Help! Caring for single newborn kitten...

Thank you everyone! She is bringing so much joy to my life. I have been having a lot of stressful things going on before I found her, and honestly, she is the least stressful thing in my life right now and the most enjoyable! I enjoy every moment I spend with her while she is up! ^_^

She definitely loves touching my fingers. That is usually when she gets her suckle on good, once she gets her paw situated on my finger.

This morning her weight was 141g!

With her being 141g (5oz) now and estimated to be beginning of her second week, how much would you recommend going up with her formula? On one cat site, I calculated she would be getting around 40cc, but on another, I seen for their second week, they usually intake around 55cc...just wanting some friendly advice from you guys since you have helped me so much along the way, and since I see so many different things. I do not want to overfeed or underfeed, so really trying to avoid it! 

The rule of thumb for feeding is 8 ml/cc for every ounce the kittens weighs divided by the number of feedings in 24 hours, round up if you need to.

So your kitten needs at least 40cc.  If she seems hungry you can feed her more.  she should be gaining 6-10 grams a day minimum, more is better.  that is the best gauge to see if she is getting enough to eat.

She is so cute, I love the way her backs leg splay out. 

Great, that is what I thought, but needed some assurance!  


Tonights weigh-in: 146g (5.15oz)   

She has already gotten so much bigger when I'm looking at these pictures compared to the first ones I took! 

She is so sweet-looking!

She is also now right on target with her weight being where it should be for her age. Yay, powdered formula!

And Handsome Kitty is right about the amount. If she's still hungry, give her extra.

So glad she is doing well and growing!

I am too, and I still thank you so much for suggesting me to try the powdered formula! I cannot believe the difference it has made. She is such a happy kitty. Purring all of the time! Sometimes I go in and put my ear up to her nest just to listen and I here the cutest little purrs come out sometimes! Also, I think I may need to get used to saying "he" and "him". I was looking up how to tell, and while I am still not 100% quite sure just yet, I am starting to think the sweetie is, in fact, a he! lol, either way I have come up with a gender-neutral name that I am pretty sure will be the winner!

I was really thinking about how stressful things have been between college, family members passing away from cancer, and my grandma breaking her leg, and my being the main one who takes care of her and how much I have on my plate right now...this, that, and the other... as a whole. 

Well, there is this band by the name of Papa Roach. I have loved them ever since I was 10. I am 24 now...and they recently released this song called "Gravity" and the lead singer describes the meaning...that "'Gravity'  is about what are the things in the world that keep pulling you back to reality, back down to the ground,  back down to earth, or back down to who you really are. I had been letting the stress get to me and consume me. I was more anxious and irritable...and then here came this little sweetie in my path. It just came to me today at one of the feedings. I can only think of her/him as my Gravity at this point. I love waking up to spend time with this baby. Such an overwhelming sense of peace and awareness of who I really am comes over me and also makes me realize just what it is that is important, and not-so-important, that I get worked up about . Thus, whether this kitty baby is a girl or boy, the name will be Gravity!   

I love this story!

You sound like you have a very good head on your shoulders. You have just realized something truly important that often takes people years and years to learn.

This kitten - Gravity - surely came into your life for a reason!

One of the best ways to tell if you have a girl or a boy is to check the kittens bottom. On a male there will be 2 little sack forming and on the female it will be smooth. The anus is round on a male and more a verticalslit on a female. The sex is easier to tell when the kitten gets to be about 3 to 4 weeks old.

Look at those eyes! I am so excited. 

Her morning weight is 150g (5.3oz)  

The news just keeps getting better! Her little eyes are open! Blessings!

Now is the time to start Kid proofing the house. As the eyes are open the next step in the next several weeks will be her moving out of the box as she begins to see her new world so now is the time to check everything that is around the house to make sure it is not where the kitten can find it. You still have about 2 to 3 weeks before you will have to be watching for the kitten to find her but now is the time to think about how safe is it. The same for kittens as for human kids they will get into everything so you need to make sure it cannot be knocked over and Chewed open, also small objects that she can chew on and get stuck in her throat etc.

Great news on the kittens weigh and progress

Awesome, thank you so much! I will definitely begin to start doing that now. I've had a kitten, that was 5 weeks before (never newborn, so I am so excited to be there for it all!), but I've gotten lax, since all of my current cats are adults now. So I will definitely have to go around kitten proofing the house again for this little one and I definitely do need to start now! I start college back at the end of August, all of my classes will be online, except for one, and to know he will definitely be safe and not get into any predicaments, when I go to that class, he will be going in the cozy bathroom. ^_^

I also just thought of the strings on Blinds. There was a post on this site that was sad as a kitten/cat got hung by the strings on the blinds this also goes for any strings or ropes or anything that has a loop as kittens and cats can get their head in almost any loop. By the end of August this baby will be quite active and if you place in the bathroom you will need to put hooks on all the cabinet doors so they cannot be opened. I bought a tie straps in the baby section of our store that I can feed around the handles and keep the doors from being opened. The latch hooks do not work with kittens and cats as they can pull the door open and slip inside. The tie straps require 2 fingers to be able to push in the release to unhook the straps. I still have the straps on my cupboards even now.

I have done away with all blinds, I never use them. My grandma had a cat that the same thing happened to. I was little when this happened and I have been scared to death to ever have them since.   I also think my mom still has some of those safety tie straps exactly like the ones you are talking about, where you have to use two fingers to get  it loose. from when my brother and sister were babies (she had them when I was 17...LOL) so I will get them from her and if she doesn't, I will be buying them. They are great to have! 

Checking out the cute bed my mom made! It is now in a corner of the nest.. ^_^

Love the name!
So glad Gravity is gaining weight. I just want to snuggle lup with ittle Grav! I can't wait until the little one is running around, eyes wide open. You'll have your hands full, which I'm sure you know. My little Khaos just started his "climbing-on-every-single-thing-he-can-reach" phase. I had to make a cat tree for him. ;p

Cutie bed. I have installed shelving that run around the livingroom and into my bedroom. My Brother created a tunnel between the rooms and the cats race around the shelves. I got married 2 years ago and we cut openings in the doors as his cat did not climb. Since then we have seen her "trying out" the shelves She will climb up and go as far as she wants to go that time then get down. She was quite obese at the time she joined the household. Now she has lost some weight and looks a lot better.I am trying to get a picture of the latch and post it.

This is the latch I use. All my kids are atleast 10+ years old and one of my 13year olds lost a tooth today

Very soft looking bed!

Gravity is 156g (5.5oz)!  

...and her eyes are already so much more opened than the were yesterday. I gave her the bottle and when she finished (after she demanded 0.5cc more, haha!), she was purring so loud and wanted to cuddle and nibble on my hand and fingers...she rolled over on her back showing me her tummy and just looked up at me as I rubbed it. My eyes watered so much! She also has always been so quiet, until I go in and rub her to wake her up to eat, but with this last feeding, she is the one who was telling me it was time to eat! lol