Mommy cat not cleaning newborn's feces off fur

  Okay, I'll tell my husband to pick some up tomorrow.

You'll want to avoid Hartz products, and powdered kmr is better than liquid.

I picked up some PetAg milk replacer plus with taurine and gave some to Jitterbug, and she liked it.  All but one kitten gained well over 6 grams today.  The fourth kitten, gained only 5 grams, but weighs 305 grams at 17 days old.  Not sure if I should supplement the kitten yet.  I was thinking of just keeping on giving Jitterbug the supplement to see of the better milk would make a difference?

Go ahead and supplement the kitten, it's better to start sooner rather than later and most kittens could use a little pick-me-up
Kittens are fed tummy down head up
Mama should drink some kmr daily for her own health as well, it isn't needed in most cases but it sure will help her feel stronger, and it can help with better milk coming from her. Though the kitten probably hasn't gained because he/she isn't nursing enough, not because mamas milk isn't good.

They all seem to nurse every hour.

If the kittens are 17 days old and weigh 305 grams, they are doing fine! It's good to give some to mom each day. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

newkitties said:

Go ahead and supplement the kitten, it's better to start sooner rather than later and most kittens could use a little pick-me-up
Kittens are fed tummy down head up

Mama should drink some kmr daily for her own health as well, it isn't needed in most cases but it sure will help her feel stronger, and it can help with better milk coming from her. Though the kitten probably hasn't gained because he/she isn't nursing enough, not because mamas milk isn't good.

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sarthur2 said:

If the kittens are 17 days old and weigh 305 grams, they are doing fine! It's good to give some to mom each day. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

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I went offline well before I saw the reassuring post buy sarthur2.  I did try to supplement Cerebro.  The first complication was the bottle I bought from Walmart did NOT have hole in the nipple.  I used a paper clip (could not find a needle) to poke a hole in it, and it still did not let any milk out.  So I tried using a dropper.  The second complication was Cerebro totally refused the kmr... she/he actually made a choking sound.  I gave up, because I was afraid that it was upsetting it to much, and it would throw up.  I did, however supplement Jitterbug's food with the kmr, and she loved it.  Hopefully, when she stops nursing, and I no longer use the kmr in her food, she'll still eat her food! 

Good news:  Cerebro gained a whopping 24 grams today, and the others gained 13 - 16 grams each.

I'm enjoying watching the kittens not only grow physically, but seeing them do new (to them) things.  Their eyesight is getting better, and today I was moving my finger above one of them, and they batted at it.  They're starting to groom themselves, and play-fight each other. 

Once concern I have is, while they nurse, sometimes one will try to take over the tit that one is already on, and actually scratch at the other's eyes!

Yes, they do squabble over mom's nipples. Hopefully, they are not actually hurting each other.

If you need to use the bottle again, you can use a kitchen knife or scissors to cut an "X" in the nipple so milk can actually come out.

Sounds like you haven't really needed it yet. Glad mom likes her KMR. My cat missed the KMR when I stopped it, but continued to eat her food. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

So, when can we tell what gender the kittens are?  I tried searching online and can't find good info.

You can post some booty shots here . We can usually come to some kind of consensus :lol3:.

Willowy said:

You can post some booty shots here

. We can usually come to some kind of consensus

.

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LOL Okay, the kittens are all sleeping now, so I don't want to disturb them.  Oh geesh, just as I typed this, momma cat just jumped in the box to groom them and woke them all up!

It's usually easier to tell when they are about 4 weeks old. I had one whose testicles did not descend until he was about 6 weeks old. Until then, I thought he was a she!

But if you want to post pictures, we can try to help! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Ok, your answer was what I was going for.  I was just wondering when they usually show which gender they are.  I keep referring to Cerebro and Junior as 'he' because the two are the more aggressive of the four, and Kahlua and Poncho as 'she' because they not only groom themselves, but I've seen them grooming the others... though that may not really mean anything.

Yes, personality is not always a good predictor. My she who turned into a he is still shy like the only female of the litter. Give it a week or so and it may be more evident. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Yeah, it's fairly easy to tell when they're newly born, and then they go through a time when it's kind of hard to tell, and then by 6 weeks you should be able to tell again. Sometimes you can tell by color (torties are female, etc., and compare the other kittens to that one) but from what I can see of your kitties they don't have any gender-based coloring. What color are they anyway? From the pictures it looks like one is white. . .is it pure white or is it developing dark bits on the ears and nose?

I just took a couple pictures of two of the kittens.  I couldn't get the other two because Jitterbug, God bless her, had enough and would not let me get the other two (I could have if I wanted to, but did not see a reason to upset her more).


^ This is Kahlua.  Cerebro has similar coloring, but is lighter and has a white collar.


^ This is Poncho.  Below is a picture of him from the back.


Junior is a gray tabby with a thick black line down the back

EDITED:  Jitterbug left the box so I took a picture of the other two without picking them up.


^ Here is Cerebro... to the front is Kahlua, and Poncho is in the background.


^ This is Junior.  Shh, he's sleeping!

What cuties!

Thanks.

I was surprised when I weighed them tonight.  I was a little anxious because it seemed Jitterbug wasn't nursing them as much, but Junior gained 17 grams, Poncho gained 10 grams, Cerebro gained a whopping 27 grams, and Kahlua 26 grams.

They're sweeties.

Well, they have their moments.

Here are two of them grooming each other:

 

That's Kahlua grooming Poncho, and Poncho reciprocating until Cerebro gets jealous and breaks it up. LOL