My 7 weeks old kitten bit off and swallowed a bottle nipple

My 7 week old kitten Tiger ( was born on 5/13/15) bit off and swallowed the nipple tip last night.. 

 

Her mommy was a stray found pregnant, so I took her in. She has 4 beautiful kittens. Two of them have started to eat cat food, but another two - Tiger and Peanut still want to nurse and show no interest in any kitten foods. Mama cat doesn't want to nurse as much as she used to. Tiger and Peanut are smaller than the other two, especially Tiger, so I decided to 'bottle feed' her and transition her to kitten/cat food.

 

Once she figured out what was in that bottle ( the kitten milk formula), she bit off the nipple and swallowed it. I researched on-line and even consulted someone who has experience bottle feeding kittens, all of the answers were "as long as it passes the kitten should be fine'.

 

I let the 4 kittens and mama stay in the same room - I'm trying to find two of the kittens a good home since I have lots of cats already - but I wish I could keep them all ( we are only keeping the mama cat and Tiger, another one is being reserved ).... It will be hard to 'identify' which ones are Tiger's poops, unless I separate her in another room and keep her there until she poops out that nipple!! But she hates to be alone.

 

After all the online reading, I learned that the nipple might stay in kitty's stomach as long as 3 weeks! This really worries me. All vets were closed today due to 4th July and tomorrow is Sunday! Only emergency clinics are open. My family and I are going out of town for 5 days in less than 3 weeks.

 

Can anyone tell me what's the average time for the kitten to pass out the nipple? I read another forum, that this kitten swallowed a long nipple and he finally pooped out after 3 weeks, but of course he was vomiting and had to go to the hospital.

 

I've attached the picture and size of the nipple, and the mama cat nursing Tiger today. I should have known better not to bottle feed her at 7 weeks old. Tiger can drink milk out of the bowl.

 

Sorry no one answered sooner. How is Tiger doing today?

He will most likely pass the nipple tip safely and do fine. You need to encourage him to eat wet food. He is big enough and that's why mama kitty nurses less.

Thanks sarthur2!

Tiger is doing fine, playful and wants to drink mama's milk. I introduced her some wet food mixed with kitty formula today and she ate some. Two of her siblings are already eating normal dry cat food. But they all want to nurse since mama is around. I don't know if she has passed the nipple tip out but she's doing great. Do you know how long the rubber nipple can retain in the stomach before it gets passed out?

I don't know, but my orange kitten that you see in my avatar did the same thing, and he was fine. He is one of a litter of four kittens who share litter boxes, so I never saw the tip again. He's now four months old and has never had a problem. Your kitty will probably pass it quickly!

You should continue to give your kittens wet food and dry food - preferably kitten chow the first year. They need both, plus kitten milk or water from a bowl, but not cow's milk. It will give them diarrhea as they cannot digest the lactose.

My cat swallow a piece of bright red ribbon, not sure how long but 1/4" wide.  Never saw it pass and I watched for it.

Thank y'all for sharing the experience. Y'all have beautiful/handsome kitties! Now I feel so much relieved.

Yes I'm trying to wean off the kittens by introducing them wet/dry food, and water is very important too. Most of my adult cats were adopted from the shelters when they were 4 or 5 weeks old, and ALL of them were eating dry cat food by then. I guess the new kittens still want to nurse is because mama is around.

It is normal for them to continue to nurse for several more weeks if mama is around. Mama will walk away when she is fed up!

Yeah mama did walk away but the two little kittens chase mama for milk. Then mama cat would lay down to nurse for like 30 seconds then walk away again. It repeats....