newborn kittens very small runt :(

rmwife

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Hi everyone
So my cat has had 5 kittens tonight, everything went well with the birth and she did great but I knew straight away one of them was very very small compared to the rest. Just weighed them a few hours after birth and we have
Grey & white kitten = 105gm
Grey kitten = 99gm
Black & white kitten 97gm
Black kitten 93gm
White kitten 63gm
So as you can see Tony white kitten who looks like a little lamb is very very small, she is latching on and feeding but my question is do I start suplememting her now or wait and see how she gets on over night? I"m a bit scared to leave her to see what happens due to just how small she is and if I can do anything to help then I need to do it now rather than later. Any advice please?
 

handsome kitty

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She needs the colostrum mom is producing the first couple of days.  Weigh again in 12 hours and see if she has gained any.  You will probably need to supplement the kitten for a couple of days at least - or you can put to her mom while the others are sleeping for extra nursing time w/o the larger kittens pushing her off a nipple.  Does she look fully formed and furred?  I'm wondering if she is premature.

Do you know how and what to feed the kitten?

We love pictures!
 
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rmwife

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Thanks for answering so quickly! I've hand reared kittens before but never one so tiny! I sent my hubby to the vets earlier and he picked up cimicat which isn't the brand I used before but was all they atock now and i have 1ml syringes so know what to do if I need to. I actually think she does look premature although was the 3rd one born. Her legs and tail are a lot less hairy than the other 4 but with her being white it maybe just looks more noticible, although she will match on she seems to fall asleep at the nipple very quickly and will only start feeding again if I give her a gentle prod! Have taken some pics will try and add them on now
 

Sarthur2

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R rmwife

I suggest you start supplementing her immediately. She's too small to take chances. You should get up during the night too. Go for 1/2 to 1mL every hour.

Hopefully, once she gets above 90 grams or so, she'll be okay just nursing mom. I'm sure you know to feed tummy down, head up, and go drop by drop so she does not aspirate.

Keep us posted.
 
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rmwife

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I've just had her nursing off her mum for the past hour while all the others were sleeping and she was definitley going for it! Should I still try giving her some by syringe?

 
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catsknowme

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   Adorable little family & she resembles a little, white lamb! Myself, until I could consult a feline specialist, I would let the wee one nurse from mom exclusively as she needs that colostrum, and her mom's milk will constantly be "upgrading" according to the needs of her kittens (including gradually changing from colostrum to milk). I would, however, consider supplementing the other kittens and let the tiny have the best of mom's milk. There are no milk replacers that are better than a cat's milk and it is generally recommended for even orphan kittens to be nursed by a foster cat whose own kittens are as near in age as possible (again, the cat's body is changing the composition of her milk according to the age of her babies). 

Sending prayers and vibes for blessings for you and all your family, both human and cat 
  And thank you for posting the pix!!! susan
 
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rmwife

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Such conflicting advice lol! Well I couldn't go to bed and do nothing so I went with @sarthur2 and she took .8ml from the syringe done a huge big burp fell asleep for 10 mins then scrambled to another nipple! Meanwhile the other 4 are all scrambling abpiy and fighting over nipples! I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight 1:46 am here in UK so i"ll keep checking in on her all night. They are all very very cute and each so different! Mum is very proud and just purrs constantly as soon as she sees me!
 

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I agree that you should give her a little extra boost when you can. You're not taking over feeding her, just making sure she's not too far behind.
 

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Yes, as she IS nursing from momma too, she does gets the colostrum.   So here we take double chances on her.

Although, as you see she takes the syringe so nicely, we may be practically sure she takes from momma too.

Because its this which is the difficulty with the weak and very small - we dont know if they eat for real before we had got a reliable weight count on them, which happens earliest 12 hours later...

Anyway, the guarded is protected by God Himself as the proverb says, so here we did this.    :)

She is btw almost surely a point.  You will see the proofs in one week or two...
 
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rmwife

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Hi everyone
Little lamb only gained 3gm since weighing her 12 hours ago :(
Black +9gm
B&W +18gm!!
G&W +10gm
Grey +7gm

I fed the little one 3 times during the night and although at is very active and absolutley going for her mum's teats I think today I'm going to have to ramp it up a bit with the supplementing her, can I ask your advice how much and how often?
I think as @stefanz says she is so small that maybe when she is nursing she just isn't strong enough to get enough out and is getting knocked off by all her big bully siblings!
 

Sarthur2

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R rmwife

I am going to repeat my post #7 for you:


R rmwife

I suggest you start supplementing her immediately. She's too small to take chances. You should get up during the night too. Go for 1/2 to 1mL every hour.

Hopefully, once she gets above 90 grams or so, she'll be okay just nursing mom. I'm sure you know to feed tummy down, head up, and go drop by drop so she does not aspirate.

Keep us posted.
The others are doing great so far! [emoji]128077[/emoji]
 
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