5 week old kitten looks like she's only 2 weeks old

We've rescued a kitten at one week of age. This weekend she will be 5 weeks and she only weighs 11 ounces. She does not look like a normal 5 week old kitten, she actually looks like she's two weeks of age. She has been to the vet multiple times. She was first diagnosed with coccidia and is being treated for the last 15 days. We are starting her on a round of vitamins today. My question is has anyone had a litten that was developing so slow?

I have attached a picture of Ellie with her adopted brother that is two weeks older than her.

Awww what a sweet precious baby.  What does the vet think?  She is so tiny.

danu25

Is she an orphan? What has she been eating? How much and how often?

Sweet babies [emoji]128149[/emoji]

I've never personally seen that small of a kitten at 5 weeks. How big was she at 1 week?

How are her motor skills? Does she eat and drink like you would expect other kittens her age? Meaning, in process of weaning from KMR to solids...

This is very interesting. Thank you for sharing your tiny sweet baby.

She's a doll, they both are!

Honestly, I'm concerned about the tiny baby, see how her inner lids are exposed?

This to me is a window to their insides, and clearly because of her size, something isn't right......

Ellie is an orphan, but she was adopted by a momma cat that had 4 babies. At 2 weeks Ellie was 0.05 lbs. Today at the vet she was 11 ounces. The vet said that as long as she is gaining weight he is happy.

Her motor skills is that of a 2 week old. She does run and play, but only for short bursts.

As for her eating, she eats a little wet food about 3 times per day, but mostly she eats from her adopted mom.

About 2 weeks ago we almost lost her. She had Coccidia and we had to force feed her every 1 1/2 hours. They put her on 2 antibiotics and Albon. The vet said today her Coccidia is getting better.

I adopted a kitten at two days old and she was a very sick little baby. She struggled a lot in the beginning but she ended up coming through. She was and still is very small at one year of age. She was 10 ounces at five weeks and her motor skills were delayed.
I hope it helps to know that my kitty was small at that age too. If you have a home scale I would suggest weighing her everyday to make sure she is steadily gaining weight. As long as she is doing that she should be just fine. Here is a picture of her at exactly five weeks

Hi paulthecat It's so nice to hear from you and sweet Molly. Glad you stopped in to give support, I had forgotten how small your sweet baby was!

danu25
This is the thread and story of paulthecat's Molly.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/304435/four-day-old-kitten-with-diarrhea-help

Keep us updated with your little one please!

The fact she was ill with Coccidia at 3 weeks old may have caused the developmental delays. It was probably all her body could do to fight the infection and stay alive. Now that she is getting better you should see her begin to grow and develop more.

I suggest that you feed her Gerber chicken or turkey baby food for now. It is high protein, smells good (heat it slightly), and is easy to lap and digest. The more she eats, the better she will grow.

I would also offer kitten formula in a dish for her to lap. She may not be getting enough milk from mom. Some of the nursing may be just for comfort.

Are her baby teeth in yet? Does she use the litter box?

Than you. This makes me feel better knowing someone else went through and came out fine.

Ellie is doing great today. I do not know if it is the kitten vitamins we are giving her or she is finally growing, but she did real well with the wet food this morning and is able to play longer.

Here is a picture i took of her yesterday.

We have tried putting formula in a bowl and a bottle and she won't touch it. We also tried baby food, nope.
We just bought her KMR2 and hoping she likes that one. We also make sure she has quiet time with mom every few hours so she can eat without the other babies jumping all over her.

We weigh her twice a day to make sure she is steadily gaining weight.

sarthur2 said:

The fact she was ill with Coccidia at 3 weeks old may have caused the developmental delays. It was probably all her body could do to fight the infection and stay alive. Now that she is getting better you should see her begin to grow and develop more.

I suggest that you feed her Gerber chicken or turkey baby food for now. It is high protein, smells good (heat it slightly), and is easy to lap and digest. The more she eats, the better she will grow.

I would also offer kitten formula in a dish for her to lap. She may not be getting enough milk from mom. Some of the nursing may be just for comfort.

Are her baby teeth in yet? Does she use the litter box?

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danu25 said:

Ellie is an orphan, but she was adopted by a momma cat that had 4 babies. At 2 weeks Ellie was 0.05 lbs. Today at the vet she was 11 ounces. The vet said that as long as she is gaining weight he is happy.

Her motor skills is that of a 2 week old. She does run and play, but only for short bursts.

As for her eating, she eats a little wet food about 3 times per day, but mostly she eats from her adopted mom.

About 2 weeks ago we almost lost her. She had Coccidia and we had to force feed her every 1 1/2 hours. They put her on 2 antibiotics and Albon. The vet said today her Coccidia is getting better.

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Her small size will definitely affect her development, yes. Which is fine, and small is fine too as long as the reason can be overcome.

It's what we do not see inside that is a mystery, and the predictor for the future as well.

Having a surrogate mom is just great! This is most surely a big help, and ups her odds as well.

Her coccidia should have been knocked out with ponazuril, albon is slow and only inhibits the growth of new cysts but relies on her own immune system to fight and be rid of the invasion, she does not need any issues to consume her system while it is struggling and weak still.

Ponazuril actually kills all coccidia cysts with 1 dose a day, for her, 3 days and gone.

If she is still nursing from her surrogate mama, be sure to keep mom filled with nutritious foods and kmr daily, it passes on in her milk and helps, also helps her bounce back from all nutrients she had going to the babies.

2 antibiotics for what?? 

Yes, she is still nursing from mom and eating more wet food everyday. Ellie won't touch KMR formula, however momma loves it. The 2 antibiotics were in case she had panleukopenia. One of our vets here has had great success getting kittens through it, so she said as a precaution because her adopted brother died 2 days before, she wanted her to take it and see how she does. She actually did great on them. As for the Albon, our vet didn't have any Ponazuril in stock and it would take him too long to get it in. Ellie actually went for a check up on Wednesday and he said the Albon is working. We are taking one day at a time. Weighing her daily, making sure she eats, not only the wet food but also gets plenty from momma. We are watching her and the other 3 babies very closely, even to the point where we have a camera on them 24/7. We will let you know how she does in the coming weeks. We have decided to keep Ms. Ellie. Her adopted sister may already be adopted. Her brothers will be going up for adoption in the next few weeks.

Awesome! You are on top of it for sure! Thank you! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Question regarding momma cat. Her stomach sounds terrible and she has terrible diarrhea. Any suggestion on getting momma cats stomach better? Shw has been tested for worms and bacteria and is clear of everything. The vet put her in Royal Canin Gastrointestinal High Energy, and she likes it, but she also eats the kitten food and the KMR.

When did it start? What is the time line of the new foods and adding KMR to her diet?

Momma has had an upset stomach since we got her.

LotsofFur said:

When did it start? What is the time line of the new foods and adding KMR to her diet?

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Other than the food what did the vet suggest? Have you tried pumpkin or probiotics?

What have you tried so far?

I'm guessing mama has something that doesn't show up in their tests. It needs to be treated. Poor gal. What color is the diarrhea?