Really need help here!!

8andcatting

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Hi,

I have a 3 week old kitten that was abandoned by his mother. I have another cat who had given birth 3 weeks prior and I used her to nurse the three abandoned kittens. She took to them and they took to her but this one kitten is not growing. He's slow, not alert, doesn't move around much, but he loves to eat! Every time the mother cat comes into the box he's the first one up to get his nipple and he'll nurse until she gets bored and leaves the box. After feeding his belly isn't getting big and fat like the other kittens so I started feeding him pedealyte from a bottle and tonight I got some kitten replacement formula and a medicine dropper and fed him that way. You think this cat never ate before! He sucked down two full medicine droppers of formula (2 teaspoons) and his belly got so full and fat! I tried to get him to eat some more but he was clearly full so I put him back in he box and his whole body started shaking. Like tremors. I thought he was cold but his temp was warm and his paws weren't cold. His mouth is pink it's not pale or bluish which is a good sign I think. I'm not sure what's wrong with him. I pick him up and put him on his back in my hand and he wriggles to get turned right side up which I read a kitten that doesn't do that is in trouble. He's just so "out of it" all the time. It's like he's not all there in the head. I had a kitten in her 6th week of life suffer from fading kitten syndrome and after I took her to the vet they said she had neurological issues and wouldn't survive because she wouldn't know how how to eat or keep herself wasn't. She died the next day. I know all about fading kitten syndrome and have been watching this kitten for signs of those but he eats like a horse, he knows how to eat, he suckles, and he cuddles with his litter mates to sleep. He doesn't want to be by himself away from everyone and the second that momma cat comes back he's first to the nipple line. And he loves his "juice" (the pedialyte, we call it his special "juice" lol) and when I tried him on that medicine dropper he gulped down two full ones! He's breathing ok, and everything else I've checked appears to be ok. But he's just not developing like his two other siblings. They're twice his size and weight, and I know there's such thing as the "runt" of the litter, but he's more than just small, he's slow, doesn't move around much, doesn't play or start figuring out he has paws and can clean himself with them. His eyes are blank like he's not looking st anything. All he does is eat and sleep. I was glad to see his belly filled right up with the formula but it just doesn't seem like he's developing right. What should I do?!?! Please help if you have any advice for me! I can't stand to lose another innocent kitten who deserves a chance at life!!
 

StefanZ

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Hi,

I have a 3 week old kitten that was abandoned by his mother. I have another cat who had given birth 3 weeks prior and I used her to nurse the three abandoned kittens. She took to them and they took to her but this one kitten is not growing. He's slow, not alert, doesn't move around much, but he loves to eat! Every time the mother cat comes into the box he's the first one up to get his nipple and he'll nurse until she gets bored and leaves the box. After feeding his belly isn't getting big and fat like the other kittens so I started feeding him pedealyte from a bottle and tonight I got some kitten replacement formula and a medicine dropper and fed him that way. You think this cat never ate before! He sucked down two full medicine droppers of formula (2 teaspoons) and his belly got so full and fat! I tried to get him to eat some more but he was clearly full so I put him back in he box and his whole body started shaking. Like tremors. I thought he was cold but his temp was warm and his paws weren't cold. His mouth is pink it's not pale or bluish which is a good sign I think. I'm not sure what's wrong with him. I pick him up and put him on his back in my hand and he wriggles to get turned right side up which I read a kitten that doesn't do that is in trouble. He's just so "out of it" all the time. It's like he's not all there in the head. I had a kitten in her 6th week of life suffer from fading kitten syndrome and after I took her to the vet they said she had neurological issues and wouldn't survive because she wouldn't know how how to eat or keep herself wasn't. She died the next day. I know all about fading kitten syndrome and have been watching this kitten for signs of those but he eats like a horse, he knows how to eat, he suckles, and he cuddles with his litter mates to sleep. He doesn't want to be by himself away from everyone and the second that momma cat comes back he's first to the nipple line. And he loves his "juice" (the pedialyte, we call it his special "juice" lol) and when I tried him on that medicine dropper he gulped down two full ones! He's breathing ok, and everything else I've checked appears to be ok. But he's just not developing like his two other siblings. They're twice his size and weight, and I know there's such thing as the "runt" of the litter, but he's more than just small, he's slow, doesn't move around much, doesn't play or start figuring out he has paws and can clean himself with them. His eyes are blank like he's not looking st anything. All he does is eat and sleep. I was glad to see his belly filled right up with the formula but it just doesn't seem like he's developing right. What should I do?!?! Please help if you have any advice for me! I can't stand to lose another innocent kitten who deserves a chance at life!!
First, it seems as he isnt effective at suckling his foster momma, although he essentially knows how to do it.  So you must supplement him yes, with kmr or goats milk.

What exact brand of  kmr did you found?

This with giving him pedialyte is good thinking BUT the problem is, if he is full with pedialyte there isnt so much space left for kmr...

So, give him food - kmr / goats milk in first hand, and perhaps some drops of pedialyte in between the feeding, instead.

Continue to weigh him every day, so you see if he gains, and how much.

This what you tell his tummy wasnt never full hints he wasnt suckling effectively.

Can you get RAW goats milk?  Fresh or frozen?  This may be some advantage here.  Bottled or powdered full fat goats milk is too useful, but no real advantage against a good kmr.

This with tremor.  My first guess is, you didnt mentioned anything about burping him after the food. And or stimulating him to eliminate.  Both are wise to do if you are supplementing by hand.  Its not necessary if  fostermomma does it, but when yu take over the charge, you must be sure its done, this way or another.

Another possible explanation is, his body is unused to be fully filled - and reacted in some unusual way...

If he is slightly retarded, is not impossible, It must happen now and then also with cats.  He may also be simply blind.   In both cases he should manage OK being a inside only pet.

But the most probable is he was a long time undernourished, and its because of this he is weaker, and smaller, and less movable. Being undernourished he must conserve the force he barely has.

Re visiting a vet with him.  Make sure its a vet experienced with small kittens.  Many vets arent.
 

jennyr

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I agree with Stefan. While it is important to keep him hydrated, he obviously need as much as he can get of nourishing liquids like goat milk or KMR. It is possible that he was actually born premature, as cats can mate a number of times over several days, and kittens can result from different matings and yet all be born together. So one might be behind the others and then never catch up. But it sounds as if you are doing the very best you can with him.
 
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