Please help - tiny kitten

Hi All, my cat who is 1 yr and 5 months gave birth Wed in the middle of the night to 1 small kitten. It then took her over an hour to deliver the placenta. She seemed pretty distressed and ended up climbing out of her nest in my closet, wondered around the room and then on to my bed to have the kitten. The whole next day went by and whole night and then the following day, Friday, I went upstairs at 9:30 am to find 2 dead kittens, one of which was still half in her. About a half an hour later she delivered it fully (my vet had me try to gently pull it, but then said to leave it and come in in an hour if it wasn't out). Again the whole day went by and Saturday morning I went in to check and again there was a dead kitten half delivered. (So distressing) Anyway, my cat ate all the placentas, but hasn't eaten much else. She has access to both wet amd dry food and water. She also has been bleeding a bit, but as of this morning it's seemed to have stopped. Now on to her kitten. This thing is tiny! 2 oz. I weighed one of the dead ones which was almost 3 oz. The little kitten was 2 1/8 oz two days ago, then dropped to 2 and now is back up to 2 1/4. My cat seems to be a good mom. She runs when it cries and cleans it and spends most of her time in the nest. My question is, is the baby getting enough milk? From reading she should be gaining more, but I'm wondering if the mom was just still laboring, etc. Only one or 2 of her nipples seem at all enlarged and not very. The kitten latches on amd gets quiet and is sleeping often. Sometimes she cries and is squirmy. Do I just keep monitoring and weighing? How do I know when to step in? I know a mom is best at this job and don't want to interfere unless absolutely neccessary.
Thanks for any help or advice

Ay, the delivery part wasnt no fun... Not for mom, not for you, and not for the kittens whom didnt made it...   Were the dead kittens fully made? Or were there visible faults with them?  (save the difficult birth)

The alive kitten is very tiny, but if it does gains, it seems OK.   So what you do is essentially what you are doing.  weight it  every 12 hours till you are sure he is stabilized and growing, after it every 24 hours is enough.   Its a tiny kitten, so it will probalby not gain as much as a big kitten should do.   So, when a big kitten should gain 10+ grammes a day - its 0,3.0,4OZ a day, your tiny may be contend to go plus 6+ grams a day, its about 0,2Oz a day...

He lost some a while, which isnt unusual, and began to grow 0,15 oz.  Which is barely OK, BUT it was probably including some loss too... So I think, at this moment its OK.

He is alone, so he will use just one or two nipples...  So two nipples working is more than OK...

You are thinking very soundly - if mom manages, its best moms does the job.  supplementing may be necessary sometimes, but its also some risks with it, if you arent very experienced...

So, in short, as long as the kitten adds its 0,2OZ a day  (or more), you wait and see.  It its less, you prepare to step in.

Still, get home gears.  A little needleless syringe of 1 or 1,5 ml...  Raw goat milk if you cant get it.  Otherwise bottled full fat goat milk is OK too.

OR some good  kmr.   Which brand depends in part on where you live....  That made by PetAg, called for KMR, in powder, is the best of them.

Ah, re mom, she isnt eating much?  Placentas contain much nourishments, so some moms dont eat much the first day after dleivery.  But you must observe closely, and perhaps step in with the mom.  Be sure she is having fluids, and eating.   Entice her to eat, her eating is more necessary at this moment than its a first class nourishment.

If it shows necessary, you will parhaps need to forcefeed HER.

Please continue to report, and come with further questions.

The dead babies were all fully formed and larger than the live kitten. In fact,I'm pretty sure th last one was alive because when I got there it was already dry and fluffy (but still with it's head in the mom) I think she must have licked it clean but not delivered it all the way so that it suffocated. How I wish I was there.

I bought KMR and a bottle just in case. I will go out today and look for a syringe (at a pharmacy?)

The mom has never been a good eater and is tiny herself. During her pregnancy she went 4 days without eating when I tried to buy her every food in the market to entice her. I finally boiled chicken and that got her eating again.


I'm thinking of trying that again although I know it does not have all the nutrients she needs. Last time after a day she was eating her wet food again.

Yes you can get the syringy at a pharmacy.  Make sure it is a small one.  only 1-2 ml/cc.  Nursing kittens will not use a bottle, you'll need the syringe in case you have to supplement the mom feedings. 

Chicken is ok to get mom to eat something.  If she ate the placentas she may not be hungry yet.  another trick is to pour a little of the water from a can of tuna on the wet food.

Oh, the KMR is Pet Ag liquid. They had the powder, too, but the liquid was cheaper and I thought I would see if the kitten took it before buying the powder. I know it only lasts 2 days and the kitten would only drink a bit of it in that amount of time then I'll chuck it and get the powder. Hopefully I won't need any of it!

No no no. Take the liquid back if you haven't opened it yet.  the powder is better for some reason.  It will also last longer.  You will use it to make mush with wet food when the kitten starts to wean.

You can also give some to the mom.  the mother cats like it and the good nutrients will be passed to the kitten through the milk.

It isn't opened so I'll do that. Thanks for all the advice. I'm anxiously waiting until 9 tonight to see if this baby has gained weight!

How much should I give to the mom? And how? (Mix some in her wet food with chicken maybe?)

you can give mom a small dish and she will lap it up.  I've read a couple tablespoons are good but not too much cause ti can cause runs.  That is actually one of the problems with the liquid.

Ugh,the kutten is still 2 oz. It nurses, but I guess there's just not enough milk. I'm reading up on how to bottle feed

bethpend said:

Ugh,the kutten is still 2 oz. It nurses, but I guess there's just not enough milk. I'm reading up on how to bottle feed

Click to expand...

HAD you began to supplement feed?   YOu can try with a bottle, its easier and safer if she takes, but kittens who also have a mom are often very reluctant to bottle - but you probably will need to use the syringe.   Try to train beforehand, how to hold and sqeeueeze in a controlled form.

Sorry, its a must, even if there IS some risk.

No, I haven't started. I'be been watching every video I can find. Do I put the mom out of the room? She gets upset when the kutten cries and I've tried not to touch it too much except to weigh it

B bethpend

You will want to begin supplementing this tiny kitten with formula and a 1 or 2 mL syringe. She needs to gain weight to survive, and is probably not suckling hard enough or long enough.

Begin with 1mL every hour since it's so tiny. Tummy down, head up - never on the back. One drop at a time in the side of the mouth, let the kitten swallow and beathe and go again. It is very important that the kitten not aspirate formula into its lungs or it will get pneumonia and die.

If the kitten is not suckling well from mom it surely will not take a bottle right now. The kitten needs to begin gaining 6-10 grams per day. At this point any weight gain is good! You stand a chance of losing this kitten if it doesn't begin to eat and grow.

Hopefully, a few days of supplementing will get the kitten strong enough to nurse mom better. We will see. But every hour is a must right now!

Please let us know how it's going!

PS: The kitten may not take a full mL each hour right now, but try. Every little bit helps.

Make sure both the kitten and the formula are warm.