Single Kitten born, 26 hours old refusing to eat

Perhaps it wasn't as noticeable until it dried.

This very much looks like the umbilical cord. All kittens retain part of the cord for a week or so.

Just keep an eye on it.

The kitten is sleeping soundly, managed to coax the mother into feeding it for about 8 minutes then supplemented about 1 ml of warm formula from a syringe. Thanks for the advice, looks like allot of work for awhile but it will be worth it I am sure.

 Sending prayers and vibes that the little guy does well!!! He certainly is getting tons of love & excellent care, so his chances are good!!

Ceasu said:

 
I believe it has been about 7 hours since it fed and another 4-5 hours before it ate before that, note that these feeding sessions are only about 2-3 minutes long at most. It is still strong enough to crawl around the room it just refuses to suckle. The Kitten was moved by Midnight ( I believe she dislikes the floor heater which could be part of the issue but she moved it to the other side of the room). I do not own a microwave would a hot water bottle wrapped in a blanket suffice?

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It may be the kittens is a weak suckler.  May even have a hole in the roof of mouth (palate).   Such kittens can often be saved by giving them food by a syringe as mentioned earlier.  With a syringe they dont need to suckle, its enough they manage to swallow.

If you dont have a syringe at hand, nor any of your neigbours, you can use a dropper.  Or even a straw if desperate.

But its Red Alert,

you must do it  NOW, and proceed  about 1- 1,5 hours inbetween, till he is stabilized.  When he is stabilized, you can take it  every 2-3 hours.

It started feeding with its mother but I have to supervise because she keeps moving it to a corner near the outside wall of our house... since its so far north it is -20 or colder outside so all the outside walls are to cold for a kitten. So every time she feeds the kitten I have to move it back to the nest we made it so it can warm up. I will continue to feed it with a syringe in addition to make sure it gets what it needs. Instead of the floor heater we put a blanket on top of a hot water bottle in a circle formation to make a nest for it to sleep in. Since the mother will only pay attention to it when i bring it to her she then moves it to the corner that is to cold feeds it and I move it back to our makeshift nest and feed it with a syringe to make sure it has enough. The procedure is tedious but the kitten seems much happier so I can only assume it is working.

Ceasu said:

 
It started feeding with its mother but I have to supervise because she keeps moving it to a corner near the outside wall of our house... since its so far north it is -20 or colder outside so all the outside walls are to cold for a kitten. So every time she feeds the kitten I have to move it back to the nest we made it so it can warm up. I will continue to feed it with a syringe in addition to make sure it gets what it needs. Instead of the floor heater we put a blanket on top of a hot water bottle in a circle formation to make a nest for it to sleep in. Since the mother will only pay attention to it when i bring it to her she then moves it to the corner that is to cold feeds it and I move it back to our makeshift nest and feed it with a syringe to make sure it has enough. The procedure is tedious but the kitten seems much happier so I can only assume it is working.

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Good news!   We can downgrade the red alert into yellow alert. but you must continue vigorously with the good work.

When the kitten is with momma, he gets enough with warmth from her.  But when alone, he must hae this extra heating pad.  As you have noticed.

Is she washing him and helping to eliminate?

OK, how do you know the kitten gets enough?  By closely paying attention helps much, but a good helping device is with weighting every day.   As he is in crisis, every 12 hours till he is stabilized.  After it you can continue with every 24 hours.

He shall simply gain.   He is slightly premature, and perhaps smallish, so he probably wont get the recommended 10+ grammes a day (about 0,3 oz+), but he shall gain no less than 6 grammes a day.  If he gains less, you must increase your work, or its red alert again...

I work at the local grocery store I will pick up a food scale to keep track tomorrow and weigh daily at the same time, I have noticed she does wash him each time I bring him to her right before she moves him to the corner where she feeds him and washes more then leaves probably as soon as it falls asleep. Shortly after it cries because its cold and I move it.

Can you create a second warm nest in the cold corner where mom likes to nurse her baby? Create one similar to the existing one, or put the floor heater near the cold corner? Since she insists on feeding him there, it might help to keep the kitten warmer for now, especially while you are at work and cannot supervise. It does sound like the kitten is happier overall now! Thank you for supervising and doing the supplemental feeding! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

How is the little one this morning? thank Goodnesss you intervened when you did. 

I cant move the floor heater anywhere near the nest the mother hates it but the little one seems to like it. What I ended up doing is moving the hot water bottle to the nest when mama leaves he cuddles up to it for warmth but I still need to move it near the floor heater sometimes to keep him from crying.

He seems warm and happy and other than the feeding times I was able to sleep well except once when it got cold and needed to be moved. My girlfriend and I took turns so I almost got a full nights sleep which was a relief for all involved I am sure. I will weigh him tonight and keep track of his progress. 

What kitten formula are you using? I hope the little one is getting stronger

The problem is, mom is not happy with the location of her nest.

This is why she keeps moving baby.

I would move her nest to the most quiet, secluded, low light spot, maybe a closet?

Then close the door to the room so mom stays with the baby, she will be much more attentive if she is content with her nest spot.

Well good news and bad news. Good news first, it seems that my scent is why she keeps moving the kitten to the closet, the clothes she pulled together smell like me and she makes a nest in my clothes so we moved the pile of clothes to where it is warm and the issue was solved. I believe it is because she was abandoned on the side of the road and I rescued her before she opened her eyes but she seems to relate my scent  to safety and nurturing. Bad news, my furnace died today 5,300 bucks later (good thing I rent) we have a new furnace and terrified cats hopefully Midnight calms down soon because for awhile she was properly looking after it but now she seems anxious again. I weighed the kitten 88 grams. I am feeding the kitten Whiskas cat milk, I know it is likely not the best option for a newborn but being in a remote community it is the only thing i could get, When we first found midnight her eyes were not open yet and it is the same stuff we gave her, the vet said it was ok.  

Sucks about the furnace, but sound like you are making great progress with the kitten. Great work!!!  could you mix the cat milk with goats milk?

The Whiskas kitten milk is not actually a kitten milk and it is only intended as a treat for adult cats. It simply doesn't have the nutrients the kitten needs and will not suffice for the type of feeding thus baby needs.

You would be better off making your own kitten glop.

There are several recipes available that will work for ingredients most people can get their hands on (egg yolk, evaporated milk, etc...). Also, full fat goat's milk with be great as well.

I will check the store for goats milk, the mama cat is feeding the kitten I just do not trust the Kitten is getting enough solely from the mother due to her behavior and short feeding sessions so I am only supplementing what the kitten gets from his mother. 88 g seems light for a 2 day old kitten however the mother is a very small cat so it may not be to bad. The Vet gave us soft food to mix with that milk when we found Midnight but I was not sure if that is OK for a younger kitten. 

A 2 day old baby can only have moms milk or KMR or goats milk.

Nothing else at all, not until about 4 weeks.

88 gms is a decent weight actually, but with this one you really need a scale to monitor weight gains daily, kitten needs to gain a good 8-10 grams every single day, hopefully more.

I agree, I doubt the kitten is getting nearly enough from nursing.

Can you order a can of powdered KMR online, and get quick shipping? Also, if you mix the Whiskas treat milk with a beaten egg it will add more nutrition until you can get proper KMR or goat milk. I think it's wise that you are continuing to supplement.

How much are you giving the kitten at each feeding? At 88 grams the kitten needs 24 mL's of formula during each 24 hour period, which is 2 mL every 2 hours.

Hopefully, your mama cat will relax again now that the repair people are gone. I think it's awesome that you figured out about your scent and moved your clothing.

Let us know how the baby is doing! I hope mom will continue to help groom her as she has been doing.

A small correction - if you want to mix an egg with the Whiskas treat milk you should add only the raw yolk and not the raw egg white.

Good wishes to you, your girlfriend, momma cat and - not least of all - babycat