Rescue Momma and Kittens... Advice Needed Please!

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ashade1

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   Bravo on your rescuing that not-so-little cat family!!! MamaKitty sure has a great guardian angel that sent you out her way 
    Has MamaKitty gotten over her diarrhea? It could have been the KMR - but if it continues, you could consult your vet & see if they recommend giving her an antibiotic because that poor cat probably is unvaccinated. It was a miracle that she was able to deliver safely and yet another miracle that she was rescued and turned over to you!!! You have the heart and stamina of the most valiant knight ever, to work so much and still do round the clock kitty care, plus shopping, fostering, meeting adopters, etc.....Heaven has a very special place for you!!

Did you get rid of the fleas? I assume so ....but if it ever comes up, you can use warm salt water to help de-flea cats. It is safer than the detergent, lacks the irritating (esp to sensitive feline noses) fragrances and doesn't need to be rinsed....speaking of fragrances, scented litter has been known to cause diarrhea to cats not to mention irritating sensitive rectal tissues.

Thank you so much for all you are doing!  We love seeing the pics - and seeing someone busier than me gives me encouragement :)
Thank you! It means a lot! I did use Advantage II on mom and it cleared the fleas up on the babies too! Also the diarrhea did go away after two days, I figure it was the KMR as well, she was gulping it down the first couple of days, but now her favorite thing is canned Fancy Feast Kitten Food. These are the youngest kittens so far that I have helped so everyone on here has been a great help! The youngest I had helped before was last year I took an abandoned 3 week old kitten in and bottle fed and raised her and then my mom ended up adopting her. It definitely is exhausting but rewarding!
 
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ashade1

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So I bought a digital scale today and now I am having issues with it. I set the bowl on it and "zeroed" it, then added a kitten. It said it only weighed 92 grams, which doesn't make any sense because it was one of the bigger ones anyway. So I switched it to oz so that I could compare the weights it was giving me to the other scale I had and it said 2 lbs. What. Sigh. So tomorrow I probably will just do everyone's weights with my old scale in oz. I didn't have time to dig my old scale out tonight and reweigh everyone (I already had packed it away in the back of my cupboard, and I always weigh them before I go to work so it is the same time every day). Go figure, I finally bought the right scale and it doesn't work! Anyway everyone *looks* good, although I don't have the weights to prove it!
 

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Try to reset the scale. Take the batteries out and put them back in and start over. Zero it out, then weigh the bowl. Do not zero it out after putting the bowl on it. Weigh the kitten in the bowl, then subtract the weight of the bowl from the total. Make sure the scale is on a hard, flat surface - not carpet. It will not read right if it's not on a flat surface.

Try to get this scale to work, as gram weights are much more telling and precise than ounces.
 
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Yeah I tried all of those things last night, I also tried weighing the kitten directly on the scale and got a crazy number. I will try again tomorrow morning when I get home from work and hopefully something will give! lol
 

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Okay! If not, get your money back. Hope they are all doing well! [emoji]128522[/emoji]
 
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ashade1

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Good news, I was able to go get a different scale yesterday that actually works! So here is everyone's weights in grams for 9/19/16 (15 days old)

1- 301

2- 257

3- 269

4- 284

5- 252

6- 282

7- 272

8- 235

Some not so great news, everyone has a vet appointment for this Wednesday. A few of the kittens have some goopy eyes to the point of them staying shut, I have been wiping them gently with a warm wet wash cloth and it seems to help a lot and they can open their eyes, but I feel like they might have a URI that is getting passed around so hopefully all goes well on Wednesday and they are able to help them. I am taking everyone, should I put all of the babies and Momma in the carrier? Or do you think I should put them in a carrier and mom in a carrier? My vet is close so its not going to be a long drive, but I am a little worried about Momma stepping on the babies in the carrier because of it being a little cramped.

Thanks!
 
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ashade1

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I also got some pictures of them today! Two weeks old! Where has the time gone?? A couple of them have already started showing grooming behavior, I of course got an adorable video of it!

Oh also, I think I forgot to post this, but I decided on a naming theme (I like to theme name groups of cats I foster) I decided to name momma Andy, and name all of the babies off of the toys on Toy Story! Currently I believe all of the orange to be boys, and all of the grey to be girls!





I've got all of my "ducks" in a row! ;)



My beautiful Momma, Andy!



Those tiny claws!
 

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They are so super cute! Very cool coloring :) Awesome weights! Your smallest kitten is 8.4 oz which is perfect. Great job! My 9 never quite all made the milestone weights (still don't). Let us know how the vet goes. :)
 
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They are precious, and weights are good. Are you still supplementing?
 
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ashade1

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Thank you everyone! They are all getting so big and a lot more mobile! A couple of them have found their way outside of the nest a couple of times.  I am still supplementing, a little less often everyday. The bigger kittens won't let me supplement them anymore, they fight me on it lol. The small group I still supplement a couple of times a day, and just to confirm I should keep rotating them correct? So that everyone gets quality time with mom and equal opportunity for the good nipples? I unfortunately did not get to weigh them today as I got called into work a couple of hours early, but I definitely will tomorrow and I will let everyone know what the vet says! Everyone looks better today, a few still have goopy eyes so definitely we are still going tomorrow evening!
 
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ashade1

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Hey everyone! Got back from the vet with Andy and the babies! Everyone was cooing over them there, surprised at such a large litter and how well they were all doing weight wise! The vet said everyone looked really good and healthy (go figure their eyes looked fine today) but she gave me an ointment for their eyes to use for a few days just in case. I also got ear mite drops for mom- her ears were pretty bad but I didn't have anything on hand that was good for nursing moms. They also went ahead and gave me wormer for mom and babies when they are old enough! The vet also confirmed that the 4 orange kittens are boys and the 4 grey are girls like I thought! So overall good day for everyone!
 
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ashade1

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9/22/16 Weights

1- 361

2- 293

3- 313

4- 315

5- 297

6- 317

7- 317

8- 286

All decent gains for everyone all around! So our routine now is to get the first group, supplement them, wipe their eyes with a warm, wet cloth if needed, put ointment in their eyes, then weigh them. They scream the ENTIRE time. lol. They are so loud now! But their eyes look so much better, even after just a day and a half on the medicine.

I have another question. Is it normal for Momma to lose interest in the canned kitten food? She had been eating about 6 cans a day (Fancy Feast Kitten). Then the day that I took them to the vet I noticed that she hadn't even finished that one can I gave her that morning. And today she only ate one can. I had mentioned it to the vet and they said it could be normal. She seems to be eating more of the dry Purina One Kitten food that I put out, just not the cans anymore. She otherwise is seeming great since we started the ear mite drops and she also gets the eye ointment.
 
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ashade1

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You can sort of see in this picture how a few of them have "goopy" eyes from the orange one in this picture above. Some of them are "goopy" to the point they are stuck shut, however when I wipe with the warm wet cloth and put ointment in them they look good as new!


When no one wants to cooperate for the group photo. Who is it on this group that LOVES teeny tiny kitten tails? I understand the obsession!


My runt #8 is getting the most unique coloring! Spots on her belly, tabby stripes on her back and an orange splotch on her face!
 

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You can sort of see in this picture how a few of them have "goopy" eyes from the orange one in this picture above. Some of them are "goopy" to the point they are stuck shut, however when I wipe with the warm wet cloth and put ointment in them they look good as new!



When no one wants to cooperate for the group photo. Who is it on this group that LOVES teeny tiny kitten tails? I understand the obsession!



My runt #8 is getting the most unique coloring! Spots on her belly, tabby stripes on her back and an orange splotch on her face!
They are all so cute!

#8 is definitely a tabico or a torbie (coat pattern).

It seems like all the other grey ones are dilute torties.
 

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ashade1 ashade1

The weight gains are fantastic! [emoji]128077[/emoji]

Their eyes are getting much better! Use the ointment daily for the prescribed length of time and their eyes will be just fine and stop crusting shut.

Mama cat is loving the kitten chow! My cat did the same thing, switching to more kitten food than wet. She'll be fine. Continue offering the wet though. She still needs it, but she's getting plenty of nutrition from the kitten chow.

Keep up the nice job! [emoji]128522[/emoji]
 
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I'll be happy whenever they are starting to eat wet food! They are getting so loud! Its unreal! You would think I was torturing them when I try to supplement them now! What a relief to hear that momma preferring dry food is normal! I was a little worried that I should be concened since she was eating so much canned food before!
 

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I'll be happy whenever they are starting to eat wet food! They are getting so loud! Its unreal! You would think I was torturing them when I try to supplement them now! What a relief to hear that momma preferring dry food is normal! I was a little worried that I should be concened since she was eating so much canned food before!
Lol, I most definitely believe you about the noise :) It gets worse before it gets better. They quiet back down in a few weeks although mine are still pretty vocal. They will be running all over the place in a few weeks! Be prepared for crazy time :)
 
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