Raising kittens to adulthood with mom

It's a boy. He does not need supplementing anymore right now.

Sounds like mom is taking very good care of her baby. I wish she weren't so paranoid, but I guess she can't help it right now. She doesn't realize she's safe now.

He looks great .

What a cute guy you have there.

Thanks tangerinemango! He is such a sweetheart. I am happy to say the little guy gained 16 grams yesterday and 13 grams the day before! He is 2 weeks old monday and already 224 grams. Mama cat has relaxed a little bit at night, I think part of the problem is she may be in heat again. 

I have been reading a lot of the posts on here, which may or may not be a good thing, but I've become worried the kitten may be flat chested. He is the first kitten this young I've ever even seen or held, and he's got no siblings to compare to so I may just be worrying for no reason. He does seem lethargic, but at this age wouldn't he mostly sleep? He cries very little, and today seemed to gasp or cough when i gently rolled him onto his back. 

Heres a side view. Head on the left.

 
And a video of him breathing from a few days ago.  


You guys have been so helpful already, thank you! 

I have no experience with flat-chested babies, if that is indeed what he has, so I am asking catwoman707 to weigh in here.

His weight gain is impressive, so let's just see if he has a problem or not!

Thanks. Full time with mom really helped him! I just want to add that he usually sleeps with his tongue sticking out and will occasionally take a deep breath through his mouth. I am hoping he is perfectly normal, but I'd rather catch anything early. 

I just got him to lay on his side. You can see the chubby belly! 

It sounds as though he's managing, but there is a specific protocol for a vest that he can wear to correct his problem if that is what he has. Let's wait to hear from Catwoman about it. She is quite knowledgeable in this area

Here is a previous thread about a flat chested kitten.  Maybe this will help?

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/290989/flat-chested-kitten-syndrome

And it's good to read this and be prepared, but you need to hear a recommendation from Catwoman first.

Handsome Kitty said:

 
Here is a previous thread about a flat chested kitten.  Maybe this will help?

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/290989/flat-chested-kitten-syndrome

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I went through and read that and the few other posts and info pages I could find about it, but I don't want to start anything before I know for sure. Plus I'm debating going to the vet just to make sure everything is ok. They are cats only, so hopefully they can be helpful.  

Just so you know, many vets are not skilled at dealing with young kittens. Catwoman will respond by tomorrow. She is quite skilled at rescue work, with 20 years' experience, she knows more than most vets know.

I'd rather not rush to the vet anyway. But if they could tell me he is normal shaped I would be very relieved! We already lost the first two kittens. I don't want anything happining to this little guy, he already beat so many odds!  

Thank you @sarthur2  for getting my attention on this little cutie.

Also thank you @Handsome Kitty  for posting the thread for SterlingTheCat to read through.

When I first came to the post where I was called, I flipped through on my cell phone and the first pic I saw was the one where you were asking if he is actually a boy, and I knew right then his chest was flat, then read why sarthur called on me, he does appear to me to be flat chested.

His age is appropriate for it to become clear also, 2 weeks is right about when people will notice, but there is a very small time window with this because of the extreme growth rate they are in now.

So time is important to get this started, I can run through it in detail, however it is all there in the thread above in the same details.

Please read through it again, really absorbing what you are reading so you fully understand the concept of what you will be changing on him, the details in the vest are critical to it working for him too.

So please read through the info in the thread then feel free to ask me questions, I am happy to help get you through this

Thank you @catwoman for your quick reply. I wish it wasn't so, but if I had never found this forum I would not have know enough to try and fix this. I will reread everything again tomorrow, as its 12:30 am and I'm trying to keep mama cat from constantly meowing. I'm sure I will have questions tomorrow  

SterlingTheCat said:

 
Thank you @catwoman for your quick reply. I wish it wasn't so, but if I had never found this forum I would not have know enough to try and fix this. I will reread everything again tomorrow, as its 12:30 am and I'm trying to keep mama cat from constantly meowing. I'm sure I will have questions tomorrow  

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You're very welcome.

We need to get this started tmrw though too. A flat chest is restricting the lungs and possibly heart, and he is at such an astonishing growth rate every single day right now, that the sooner the safer, but don't stress about it, it can be fixed and it's fairly simple to do. After a week or less, his chest will be growing normally again and he will be just fine

@catwoman707  Thank you for your late night advice. I've read through all the posts again and made up a little corset. I am still trying to figure out how tight it should be since the toilet paper roll is not that stiff. The kitten started screaming after he woke up, so I loosened it just in case. He did not seem out of breath, so maybe its already working?! I included some pictures to make sure I constructed it right. Is it ok to leave the corset off at night? I want to make sure he is safe with mom moving him throughout the night. 

what darling pics!  

My concern is whether it is already preshaped so it is rounding on him but not getting the area it needs to have, enough pressure.

If you were to take him in your hand with his back on your palm so his tummy is exposed, with your other hand, using your thumb for one side and your 2 fingers on the other, can you gently squeeze and see his ribs moving? This is what causes the center to expand outward.

In the thread you read, did you see the silly design I came up with showing where the q-tips are? This is the idea where you need the pressure to come from, but of course q-tips are not wide enough.

Even another couple of oval shapes cut out of a tp roll but taped together, then turned the opposite way rather than curving around his body easily.

Do you see what I mean? If not I can create another silly looking sample of what I mean and post it.

You dont want to restrict his lung area more than it is of course, so the pressure under the vest should only be on the sides of the ribs rather than the entire vest.

Maybe just duct taping a small stiff something to the outside of the vest is fine, some of the pics look to me that it is a bit tight, but others look just right, so you must decide if it is gently squeezing his ribs in a bit as your hand did or if it is squeezing him all around.

See, the vest doesn't have to fit super tight, but to where there is pressure on the side of the ribs a little.

I hope I'm explaining this right!

I did see the q tips. Putting just a little bit of pressure on his ribs makes a huge difference! I just went and turned the corset inside out so it places more pressure on his sides without being very tight. And it is forcing him off his stomach. Are you suggesting adding supports to the sides? 

If you turned the vest inside out then you get the idea of what I'm saying. Great.

Did you happen to do the squeeze thing in your hands?

That will really show you how pliable the ribs are now, but must be cautious at the same time not to squeeze too much so the lungs are unable to fill.

I must say he could not make a cuter model, oh my gosh I can hardly stand it.

Can you post a pic of him wearing it inside out?

I was able to squeeze his ribs. I think it works better inside out, I'm just worried about pressure on his spine from the string. I will make another one tomorrow and try to adjust it better.

He is behaving so well with all of this and has taken to sucking his fingers and arm for comfort. Its so cute! He's even trying to do real cat things, like scratch his head with his hind feet! He has got a big name to live up to. Prince Tristan will be running around causing trouble and defending his territory soon! 

I'm sorry the pictures are dark. I don't want to use the flash and startle him. 




I adjusted the corset after the picture below. Making the bottom string longer should fix the problem.