Kittens;)

Hello ! I am new   on this  site...and what can I say? i adore  cats  and  at the moment i am       bottlefeeding   5     wonderful babies   and  caring for them since they have no mom.  Theyre   around  3th week at the moment and  so far  theyre   getiing more  active  and  eat  healthy..  Just  curious   whe  can i start to   trying to teach them     to eat    tinned  food   ..they already ahve  their  teeth     growing  and   2 of kittens     slowly   try to lick milk  but msot of times step in it.   After  2  weeks they  are supposed to go back to the         shelter for home  search but id love to teach them      to eat   ..right now still sticking to the bottle

pumpkinkitten said:

 
Hello ! I am new   on this  site...and what can I say? i adore  cats  and  at the moment i am       bottlefeeding   5     wonderful babies   and  caring for them since they have no mom.  Theyre   around  3th week at the moment and  so far  theyre   getiing more  active  and  eat  healthy..  Just  curious   whe  can i start to   trying to teach them     to eat    tinned  food   ..they already ahve  their  teeth     growing  and   2 of kittens     slowly   try to lick milk  but msot of times step in it.   After  2  weeks they  are supposed to go back to the         shelter for home  search but id love to teach them      to eat   ..right now still sticking to the bottle

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You can being and try out already now.  they probably wont catch, but its worth to try anyways.  If one catches on, the others will have the example to follow.     

You can use goat milk as an alternative, cow milk may be unsuitable.  So no cow milk.

Be sure you use non clumping litter; small kittens tend to taste on everything, and we dont want clumping litter inside them.   The same goes for human babies...

Thanks Well  i always used  goat  milk. Cow milk  you can't  use    as   the baby kittens stomach is  too weak for it. Yes as far as i tried   they only step in the milk. Next weekend a  couple wanted to take  one of the    healthiest babies but i dont  think  he  should be  sepperated  from  his  siblings  yet especially if he cant eat yet.

Yes, I agree, they are too young to be adopted yet. The couple needs to wait.

Exactly   they have to be  fed every    3hours or so...i lack sleep    because of this ,but it's  totally worth   since  kittens  haven't had much   luck till now. They were abandoned   and  possibly separated  from their mom as they were  found in a box. Also yes  they  have to sleep together  to keep  warm. Yesterday  i had a  funny accident tho...kittens woke me up around  6am so i automatically  feed them one by one then  realized  something isn't   wright anymore..after fed the  little  ones i  accidently  started to  bottle  feed my  1 n half year old        boy...He loved the  milk tho..HOPE it's no harm

Ha! It's no problem. It will not harm him. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

You can start now.  I would put a small dish on the floor with some milk in it (kitten milk NEVER cow's milk!) and just dip their lips in it.  Usually they will lick it off and say "YUMMY, I want more!" and find it themselves.  Having said this, I have 8 six week old bottle babies myself and they are all weaned except 1 that totally refused to eat solid food.  Heavy sigh.

Shelter gave me   goat milk forumla supplements..As far as i seen   that   2 of  kittens lick  but very less.  The fattest  male  kitten  threw up today after 40mins he  had some  milk..but hes   2 times bigger than others...and always  cries if i feed someone else..trying to feed him  less now...think he had too much...otherwise everything is going  well..theyre  smart enough to  poop  and pee outside the  closet   on the floor...so they might be able to   learn to use litter box soon as well. i trie dto pour tiny bit of milk ina  plate, but they still step in it  lol.

Update from the same  kitten babies i took in under my care..Yesterday  the smallest one had problems   with eating..he didn't  eat yesterday late   evening..the morning he  ate  a bit  thought hed be ok..but he sneezed  loads..around evening  he lost his appetite compleatly  and vet clinics were closed....an hour ago he passed  away sadly in my arms;(  The othe rkitty  now ahs the same  problem but he  tries to  eat i keep an eye on him  all the time..but he slosing his appetite too and   get smilk from his nose..i take  very few  steps  try to keep him warm he shivers...a lot in   a  towel  too i can only  go to vet sin the morning.....anything i can help  the other weak one  to survive???? tthis happened  just today...

I dont know what i am doing  wrong i feed them    every 3-4hours.  watch them.....hear them crying...3 are  getiing  really strong...but    the other of smallest  egts  weaker even when i try to feed him more  now;/

And now he barely  eats hes tiny too unlike the  other  3  kittens who are half the size nearly.

One of the small girls shes  got  weaker too but she  eats   still  but doesnt wlak as she used to ..even the biggest  and healthiest  boy sneezed...I think its some kind of  flu!!!!! Tomorow   vet  obviously but what  can i do to keep  them safe....for tonight?? 7 more hours till clinics open

It sounds like some kid of URI being passed from one kitten to another.  Do you feed them with a bottle or syringe? And be sure to feed them tummy down like they would feed from their mama.  If using a syringe put one drop at a time into their cheek and make sure they swallow before giving them another drop so they won't aspirate.  Keep them warm too.  You can take a big sock and fill it with uncooked rice and heat it in the microwave for a few minutes, then put it underneath a thick blanket or towel so it won't burn them.  How old are they?  If they are tiny they'll need to eat every 2 hours.  I'm not sure when the cutoff time is where you can go to every 3 hours.  I think it's 3 weeks old but not sure.  

I use a  baby bottle and  kitten  goat milk fomula..saddest is..all week they seemed to be doing  fine..and one of  babies  the  fattest  started to eat solid food..but  yesterday one got  sick and  now    2 more  are sick...all happening   too fast..  one  doesnt  weat other   kitten eats and  drolls a  lot...but only eats  if i give  tiny bi of food..i have no spryingles  tho(( i keep them warm all the time...2 of  them ar eok   one fighting other slowly giving up  

Also my heat  system isnt  very  good and the  weather got    colder.....i  assume thats  the  problem tooo 

gINNY   I  FEED THEM  ONE BY ONE  SLOWLY   STRONGEST ONE SUSED TO STAND  UP THEY STILL DO

 Other ones   eat like mom  would feed them   straight up..

 The first symptoms are usually high fever and loss of appetite. An infected cat is likely to stop taking both food and water. The cat may even take on a depressed appearance, moving little and sitting hunched over as if in pain. The animal may be much quieter than usual or she may "talk" more than usual.

As the hours go by, your pet will begin to develop more cat distemper symptoms.
 

This guy I know has a female who gave birth to 5 kittens last year. For the first 2 weeks they were doing fine. Then in the 3rd week, they all died within that week. Two of them on Monday, one on Wednesday and the last two on Friday. It was the saddest thing. The vet said that it sounded like cat distemper and there was nothing that could have been done. 

Maybe this was the same thing that happened to the 4 week old kittens.

I'm sorry. Rest in Peace little ones.

(found  this post!!)  I hope its not happening

Gosh I'm so sorry about the little one that died and the others that are sick.  It sounds like you are doing everything you can.  I think some of the people here would say it's almost useless to take kittens to a vet, but I think they need antibiotics if its a bacterial infection.  That wouldn't do any good if it's a virus though.  I wish some one with lots of experience would notice this thread, and advise you.  

 Yes  it jsut seems unbelievable how  can this happen in one day,..Like one day  kitten is ok next day he  dies  and others are getting sick. Just   sucks the most the kitten died he will never be able to enjoy  real  treats, cat food, play with toys recieve  love  and  cuddles..;and when  a  kitten dies in your  lap  its  the mosthorrible thing ever....I cried  barely when he   was still in my arms...and    begging  for him to fight and     kept him in towel     tried to  cuddle ,massage...everything...he barely opened his mouth and nothing....

Gosh I'm so sorry!  So heartbreaking! You're doing the best you can.  Sometimes kittens just fail to thrive.  

Do you have an ER vet in your area?

I'm not an expert in newborn kitten care but have paged someone who is, in hopes she's on-line and can help.  Ginny has been giving you good advice - keeping them warm is essential.  Try microwaving a sock filled with rice for 5 minutes and tuck it into their nest.  This should stay warm for at least two hours.  Is the Mama cat around?  I note you didn't mention her.

Do you have an emergency vet within a reasonable distance?  Not all vets have expertise in caring for young kittens but if this is bacterial,they need an antibiotic or you'll  lose them.  

It will also help to take them into a bathroom and run a hot shower until the bathroom is filled with steam.  This will help them breathe better, which in turn might help with their appetite.  If they can't smell the food, they won't eat it. 

To give them some instant energy, rub honey on their gums, or, if you don't have honey, try sugar water.   

It is probably worth a trip to a pharmacy to pick up some syringes. If they are really young, the baby bottle nipple might be too large and a syringe will be more effective.

Hang in there!   

What about unflavored Pedialyte?  Is that ok to use with kittens?