Kitten help

Hi everyone, my cat, a himalayan, just had her very first litter. She had 5 in total, one was born dead and another has an open skull. The other three are well and healthy.
The one with the open skull was rejected by the mom immediately as it was born. I had to remove the membrane and get it to start breathing.
I have started feeding him kitten milk from a bottle, but he barely drinks a few drops every few hours. Any advice on what I can do to help this little guy survive?

Hi, and welcome to TCS

I'm no expert in hard rearing kittens, but he might find a 1ml syringe (minus the needle) easier than the bottle. Just go very slowly, aim for the side of the mouth (not the back of the throat), and give swallowing time.

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Haffy said:

Hi everyone, my cat, a himalayan, just had her very first litter. She had 5 in total, one was born dead and another has an open skull. The other three are well and healthy.
The one with the open skull was rejected by the mom immediately as it was born. I had to remove the membrane and get it to start breathing.
I have started feeding him kitten milk from a bottle, but he barely drinks a few drops every few hours. Any advice on what I can do to help this little guy survive?

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What to do about the open skull, I have no idea.  The chances are probably not good, but not impossible he may survive. Taking another example, kittens with open cleft palate, do often survive, if  we know how to feed them.  Syringe mentioned above, not bottle - because they cant suckle but often can swallow.

So the open skull aside, the immediate problem is the hand raising as such.

As said, you may find a needleless syringe easier.  Tummy down, head up, diagonally a little up, side of the mouth, slowly a drop a time.  If he swallows good, it can go rather quickly. If he swallows reluctantly, it will take its time and patience.   Burp afterwards.

BUT if bottle works for you, proceed with it.  Its a little easier for you.

As he is in crisis and dont manage much at a time, give more often!   Say 1,5 hours between, around the clock if you can.  What is it, 15 feedings?

He needs about 24 ml a day at this age, divided on the feedings.   8ml / oz = 8ml / 30 grams.

Make sure he is warm and comfortable.  Make sure the kmr is body warm.

Stimulate before and after.

Some find stimultion easier to go before!   Even if normally one would think the after is the natural...

Exactly what kmr do you use?

If you can get raw goat milk, it will be swell.   Fresh raw goat milk contains even some natural antibodies... so go for it at any price if you get it.

A good site for handraising is www.kitten-rescue.com

And do report and come with further questions!

Good luck!

How to treat the open skull, I dont know. You can perhaps get some ideas from human care?

They usually try to save such children, so its described in litterature.  While kittens are probably often just pts, and thus - its very little about such kittens in litterature.

Having it as clean, even sterile around is surely a must.  At least, till he got some skin over the opening - which he will get if he lives so long.  Humans scalped alive sometimes did survive - the skin grows and covers the opening with time.

Wash out everything around, preferably with somehting anti-bacterial. No dust.  If there is any litter around, it must be dustfree.

What told my parents they did during the War, before there were any antibiotics?  the doctors in their local hospital got the idea to put  crushed onions and garlic on plates around the wounds - its surely some antibacterial properties.

My guess is, fresh goat milk may help some too.  At least, I managed to get liquid soap containing goat milk, and its soothing raw skin very nicely.

And pray. Pray in the name of Rademenes - a cat nurse helping out in a polish veterinary clinic.

I would try to cover that wound and feed kitten.

Keep kitten warm as they cant digest food unless warm. Keep liquid warm as well. Call vets and ask-they may have you keep a sterile dressing on top of head just like we do for people. before bandage up use a warm wet cloth to make sure no afterbirth stuck in the wound. and cover it. You can get these sterile pads at the drug store and some gauze. wrap the gauze around the head with the sterile pad underneath. This will help keep stuff out of the wound. I don't know what is allowed for medication on the wound with a newborn-this would be something I would strongly recommend calling the vet.

keep kitten warm, stimulate it to wee/poo,  feed every 2 hours and pray. that's all you can do. it takes a good day for a scab to grow but where he is so young I don't know if this is still true.

Bless you for trying to care for such a fragile little one.

For treatment of the wound, I would contact your nearest veterinary teaching hospital (like in a University). Often times they will like to take on cases for free or very reduced cost if it is something that they can use as a teaching opportunity for their students to observe. This is not a guarantee, however this is something that we do very frequently with the humane society and most of the time a vet, tech, or vet student that worked on the case ends up adopting the animal and has the knowledge and resources to handle any lasting effects.

First off squeeze some of the mothers first milk and put a few drops on the cat. The firr milk contains antibodies and will help keep it free of cost infection. Is it just a cat or has the skin never developed in the first place?

Also he/she may want to suckle and isn't used to the bottle-you can get some new makeup sponges and soak it in milk and see if kitten suckles the milk-you can hold the sponge near the lips-and take a syringe full of milk and dribble it on the sponge so you don't have to take it way from the mouth to rewet it. always make sure kitten is on its tummy with head tilted up. don't feed like a human baby. Otherwise they aspire into lungs and it wont end pretty.

I didn't think about using moms milk as a wound washer-that's a really good idea=keep it moist with her milk so it doesn't dry out and get itchy then cover with gauze. As long as no red swelling or pus coming out of the wound it should heal nicely. I don't know what to use as an antibiotic on it at this point-maybe someone who has wound experience can chime in?

This is called anencephalia or anencephaly.

It is very rare, but includes missing a part of the skull, scalp, a a good portion of the brain, mainly cerebellum, which is what controls balance, coordination and thinking.

As much as I hate to say this, the sweet baby should not live. Ugg how sad......

If by some chance he was able to survive, he might not walk, be able to eat, be blind/deaf (although those are manageable) but the missing brain is a big deal, and the open wound is impossible to keep from getting infected.

I know he is a fighter, but it is in his best interest to let him be put to rest hun.

I'm very sorry to say this, I am one who will go to great lengths and always give the benefit of the doubt, even against the vets recommendations, but not this time, very, very sad.

I think you should get him to a vet ASAP. A catwoman707 said, it will not be possible to keep the open wound from getting infected. An infection will result in meningitis, and the kitten will die a painful death. The vet is the best person to tell you what to do.

Thank you everyone for the help, however unfortunately he passed away today.

I'm so sorry. You did the best you could, but it wasn't in the cards.

I'm so sorry.

How are mom and the other kittens doing?

I'm so sorry @Haffy  There really was nothing to be done.



I'll lock this thread now, as a sign of respect for the little one. Please start another thread and let us know how the other kittens and the mother are doing. We'd love to be of help if we can.

We have a Crossing The Bridge forum where you can start a tribute thread for the kitten if you'd like to.

http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge