Sick kitten

My friend's momma cat was ten over. She had 5 three week old kittens. I
Have been bottle feeding them for the last 2 weeks and all was well. I began feeding them mushy kitten food (dry mixed with their formula and water). All was well at first but one just stopped eating. I found him one morning totally listless. I gave him a mixture of formula and Pedialyte. He perked up and played with the others fine. Next morning however, same thing. I took him to the vet who said his body temp was extremely low. Warmed him, fed him formula & Pedialyte and again he perked up. I left for about an hour and when I returned he was again cold and listless. This time he perked up some but went down again quickly. Now, he won't swallow. I gave him Vedco - recommended by the vet. I don't know what else to do. The vet said there is something called Fading Kitten Syndrome and some kittens just don't thrive no matter what you do. I don't want to give up but have no more ideas. Please help! He's fighting so hard.

Do you have a heating source for him?  A heating pad on low, a hot water bottle, a sock filled with raw rice and microwaved for 5 minutes. Put a towel or something over the heat source don't lay the kitten directly on it.

Canned cat food will be better for the kittens, nixed with kitten formula to make a mush.  You may need to feed him every couple of hours if he isn't eating a lot at one time.

Using heating pad, he's warm now. I can't feed him anything now but a few drops of formula mixed with Pedialyte.

I've called on a couple of advisers. 

All you can do is keep him warm and give him formula mixed with pedialyte every couple of hours.

At three weeks old these kittens should just have formula until they can self-feed mush from a paper plate. That's usually at four weeks.

If he gets really lethargic you can smear honey on his lips and gums for a quick pick me up so you can syringe formula into him.

What is his weight? He needs a certain amount of formula to thrive. Tell us and we can tell you how much to feed. If you can get him over this hump he may pull through.

What happened to the mom cat? She was run over?

Yes, the mom was run over. The kittens are 5 weeks old now and eating mush like piglets. This one just quit. He weighed .6 lb yesterday at the vet but probably less now. I gave him Vedco, a vitamin supplement from the vet. It absorbs into the mucus membrane so swallowing is not necessary. That has not perked him up much. I was just about to try the syringe again.

Wow! He really needs to gain weight!

Try some honey on his lips and gums and see if you can get a couple mL in him.

Let me know how it goes.

I can open his mouth but what I put in just drips out. We'll see if I can get a dropper down his throat.

Did you try the honey? I understand you have a vitamin supplement, but the honey is a quick shot of glucose.

Be careful he does not inhale formula. He probably needs to be tube fed. Have they tried any antibiotics on him?

I'm very sorry to say, but this kitten is not going to make it.

He should weigh approx. 1 lb, 4 ozs now, as they all should.

I think he may have not had enough weight gain per day, meaning not enough milk to gain and grow, and it has now finally caught up to him.

If he won't swallow, he's on his way out. 

If he won't eat or perk up, please hold him close and comfort him during his final hours.

Thanks to everyone for your concen. Unfortunately the kitten passed in his sleep. He was just too weak to survive. Yes, I was holding him in my chest, as I had done all night. He died peacefully knowing he was loved. He just couldn't fight anymore.

Well thank you for doing as much as you could for him, and offering comfort at the end. RIP little guy!

Thank you for caring for the little kitten.

How big are the others?  please make sure they are getting enough food.

The others are all fat and sassy. I leave the dish out so they can eat at will. I mix theirs only with water and Pedialyte so no worries about refrigeration. I just picked up the bowl
and put them in their box for the night - I had to chase them down. Wish I could have saved the other one - I have no idea what happened.

I think there are some worms or parasites that cats can get that will get all the nutrition from the food they eat.

Did the vet give you meds to worm the kittens?

He did not worm them yet. I'm not the owner, I'm just taking care of them since I've raised bottle fed kittens before. The vet did test for worms and he had none. He told me about Fading Kitten/Puppy Syndrome and said it was possible nothing could save the kitten. It comes on quickly and for no apparent reason. He was especially worried since he could not maintain his body temp.

I did read that in your first post.  I was just wondering why this kitten was so much smaller than the others.

Good question. He wasn't until last week. He actually has a twin that was identical - couldn't tell them apart. He just stopped eating. I put him back on the bottle and he would get better but only for short periods of time. Who knows?