Help! 2.5 week old kitten lost 9g over 3 days. Rest of litter gaining well.

Hi, Im really worried about one of my 2.5 week old foster kittens. Momma's been doing great with them and everyone has been consistently gaining well, but after 2 weeks I stopped weighing them every day. I just checked and while most have gained fairly well, one is down 9 grams since three days ago! I'll start supplementing, but I have a bad feeling about this. How much should I supplement and how often given that momma cat is in the picture, nursing, and seems to have a good milk supply? Does the kitten need to go to the vet? Could it be worms or something? Momma was found as a very pregnant stray and has shown no obvious signs of worms, although she is still very thin and I suppose could have contracted them before I found her. I was told to give her a dewormer just in case once the kittens were weaned.

T thescrappack

How many kittens are there?

I'm guessing this kitten is getting bullied off the nipples and not getting enough. Hopefully it's nothing more serious than that, and the kitten will regain the 9 grams and more over the next day or two.

Please begin supplementing right away with kitten formula. Give me the kitten's weight and I will tell you how much to supplement and how often.

Litter of 7. She was 287g, 293g now after I made sure she was nursing for a few hours. I tried bottle feeding her but she was really fighting so I just took the pushier kittens away and made sure she nursed for a while. She was formerly the biggest which is what has me worried that it's not just her getting pushed off. Momma cat just use the litter box though and there was some blood in her stool so now I'm rethinking worms. I'm not sure what to do. Is it safe to deworm a nursing cat? Anything to do for the kittens?? Could something else cause the blood in moms stool and kitten weight loss?

T thescrappack

With 7 kittens you need to rotate in groups of 4 and 3. You remove one group for 2 hours, then switch. You do this several times a day to make sure they all get ample time on a nipple. Put the 4 biggest together and the four smallest together.

Kittens with a mom won't take a bottle. You need to use a needleless syringe. Once they realize it's good stuff they usually go for it hungrily. Sometimes you need to wrap the kitten in a towel like a burrito to limit movement while feeding.

This kitten needs a minimum of 80-85 mLs of formula over the course of 24 hours to gain weight. If given every 4 hours that's about 14 mLs at each feeding if not nursing mom.

A lactating cat can be de-wormed safely. The blood could be from irritation in the intestines. Mom may need an antibiotic. Parasites can cause irritation, so mom may need treating for parasites. However, parasites usually cause diarrhea and smelly, semi-soft stools. Is this happening?

I still think the kitten is just not getting enough food. Others may not be getting enough either. 7 is a lot of kittens for mom to provide for, especially as they grow bigger.

You probably need to supplement. At least rotate during the day to give everyone a fair shot. And start weighing daily again so you know right away! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

She's not having issues with frequency, but I have noticed her stool is quite smelly and this one was semi soft (haven't really been able to tell others because she buries it in her clumping litter immediately after). I rotated today after seeing the one had lost weight, but momma gets really nervous when I take more than 2 away at a time. I'll keep trying and get a syringe for supplementing.

A friend was able to get a syringe at our local emergency vet for free! Also, if you know any good rescue groups, they likely can give you a few syringes if you explain to them the situation. A last resort would be a pharmacy, but those are probably too thick. I'm in the same boat with supplemental feeding a few out of a litter of six! Good luck. 

thescrappack said:

She's not having issues with frequency, but I have noticed her stool is quite smelly and this one was semi soft (haven't really been able to tell others because she buries it in her clumping litter immediately after). I rotated today after seeing the one had lost weight, but momma gets really nervous when I take more than 2 away at a time. I'll keep trying and get a syringe for supplementing.

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A common reason for such is worms.   And worms are expected with ex homeless (or even a home cat allowed to go out,  if he isnt dewormed regurarly).

She isnt heavy infested because no visible worms, but therefore not said she hasnt none.

but this means also, you will be forced to do good deworming of the kittens when they come into suitable age.  Not once, but perhaps thrice.

It sounds like deworming is in order. She may also need an antibiotic for intestinal bacteria that causes tummy upset and irritation resulting in bleeding.

Are you fostering for a rescue who works with a vet?

Yes, I'm fostering through a rescue but they are doing me a favor by accepting her (I usually foster dogs through them and found mom cat when she was pregnant and asked them if they could possibly help) so I was trying to avoid another vet trip if possible. The vet already had on file from her combo testing visit a dewormer prescriptin that I can just pick up. Do I need to bring her in in case she needs an antibiotic, or just start with dewormer?

Good news is the kitten having trouble gained 16g since her initial weight last night. So she's now up 7g since 4 days ago. Not great, but it's a good sign right? She's doing well nursing when I rotate but she's really fighting the syringe and I don't want her to choke. Is that a danger with syringe feeding? I was only able to give her about 1ml kmr this am, but she's been nursing so maybe she's full? Should I just let her nurse and focus on rotating kittens and supporting mama instead? Mom really loves KMR too. Is there any reason I can't let her have as much as she wants?

thescrappack said:

Yes, I'm fostering through a rescue but they are doing me a favor by accepting her (I usually foster dogs through them and found mom cat when she was pregnant and asked them if they could possibly help) so I was trying to avoid another vet trip if possible. The vet already had on file from her combo testing visit a dewormer prescriptin that I can just pick up. Do I need to bring her in in case she needs an antibiotic, or just start with dewormer?

Good news is the kitten having trouble gained 16g since her initial weight last night. So she's now up 7g since 4 days ago. Not great, but it's a good sign right? She's doing well nursing when I rotate but she's really fighting the syringe and I don't want her to choke. Is that a danger with syringe feeding? I was only able to give her about 1ml kmr this am, but she's been nursing so maybe she's full? Should I just let her nurse and focus on rotating kittens and supporting mama instead? Mom really loves KMR too. Is there any reason I can't let her have as much as she wants?

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Yes, its a danger. We cant deny it.  Especielly if not very experienced caretaker.  The problem is, the alternative - them not getting enough from momma is much worse.  some are alse bad sucklers, but can swallow OK.  So its a calculated risks, so to speak.

You can try to wrap her up as a burrito.  It helps some  

Another try is to use a little sponge, for example such one used for make up.  You drop the kmr / goats milk on it, baby suckles hopefully, and you continue to drop on with the syringe...   It works nicely  for some. 

Very experienced "half professional" rescuers feed them routinely by a tube into the stomach.  But this is dangerous if you dont exaclty know how to do it, and have the right gears...

StefanZ , If she's gaining well again just with rotating, is supplementing worth the risk of choking? (I've bottle fed cats and given liquid meds by syringe before but never substantial syringe feedings) She's up another 3 grams (with only a 1ml syringe feed) so a total of 19g in under 24 hours with very little supplementation.

thescrappack said:

@StefanZ, If she's gaining well again just with rotating, is supplementing worth the risk of choking? (I've bottle fed cats and given liquid meds by syringe before but never substantial syringe feedings) She's up another 3 grams (with only a 1ml syringe feed) so a total of 19g in under 24 hours with very little supplementation.

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If she gains nicely by rotating, you can try with this alone.  Weight her every 12 hours, till you know she is gaining nicely, minimum 6g a day, but preferably 10+ grams a day.

The kitten appears to be doing well with just nursing. Keep weighing and rotating to make sure all kittens are gaining daily.

Pick up the de-wormer and give it to mom. If you continue to see blood after she is wormed then you'll need to take her in for a checkup and antibiotics.

And no, mom should only have one dish a day of KMR. Too much can give her diarrhea.

Thanks all! I gave momma the dewormer and she seems to be doing better. Rotating kittens is going well, and everyone gained at least 12g a day the past few days without supplementing, so it looks like everyone's back on track! And the kittens are officially 3 weeks old now!

This is great to hear! [emoji]128077[/emoji]

At least 2 of my litter of 8 week old foster cats and mom have had some intermittent diarrhea for about a week, I assumed because they switched food abruptly a few times out of necessity over the past week or two. However a few days ago some sort of self limiting virus seemed to go through my house and my 2 dogs, Mom cat, and at least one of my kittens vommited several times over one night, and then appeared to get better. None of the dogs have vomited since, but today I noticed a few small piles of vomit in the kittens room, no idea from mom or kittens.

Everyone is acting totally normally, and all of the kittens are running around jumping, playing, tons of energy. However one kitten today had almost fully liquid diarrhea. Should I be concerned? Is a vet trip necessary at this point or just make sure everyone stays hydrated and keep a close eye now that they aren't switching food? The vomiting in conjunction with diarrhea has me nervous, but all signs seem to point to that it may be unrelated?

T thescrappack

Definitely make sure they stay hydrated. You can mix clear pedialyte in with their water bowls.

The diarrhea is worrisome. My concern is if there is a parasite causing this and does everyone need panacur and antibiotics.

Diarrhea can take an animal down quickly. I would err on the side of caution and consult with the vet.

How is everyone doing today?

No more diarrhea, but one of the kittens is dramatically smaller than the others and she's nibbling food and had a few licks of kmr, but not as much as any of the other kittens. She's really quite small comparatively, but running around playing acting pretty normal. I can't tell if she's just not eating when I'm around (of all the kittens she's the most shy and skittish) or if she's really eating so little. She's also the only one still nursing too, but momma seems unhappy about it and won't let her nurse very long. Should I syringe feed her KMR even though she's already 9 weeks?

It sounds like she's managing. Does she eat wet food?