Pregnant Cat Advice Please

Or would goat milk be better? I think my local grocery carries it

Full fat goat milk is fine.  You need a smaller syringe 1 -2 ml, needleless.  Food needs to be warm as does the kitten.

did you let the mother out of the house? She can get pregnant as early as a week after giving birth. Or get run over or attacked by a dog. . .

The kitten needs a heat source if mom is not around.  a heating pad on low, a hot water bottle or a sock filled w/raw rice and nuked.  Wrap the heating source in a towel or cloth and make sure there is enough room that the kitten can move away it it gets too warm.  The kitten will not be able to maintain body heat until it is 3 weeks old.

@Handsome Kitty  Mama is strictly and indoor cat, who managed to get out when my neighbor was feeding them and I was out of town. Can I use the PetAg that I have? It is the one for both kittens and puppies. I do have a heating pad on low under the nest already. 

Yes, you can use the PetAg that you have until the other gets here. For tonight, use the syringe that you have. Just be careful to only feed one drop at a time into the side of baby's mouth. She needs to be tummy down, head up, a drop or two, let her swallow and breathe, and go again. 1-2 mL per feeding, through the night.

Do you have an additional heat source as Handsome Kitty mentioned above?

Switch to the kitten formula as soon as you get it. It is specially formulated for kittens, with taurine for neurological development. If you can get goat's milk tomorrow that is excellent too.

@sarthur2  Yes we do have a heating pad under the nest and it is on low. I do have 1 ml syringes as well, so no worries there. I was able to get almost 1 ml into baby doing it the way you described. Baby was protesting and so far isn't into the taste. Since Mama is feed baby as well, how often should I supplement? 

I would give baby 1mL in between mom feeding her. Every hour that mom doesn't feed you can feed for now. Just make sure the baby does not aspirate formula into her lungs. You'll kind of have to figure it out by watching. Bottom line, if the baby is hungry, feed her if mom doesn't.

Ok got it. I will do that. 

I figured out by accident what is going on here with Mama and feeding her baby. She wants her other "baby" (my younger cat who isn't actually her baby) in there with her. I have been keeping my 9 month old cat out of my bedroom and away from the kitten. That is why Mama was not settling down to nurse. My younger cat ran by me into the room and over to sit next to Mama. Mama relaxed and settled down to nurse the kitten. The kitten nursed for over 30 minutes and Mama was content. I sat with them. I guess as much as possible I am going to have to let my younger cat go in with Mama and keep an eye on them to ensure my other cat isn't messing with the kitten. Baby kitten has a nice full and very round belly right now lol We have decided to keep the baby kitten, and we do think it is a girl.  

Oh my goodness! [emoji]128522[/emoji] Mama thinks she needs her other "baby" with her too! You know, since she only has one kitten it won't hurt for the older kitten to nurse too, especially if it means she'll nurse longer and more frequently! That really does explain her jumping up and going for the door.

What does the kitten weigh today? Did she gain a few grams?

It's exciting that you're keeping the baby! She and her mom will probably be very close. [emoji]10084[/emoji]️

Glad you found the solution.  So sweet. 

Sorry I haven't posted a reply in a few days. We had quite a snow storm here! Baby is a boy not a girl. He weighs 10 ounces now, so he has tripled his birth weight. Mama is still wanting her other "baby" in with her to feed him.

I do have a few concerns with her in that one day she is being an awesome Mama and the next day I literally have to make her go in to feed him, even with her other "baby" there. He could be crying in hunger and she just looks at the nest like uggh not again. During those times, i am supplementing him with the kitten formula. He really doesn't like it much, but he has to eat. I don't know why she is up and down with him that way. The technician at my vet told me that a lot of times if cats only have one kitten they tend to abandon the kitten, but I don't know if that is true or not. Plus some days she is a great Mama to him. Any ideas here? 

You can only try to encourage the mom to feed her baby. In the meantime you need to feed the baby on a tight schedule around the clock, and weigh him daily to make sure he's getting enough and is gaining weight. That's really all you can do.

Ok I do have a few questions. Baby kitten is 9 days old. How often should he be fed and how much kmr at a time?  How do I know if he isn't hungry? When I am supplementing him, he starts turning his head and pulling down into the hand towel that I have him wrapped in. He protests the whole time. I don't know if that means Mama is getting enough milk into him, or if he just isn't used to the taste of the kmr. 

I am using the 1 ml syringes to feed him drop by drop. 

And, kmr (PetAg brand) is not located in my area, I have to order it online. I have been looking in local stores for goat milk. The only kind of goat milk that I am able to find in my area is the powdered whole goat milk with vitamin D added, and the evaporated canned whole goat milk, which also has vitamin D added. Can either of those be used? Thanks in advance, really appreciate your input  

The powdered goat milk that you mix will work fine. How much does the kitten weigh? Once I know the weight I can tell you how many mL's to feed. At 9 days old he needs to eat every 2-3 hours. If he's protesting it's probably because he objects to being fed when he has a mom right there, even though he's not getting enough from her. The more you feed him the easier it will get. Weighing him every day is the only way to know if he's eating enough and gaining.

@sarthur2  yes I have been weighing baby every day. He weighs 10.7 ounces today. Is the powder goat milk/water ratio the same as it is with kmr? 

Yes, same 2/1 ratio. That is an excellent weight for his age! He'll need a minimum of 88 mL's every 24 hours. If you feed in 3-hour intervals, that's 11 mL's at each feeding with 8 total feedings per day. His goal weight should be 16 ounces (1 pound) at 4 weeks old.

Now, I know he feeds some from mom, so you'll have to play it a bit by ear. As long as he gains weight each day, he'll be fine.

Today he weighs right under 13 ounces and is 11 days old. That is what I have been doing, playing it by ear. I haven't had to supplement him since yesterday. I had the idea to take two boxes and  create one bigger box nest. And then put the big box in the nest area she had chosen.The result is a nest box that is two feet wide by four feet long. I lined it with soft fleece blankets and Mama loves it. I put baby in and she hopped right in and stretched out. Since I did that Mama has spent hours in there nursing, etc. I am hoping she will continue to do so. 

That's wonderful news! And he is gaining and growing quite nicely! Nice job! [emoji]128149[/emoji]

I have a question and an update. Baby will be 16 days old tomorrow. Today he hit the 1 pound mark, which seems to be big for his age. Everything thing I have read states that kittens typically weigh between 5 and 8 ounces between weeks 2 and 3. I was wondering if based on the fact that he is as big as a 4 week old kitten, should I be starting him on solid food now? I want to make sure he continues to thrive and get enough to eat. 

So I just walked into my bedroom, where I have the nest box set up and found baby has learned to get out of the nest on his own. The sides of the box are 5 inches tall and baby is so big for his age, well he climbed over. His Mama was not thrilled with that! She ran in behind me and freaked out when she saw him exploring the area. I have never seen a kitten that young this steady on his legs.