Advice Needed with 2day old Kitten!! Help Please!!

furbabiesnmira

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Hi.. My 4yr old D.S.H Precious gave birth to 3 kittens 2 days ago. One sadly didn't survive and had already passed when I found her. She has 2 remaining Kittens.

One is larger than the other and I'm getting concerned that the smaller isn't getting enough to eat from Mummy. Every time I go to check (every 2-3hrs, top up food, water, depoop litter tray) - Little un isn't always beside Mummy.. I sit and fuss Mummy but avoid kittens as much as possible.. I  have noticed though that Little-Un isn't always able to latch as Sibling pushes Little-Un off the teat it's latched to. Once or twice, I've found Little-un BEHIND Mummy and Mummy seemingly oblivious to it being there :/ 

Mummy's cleaning them as they're always like fluffy ended as it were.. Mummy is eating ok.. drinking ok.. I have noticed that there only seems to be 3 out of her 6 teats producing milk or being used as it were. She's only cleaning these three and theres 2 which are starting with a jelly lump behind  - her lowest 2 teats (one either side). I've spoken to the vet and been advised to massage to see if it disiapates and stays gone.. So am going to use a warm washcloth and give it a little massage in a bit to see if it helps. Keep an eye on it over the weekend and if no change or worse by Mon - she'll be going with her babies to the vet for a check up.

My concern about Little-un.. Do I leave to Mummy and just watch for signs of abandonment? Has Mummy already started to do this because of her apparent lack of interest? What advice would you give?

This is Precious 3rd litter however NOT planned (before anyone gets high and mighty!) and I'm already in the process of sorting funds to get her spayed as soon as kittens are weaned from her.  The first litter she appeared to abort as the 2 kittens we found were very VERY small.. The second litter (sorry if TMI) she'd had 3.. one had a broken neck and the other two were cannibalised :'(

Thankfully.. this time.. we have survivors! She'd been removed from the main area of the house so away from my other 2 cats (one Female, spayed & a yr old tom - not neutered - had been told he was but obviously now we know different! ) and quieter. In a 42" x 32" x 30" dog crate with a metal tray, lined with old pillows and a cotton curtain over the top of these to make sure not on bare metal, food and water at one end - litter tray on the floor away from this crate.

They're all indoor cats due to living near a very busy trunk road ad losing my last cat to deliberate poisoning.  

Now.. I've already got 2 x 1ml syringes, 2 x 2ml syringes and a tin of Cimicat KMR from the Vets today after speaking to Vet in the event I need to step in and either supplement Little-Un... orrrrrr if push came to shove.. remove from Mummy and make a little den for it with a shoe box, rice bag in a cotton sock which can be heated in microwave, fleece covers and feed every 2hrs as following the instructions on the tin. I've not weighed the 2 kittens. I guess I probably should... 

Any and all advice especially Re: Little-Un would be appreciated! Thanks in advance 
 

Mamanyt1953

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Start supplimenting immediately.  This little one MUST eat if it is to survive.  You said that mama is cleaning?  This is good, and allow the kitten to stay with mama so long as she is caring for it.  But do feed, and perhaps a rice sock in the box with mama for Little-Un.  Let mama do as much as she will, and step in to take up the slack.  There will be some real experts on here very shortly with more and more detailed advice for you.  This is just to get you started.
 
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furbabiesnmira

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Hi & thanks. I've looked into preparing a box with fleece and a couple of rice socks already.. 

I've weighed the kittens and it's definatley not good... :( 

Titch is only 81g and Gannet - is 136g so it looks like I'm going to have to remove Titch if there's to be any chances for it's survival. When I went in to do the usual checks, it was laid on it's own, away from Mummy and it's sibling. It didn't move until I opened the door of the crate then started to crawl towards Mummy.. 
 

talkingpeanut

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Hi & thanks. I've looked into preparing a box with fleece and a couple of rice socks already.. 

I've weighed the kittens and it's definatley not good... :( 

Titch is only 81g and Gannet - is 136g so it looks like I'm going to have to remove Titch if there's to be any chances for it's survival. When I went in to do the usual checks, it was laid on it's own, away from Mummy and it's sibling. It didn't move until I opened the door of the crate then started to crawl towards Mummy.. 
Don't take the kitten from mom. Do add the rice sock and supplement it every hour for now. Do you know how to feed?
 

mingsmongols

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I agree, dont remove the kitten. His odds go dramatically down hill away from mom. Supplementing is a must as well as kick starting his digestive tract. You can use Bene-bac to up the digestion process so he can get more nutrients out of his food and a drop of simethicone two to three times a day to prevent colic and make him more likely to feed on his own. your in the danger zone right now though, supplmenting and manually pooping him needs to start immediatly.
 
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furbabiesnmira

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Mummy seems to be prefering the bigger kitten. yes I'm aware how best to feed Titch, on his/her tummy with head supported, preferably with a teated bottle (have syringes as vet didn't have a teated kitten bottle available but hoping to get one monday)

My concern is obviously that 1 - Titch gets too cold. 2 - Titch stops being allowed to feed. 3 - We lose Titch :( 

Mummy IS giving proper care otherwise. Both Kittens are always clean around their back ends whenever I go to check on them. I have Cimi-cat KRM from the vet. It states 2.5ml per 100g bodywight however Titch isn't even 100g so am contemplating giving 1.5ml every hour and a half instead of every 2hrs. Would this be too much do you think or do I leave it the full 2hrs? 

Obviously the less disruption to Mummy the better.. I don't want her to totally reject Titch.. How often should I weigh Titch to keep an eye on weight to ensure there is some feeding from Mummy? 

It's been a longgggggggg time since I've had to hand-rear a kitten but am prepared to do anything necessary to get Titch through this.. (I'm not familiar with Bene-bac or simethicone - would they be from the vet - am in UK btw) 
 

mingsmongols

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Bene-Bac has to be ordered online but the simethicone can be gotten at any drug store. Its infants gas relief, it should be pure simethicone with no aclohol or saccharin. I use both at birth and for the first few days every time i have kittens because I don't want to deal with fading kitten syndrome. You could get a heater and put them in a small room to raise the temp of the whole area up as well as a hot water bag for him to crawl on if he's cold. I weigh every time I feed, but you can only look at results of weight gain or loss over a 12 to 24 hour period not from feeding to feeding. Im not too sure about changing the amount and time of feedings, its been such a long time since i've had to supplement. This seems less like an issue with the mom, even though she's being allitle allouf, and more of an issue with the kitten himself.
 
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furbabiesnmira

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Thanks MingsMongols :) 

Just went up to do a supplement feed and found Titch latched, tummy swollen so definatley feeding from Mummy (this time)going to reweigh when I go to check on them between 11pm and midnight.

Gannet was curled up near her back legs - sleeping! Yayyyyyyy! lol... I'm going to go in around midnight and see how things are. The room they're in is my spare front bedroom which is only 7ft wide by 12ft long, the crate is on the single bed base about 3ft away from the radiator and the room itself is actually quite warm

concern being  - obviously where Titch IS so small, I know loss of body heat will happen quickly.

Hubby not long home from work via the supermarket with 1kg of plain white rice to do a couple of different sized rice socks to swap over with so there's always one in there. Any idea how long a rice sock is ikely to hold it's heat for? 
 

talkingpeanut

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If you microwave the sock with uncooked rice for 5 minutes it will stay hot for several hours. 3-4.

For mama cat, it's very important that she stay 100% away from your male until she is fixed. She can get pregnant again at any time, even without going into heat. He will also be fertile for up to a month after he is fixed, FYI.
 

StefanZ

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What kmr are you using?  full fat goats milk is OK too.  If you can get RAW goats milk, its extra good - it can in some ways remind of mommas milk.

As I understand, Titch has began to eat from momma - which is good. But the alert is still on, till you are SURE she gains steadily about 10g a day.
 
Hi.. My 4yr old D.S.H Precious gave birth to 3 kittens 2 days ago. One sadly didn't survive and had already passed when I found her. She has 2 remaining Kittens.

One is larger than the other and I'm getting concerned that the smaller isn't getting enough to eat from Mummy. Every time I go to check (every 2-3hrs, top up food, water, depoop litter tray) - Little un isn't always beside Mummy.. I sit and fuss Mummy but avoid kittens as much as possible.. I  have noticed though that Little-Un isn't always able to latch as Sibling pushes Little-Un off the teat it's latched to. Once or twice, I've found Little-un BEHIND Mummy and Mummy seemingly oblivious to it being there :/ 

Mummy's cleaning them as they're always like fluffy ended as it were.. Mummy is eating ok.. drinking ok.. I have noticed that there only seems to be 3 out of her 6 teats producing milk or being used as it were. She's only cleaning these three and theres 2 which are starting with a jelly lump behind  - her lowest 2 teats (one either side). I've spoken to the vet and been advised to massage to see if it disiapates and stays gone.. So am going to use a warm washcloth and give it a little massage in a bit to see if it helps. Keep an eye on it over the weekend and if no change or worse by Mon - she'll be going with her babies to the vet for a check up.

My concern about Little-un.. Do I leave to Mummy and just watch for signs of abandonment? Has Mummy already started to do this because of her apparent lack of interest? What advice would you give?

This is Precious 3rd litter however NOT planned (before anyone gets high and mighty!) and I'm already in the process of sorting funds to get her spayed as soon as kittens are weaned from her.  The first litter she appeared to abort as the 2 kittens we found were very VERY small.. The second litter (sorry if TMI) she'd had 3.. one had a broken neck and the other two were cannibalised :'(

Thankfully.. this time.. we have survivors! She'd been removed from the main area of the house so away from my other 2 cats (one Female, spayed & a yr old tom - not neutered - had been told he was but obviously now we know different! ) and quieter. In a 42" x 32" x 30" dog crate with a metal tray, lined with old pillows and a cotton curtain over the top of these to make sure not on bare metal, food and water at one end - litter tray on the floor away from this crate.

They're all indoor cats due to living near a very busy trunk road ad losing my last cat to deliberate poisoning.  

Now.. I've already got 2 x 1ml syringes, 2 x 2ml syringes and a tin of Cimicat KMR from the Vets today after speaking to Vet in the event I need to step in and either supplement Little-Un... orrrrrr if push came to shove.. remove from Mummy and make a little den for it with a shoe box, rice bag in a cotton sock which can be heated in microwave, fleece covers and feed every 2hrs as following the instructions on the tin. I've not weighed the 2 kittens. I guess I probably should... 

Any and all advice especially Re: Little-Un would be appreciated! Thanks in advance 
 
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furbabiesnmira

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Cimi-Cat KMR formule in a white and purple tin from the vet :) 
 
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furbabiesnmira

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Hey everyone... 

When I went up to bed last night and checked on Mummy & kittens - they were both feeding nicely :D 

Husband was up before me so went in and did the usual food/ water/ tray and gave Mummy a fuss.. Both kittens apeared to have fed and were curled up next to Mummy. They were both weighed and between last night and 8.30 this morning - Titch has gained 6 grams - Bigger Kitten (Gannet) has gained 8g 

is this good for Titch gaining 6g in around 10hrs? 
 

talkingpeanut

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Hey everyone... 

When I went up to bed last night and checked on Mummy & kittens - they were both feeding nicely :D 

Husband was up before me so went in and did the usual food/ water/ tray and gave Mummy a fuss.. Both kittens apeared to have fed and were curled up next to Mummy. They were both weighed and between last night and 8.30 this morning - Titch has gained 6 grams - Bigger Kitten (Gannet) has gained 8g 

is this good for Titch gaining 6g in around 10hrs? 
6g in 10 hours is good. You want them, bare minimum, to gain 6-10g in 24 hours.
 

Sarthur2

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You should still supplement the kitten for now, until it reaches a higher weight. Give 1-2 mLs every 2 hours. It should only take a few days.
 
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furbabiesnmira

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Thanks Talkingpeanut.. 

Because of how Mummy had been with Titch - we only started weighing last night. Thought it'd be a good diea so we can check if Titch had been feeding from Mummy.

We've only supplemented twice yesterday and once so far today which Husband did before he went out just after 9.15am - Titch took just under  a ml but as we know that it'd fed from Mummy recently - he wasn't too concerned and didn't want to force any more down. 

Going to reweigh around 4pm and again at midnight for today then every 4 hr through tomorrow. 
 

talkingpeanut

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I don't think you want to weigh that often. It will be unnecessarily worrying. Try every twelve hours. It's normal for them to fluctuate some during the day but you ultimately want a gain.
 
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furbabiesnmira

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Well... I didn't reweigh earlier today. I've just been up and topped food, water and done a spot clean on the litter tray and will do full clean in the morning.. 

I did weight Titch whilst I was there and in less than 12hrs - there's been an increase :D 

Titch now weighs 96g and Gannet weighed in at 154g
 

Mamanyt1953

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Oh, good...the go-to experts are here now, so I can just follow along and send good vibes!  LOVE the name Titch.  I'm from the southern part of the USA, where we use "titch" quite often in conversation.
 

pumpkinkitten

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Get the kitten formula  asap  and a  baby bottle...but you msut  remember  that kitten has to eat   every   2 hours...You  will ossibly have to help him   a lot     by  opening his mouth  ..such small kittens  dont know  what the bottle is...Good luck  and   id also suggest to call the vet and  ask them whats the best  you can do...
 

Sarthur2

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It's great the kitten is gaining! I hope it continues. [emoji]128522[/emoji]
 
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