Concerns about kittens

I'm very concerned that the runt of my cats litter is not nursing. All other kittens are but the runt won't..

It's breathing well, moves well, and acts like a normal kitten would, but won't nurse.

Then you need to supplement him immediately. Seriously, no time to lose. Buy a needleless syringe and some powdered kmr. You feed tummy down, face up, and one drop in the cheek at a time. Every two hours for now give 2ml. Don't wait!

How old is the kitten?

They were all born just this morning. He's eating (or trying to) now which is good, I guess it just took him some time

(:

Can you weigh the kittens every day to make sure they are getting enough? It's the only way to know for sure.

And can you keep mom 100% inside and away from intact males until the kittens are weaned? She can get pregnant again any time now.

Yeah, I'm keeping her away from the other cats for a week or two. After that I'll probably spay her and neuter our male cats

Mom can be spayed when the kittens are 8 weeks old. She will need to stay away from the other cats until then.

How many other cats do you have? Are they all intact?

Really recommend weighing the kittens daily!

I have two male cats (from her previous litter a while back) and a spayed female. I'll try my best to get a scale to weigh the kittens (who are all now eating well and have had no problems yet!)

Are the two males not fixed? That would be the first step, I think. They will still be fertile for up to a month after the procedure, so best to get it done now while she'll be in seclusion with her litter.

My male cats actually weren't a father to this litter, the father was a stray. But I'm still going to fix them as soon as I can afford it

Just keep them completely separate and you have some time. Can you keep mom 100% inside until she's spayed?

If you let us know where you're located we can help you find a low cost clinic.

Our cats are all indoors. I'm in Ravenna, Ohio

So how did the stray get her pregnant? That's what you want to avoid.

There are a ton of great resources here: www.spayohio.org/search/default.aspx

Enter your zip code.

I can't tell how many babies there are.

If more than 4, runt will need supplementing, keep a watchful eye on this, babies choose the best nipple to nurse from and will fight for it, so the runts always get bumped off, time after time and surrender, going to sleep instead of nursing, and soon enough, it catches up to them and they die.

This is the number one reason for runts dying, NOT the belief in the past about how "there was probably something wrong since he was so small" , not true.

They don't make it because they aren't allowed enough milk to thrive.

This is why a scale is your best friend with babies.

You will know right away who is doing what. Must gain at least 8-10 grams a day or more.

There are five kittens, and I check up as much as I can. The runt has been eating pretty much all morning, which is very pleasing. My cat had problems with the past runt, so I was worried for this one. But luckily the little one is doing very well (:

HanjiSNK said:

There are five kittens, and I check up as much as I can. The runt has been eating pretty much all morning, which is very pleasing. My cat had problems with the past runt, so I was worried for this one. But luckily the little one is doing very well (:

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If you notice one or two of them dont manage to compete succesfully, let them suckle when the stronger are sleeping.  Sort of rotate them.

And as said, having a scale is a great help to KNOW, if you arent very experienced and see just by a glance.

The runt just stopped eating. I'm now getting concerned as he's not nursing anymore, even if I give him a good nipple..

How many litters has mom had?

Runts shouldn't automatically die, as catwoman707 mentioned.  They need a little extra help, which you can provide through weighing and supplementing if needed.

HanjiSNK said:

The runt just stopped eating. I'm now getting concerned as he's not nursing anymore, even if I give him a good nipple..

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As said in my first post earlier today, you need to begin supplementing.  Do not wait.  You will get food into this baby using a syringe and kmr.