Problems with nursing kitten

Hi,

My cat just had an emergency c section. There was only one kitten and she has lots of milk. I try to put him on the nipple but he just doesn't get it. It's been two hours since he was born. Mom is licking him and herself, hopefully she won't grab the stiches. When do I worry about him not feeding.?? I've tried to squeeze a little drop of milk out so he gets the idea but no luck. His palette and mouth seem ok I got the tiniest drop out, not sure how to get more.

Any thoughts?

Is the kitten warm? What color are the kitten's gums?

I think it's time to start syringe feeding the baby. Do you have any Kitten Milk Replacer (KMR) on hand? PetAg, GNC, Nutri-Vet are all good brands. Just stay away from Hartz and the Whiskas milk. No cows milk. Goat's milk is ok.

Baby should be warm before feeding. You might also try smearing some honey or caro syrup on the baby's gums to see if that perks him up a bit before feeding.

Milk should be warm, but not hot. Start by placing a single drop of milk in the side of baby's cheek first. Go slow.

Baby should be fed belly down, with head slightly raised (much in the position of nursing).

I think he's warm. He tries to nurse. He is not attracted to the shaved areas from the c section but goes for the smaller breasts with fur around. But he always misses. I've read that the can go 12 to 24 hours and I'm afraid I've worn him out with constantly trying to direct him. I do have some royal canine cat milk powder but I wonder if I should wait. Are you sure I shouldn't? I don't want him to give up on nursing when there's all that extra good first milk with antibodies....

No, supplementing will not cause him to give up. It will feed him and give him the strength to continue trying to nurse.

Please supplement now 1-2 mLs every 1-2 hours until he is strong enough to latch. We see this all the time. When he can latch, he will. He can't right now. He needs feeding!

sarthur2 said:

No, supplementing will not cause him to give up. It will feed him and give him the strength to continue trying to nurse.

Please supplement now 1-2 mLs every 1-2 hours until he is strong enough to latch. We see this all the time. When he can latch, he will. He can't right now. He needs feeding!

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Totally agree!

Newborns cannot go 12-24 hours without eating. They naturally eat every 1-2 hours in general. When hand rearing we feed every 2 hours.

Out of curiosity, why was the c-section needed? (I've had a few cases in rescue where we had to intervene.)

I do suggest smearing some honey, syrup or even sugar water of the baby's gums if you haven't already.

Do you have any idea when the mom conceived? Just wondering if the baby might be a day or two premature?

He was too large and being an only kitten, he was no where near the birth canal after two hours of active labor. So it was emergency c section.

He doesn't try to latch on the big fat boobs that hav all been shaved for the surgery. He finally got on his chosen small furry boob and is happily nursing. A friend in Seattle called a vet as it is 1:30 in the morning here and too late to call...and the vet said 4 hours is very long and dropper feed, but that was just before he latched.

But he's nursing away now for 10 minutes. I think he's exhausted. Let them be or try to top him up?

Thanks so much for the help! It's been a long day. She would let me leave her side all day.

Oh, he's not premature. With her first and only other litter, which was planned to make some beautiful bengals for her many admirerers, she went exactly 60 days. This time too. But this time it was unplanned and she only had one moment with a male, as opposed to a week with her stud, so only one baby. The vet was amazed how well he crawls at birth, but that's his Bengal side. The crawl early, purr early, open eyes early, climb around early. And he's large for a newborn.

Good he's nursing now. Your friend's vet told you the same as we did. Babies need to nurse as quickly as possible after birth.

I hope your cat was spayed during the surgery. It would be dangerous to her health and any future babies to breed her again.

The vet said she could not be spayed during the c section as it would mess up her mothering abilities and make for a worse recovery. The kitten seems able to get back to the one Breast he likes but not the others, which are huge and swollen.

But now mom has fresh blood and mucus coming from her vagina. Do I wake the vet at 2:30 I. The morning or is this normal...? It is causing her to move about and knock off the kitten. He's crying, she's growling.. Oh dear.

How much blood and mucus are you seeing?

Kitten nursing again but at least two tablespoons of blood and mucus, bright pink. Worrying. The c section was done at 9:15 pm and the handoff back to me later was very brief...no idea if this is notrmal.

Reading on line, it sounds normal. What made me more concerned was that she was growling as she discovered it. But I think it's ok. Now almost 3:00 am, this ordeal began at 8:00 am. I think I will try to sleep. The kitten managed to latch on to a new beast with some encouragement. He's feasting now. He was not impressed with the formula I tried to give him earlier.

He's still trying to make up for lost time and gets very upset, crying loudly, when he can't find a nipple. No sleep for me tonight. But he managed to latch on eventually to a fat one that had been shaved. Lots of milk there! I think he's learning what to do, though has more success with some help. He hates being pushed about but if I can manage to move the Breast near his nose and check, he can get it. He likes it to move to him instead of me placing or moving him, but it's much harder to this.

His first purr! Just for 30 seconds!

I am surprised to hear the vet didn't spay her. I have never heard that concern before. Can you keep her 100% inside and away from intact males until this baby has weaned?

It does sound like he is starting to turn the corner. Glad to hear it! Can you weigh him every day?

I will weigh him tomorrow. I suspect the vet did. Yes, I was surprised on my inquiry about spaying during the surgery but she said her hormones would go haywire and the recovery would be prolonged, all not good for baby. She also said after a year she could have babies again if we wanted proper bengals again. I think we are done now but in any case the vet wants to wait until baby is weaned and she is fully healed, 6 months minimum and ideally in a year. There are not a lot of in tact males. She snuck out another time when in heat and was out all night, no babies. I would take her out in our small walled garden or on a very high balcony and she would yowl but no males ever appeared. Then this last escape and somehow she found one, but very briefly.

She actually never wants to go outside normally for more than five minutes, unless in heat. So it's easy to confine her, that's what she is used to. But people sometimes forget to lock the back doors and the wind can blow it open. Three different cycles she got out this way, or when a visitor came and she dashed past them, and despite vanishing for 8 to 24 hours she never found a male, until the fourth time...

How old is your cat?  I would be very hesitant to mate her again after any complications like these.  I think you risk setting her up for future issues, no matter how well prepared you are.

She's three years old. The vet thought it was because she mated only briefly that she had only one kitten. In all the space he grew too large to get out, and without siblings it was harder for the contractions to get him positioned well. She is an exceptionally beautiful Bengal, with gold glitter and beautiful markings, but personally I would rather not live through a lot of heat cycles. Her looks and friendly ways means people really want her babies, but we've only done the one litter before. That was was a normal birth. I assumed once a c section always a c section but the vet said no, it could be normal again, but I am ready to be done. We will keep the little half breed so she has company.