideal. He probably isn't warm enough. When is your friend coming?

Ill see if I have some rice. She was at the movies and said she'd be over as soon as the film ended. That was about an hour and a half ago so hopefully she'll be here soon. (Sorry for typos trying to do this with squirming baby in y my lap)

motherfaerie

No problem with typos. Warmth would be good. Hope you have rice. Have you been able to get more formula in the kitten? I'm concerned about your friend maybe not making sure he latches too. Is kitten with mom in the meantime or with you? Because if you think you can handle this, he might take to his mama soon. That would be ideal, but you'd have to keep an eye out. Feed kitten, put him with his mom. Repeat until he's eating from her. Think about it.

motherfaerie

How's it going? Did your friend arrive? Did you see my post about maybe keeping him? It's up to you and depends if you think your cat will settle in to being a good mother.

Okay I made the rice pack and I got around another mL of formula in him. I'm having trouble getting him to open his mouth and keeping him flat at the same time, so I'm not sure how much actually went in his mouth but he seemed livelier. She really did not like me trying to feed him and kept trying to climb into my lap to get him, her tail was all puffed out. I'm keeping him in the closet with her since she is grooming him and stuff, she's just not nursing him. As soon as I got done feeding him he was climbing all over her, but he ended up curling up next to her and going to sleep, so I tried to lay the rice sock next to him like a litter mate would lay and I'll try getting him to nurse again in an hour? My friend is actually a friends friend and Ive on,y met her twice. She came over and turns out she runs an animal rescue. So she looked at them and said she thinks if I keep up with the heating pad, feeding him, and trying to get him to latch he should be fine, but if I still haven't observed a good nursing session by morning to call hee and she'd come get him.

Excellent! I like this plan, because he needs his mama, and hopefully mama will begin to nurse him shortly. I suggested he go initially because I did not know if you would be able to feed him. It's wonderful that she is an animal rescuer - that's a big help if it comes down to needing her.

You're doing well so far! So my compliments! Now, will you be able to feed the kitten through the night (this is the hard part since you have your own baby to feed!)?

And yes, every hour is good. You can wrap him in a kitchen towel like a burrito and place him on the table on his tummy to feed him if it's easier. Find whatever position works for you best, but he has to be tummy down head up like if he were with mama. Just before you feed him, see if he will latch. Give him a minute to root. If he doesn't, then feed him. It may take a day or so, but mama's milk is coming in and she is going to need relief too, so hopefully this will fall into place.

This is incredibly ironic to me because I have a certification in lactation consultancy and I've successfully breastfed three babies no problem and I cant get a kitten to nurse! Like its not funny, but I feel like its universal karma or something. Thank you for all the advice, everyone.

She's not acting out against him, she's being loving on him and grooming him, she just doesn't seem to understand how to nurse him or how to help him nurse. She's kind of a ditzy cat. So in hoping you're right and she'll be able to nurse him in the next couple of days. My husband may have to do,the feeding tonight because I barely got any sleep last night and got woke up early by her having the kitten, so,I've been up for way too long.

The vet did say that a singular kitten is more likely to have something wrong with it genetically, so I'm aware that he's probably not 100% healthy, but I still want to try my best to help him survive.

Thank you for the report. I am needing sleep too as I am taking two of my 12-week-old kittens for spay/neuter bright and early.

It's great hubby can help. I hope he takes this seriously since he thought the kitten was nursing before. Singles can also be perfectly healthy and he can be a mama's boy! I am glad you are willing to help him survive.

The fact you are a certified lactation consultant is amusing! . I realize your cat is not rejecting him. I think if she had a full litter fighting for nipples it would be different. This little guy is not fighting hard enough for a nipple. We need to get him there though. Let's hope he can do it and the sooner the better. He might not latch onto another mother cat either right now. But it's good he's climbing on his mama. Hopefully he will find a nipple soon! Just continue putting him to one when he is hungry before feeding him.

Keep reporting as you can and I'll check back in the early am! Good luck!