Help! Having Trouble with 5 orphaned kittens!

Honestly, I'm very worried for our smallest, Red. He used to be the brightest and loudest kitten of the bunch, but his condition fell so hard I don't know what happened. He is very slow and meows very quietly. He eats but often times resists the syringe. :/

The diarrhea is probably NOT caused by overfeeding. It is more likely this was caused by something else (the premixed formula). They need to eat every two hours or they will starve!

Gmoda said:

 
Honestly, I'm very worried for our smallest, Red. He used to be the brightest and loudest kitten of the bunch, but his condition fell so hard I don't know what happened. He is very slow and meows very quietly. He eats but often times resists the syringe. :/

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Try a little karo syrup or honey on his gums or lips before feeding.  It will give him energy to eat.

I understand. We'll try to do it every 2 hours instead. As long as they are hydrated, I'll feel better.

do you or does your vet know of any cats that have giving birth recently or lost a litter?  You can also call rescue groups.  Nursing cats will  often feed other kittens, like a foster mother.

We do give him supplement given to us by the vet. If it is supposed to have an affect, it's taking a long time. :1

G gmoda

Do not give these kittens wet food yet. They are too small.

A healthy newborn weighs 3.5 ounces, so Red is newborn size. A newborn kitten should double its weight in the first week, so if you think these kittens are 3 weeks old, Red should weigh close to 11 ounces. A kitten should weigh 1 pound at one month of age, 2 pounds at 2 months, and continue to add one pound a month for a good six months.

Therefore, these kittens are too immature for wet food until they are close to one pound.

Red needs 32 ounces
Whitey needs 35 ounces
Violet needs 37 ounces
Blue needs 60 ounces
Green needs 46 ounces

Divide each amount by 12 and that is how much you feed every 2 hours around the clock. I also rounded up.

No, we currently don't know any nursing cats at the moment, but I could check. I don't know how well they would take to a foster mother honestly. Will that disrupt their diet further? 

In a lot of cases a foster mom gives them a higher chance of survival. Since these guys are so small it might be best for them. But if you can't find one, just do what you can; give them the powdered formula, every two hours, stimulating them afterwards. Kitten poop at this age should always be a bit pasty, but not liquid. Keep them warm and fed and you'll be doing the best you can for them in the situation.

The diarrhea is probably the result of switching from mom's milk to formula. They should do better on the powder. Do you now have the powder?

Syringe is fine until they get stronger and can suckle the bottle.

Red needs to be fed every hour or even half hour - but smaller amounts - to see if you can save him. He may not make it. Also, he needs drops of pedialyte syringed into his mouth to balance him.

Or mix the drops into his formula.

If the diarrhea does not clear, you need to ask the vet if the kittens need an antibiotic. They may have worms.

Please let me know how the kittens do on the powder.

It's a very long story, but when we got these kittens we immediately looked for a foster home they could live in until they were the age of adoption. We had found someone and gave all 5 of them to her; she gave them powder milk replacer and said they reacted poorly to it( it made them have to poop all the time, diarrhea not solid). Long story short, she had to give them back to us and ever since then they have had diet problems and diarrhea. I live in Orange County, California near Knotts if any one here knows a good foster home for them or a cat that could be their mother. 

Gmoda said:

 
It's a very long story, but when we got these kittens we immediately looked for a foster home they could live in until they were the age of adoption. We had found someone and gave all 5 of them to her; she gave them powder milk replacer and said they reacted poorly to it( it made them have to poop all the time, diarrhea not solid). Long story short, she had to give them back to us and ever since then they have had diet problems and diarrhea. I live in Orange County, California near Knotts if any one here knows a good foster home for them or a cat that could be their mother. 

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If you google 'orange county cat rescue' quite a few come up.  You'll have to email or call to find out it they have a cat that can help out.  Most rescues are volunteer organizations so you may not hear from them right away.  May take a day or so.  (just trying to help, you don't have to look for a foster cat mom)

Or you can just keep the kittens and work with them.

Thanks. I'll try to look for a foster mom for the babies. They are a lot of work and although we're doing our best, they could be doing better.

Gmoda said:

 
Thanks. I'll try to look for a foster mom for the babies. They are a lot of work and although we're doing our best, they could be doing better.

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If nothing else, they may be able to help or give hands on advice.

How are the kittens doing now?

Did you get the powdered KMR?

Who is feeding them now? Are you now feeding the recommended amounts every two hours?

Kittens are still poopy as ever. The pedialyte doesn't seem to be doing anything. My mom is feeding them. We're trying to reduce the time in between feeding.

Are you using the powdered KMR now? And are you giving them more formula overall?

The pedialyte won't stop the diarrhea. It is to rehydrate and balance their system because of the diarrhea.

It sounds like these kittens may have picked up either worms or an intestinal bug, or the liquid formula is not agreeing with them.

This is why I'm asking if you've switched to the powder.

But otherwise, they may need worm medicine or an antibiotic. If the vet won't treat them, find one who will. Otherwise they may not survive.

Who is going to do the feedings every two hours around the clock?

We haven't tried powder while under our care( they are still using liquid as of now). They did with a foster lady and she said they didn't respond well to it. She said if gave them diarrhea and made them go a lot. Our vet said they were to small to be given any medication, so at the moment we are stuck in and endless cycle it seems. I'll try powder again, but my mom, who is helping me take care of them, is reluctant to try. Sorry for late responses, I've been looking for foster care without much luck.

You need to switch to powder. I don't know what that lady really gave them, but most orphan kittens do well on the powder, and improve when switched from liquid. I think you might see an improvement within 24 hours. But not if you don't try.

Like I said, if your vet won't treat the kittens, find one who will. The diarrhea can kill them.