Furless Preemies Question

nitestar41

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Apr 22, 2005
Messages
3
Purraise
0
Location
Northern Reaches NY
Hi,

I joined today in the hopes that maybe someone can help me out. My cat went into labor about 2-3 weeks early, she is a small cat who had 6 kittens trying to grow in her, 4 of which had already passed by the time I found them. She gave birth to two more kittens and she wants nothing to do with them.

The one started to move alot just after birth the other is not as active so I went to the store and got a bottle and kitten formula. I have them tucked into a velour (lol) tank top for warmth and to add to the warmth I've put on another tanktop under a sweater and have them tucked in the tank tops Bra
part so they can feel my heartbeat. Since doing that the not so active one has started to move more and the other has become more active. The one active one has bit down and tried to suck on the bottle already but I'm still giving the other a couple drops every 5 minutes from a dropper.

I've never seen preemies survive this long so am hoping that maybe someone can tell me what more I can do. I have a heating pad in the box I've made up but am afraid to leave them alone for to long cause my older cats are extremely curious about them and the box looks comfy. I'm a little nervous and I know that their odds are low but I just feel like they are fighting hard for their lives... They were born between 9:30 am and 10:30 am today and now it is 3 pm and I'm just determined that if I can save them I will. Does anyone have any advice? I'm not a rescuer just someone who wants to save these babies if I can.

I saw the post of the other preemie kittens and I think that that they are incrediblly lucky... I'm just hoping mine stand a chance when all they have is a very light dusting of fur and me to care for them.

Any Advice would be greatly appreciated and I thank you in advance for any help :-D
 

gailc

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 18, 2004
Messages
11,567
Purraise
13
Location
Wisconsin
I've never had a litter of preemies, but I think you should keep them warm and fed-did you call a vet???
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

nitestar41

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Apr 22, 2005
Messages
3
Purraise
0
Location
Northern Reaches NY
Yes I spoke to a vet but they told me that since they are most likely that early not to hold out much hope.

I thought that the one was doing much better and then it was gone so that was a bit depressing but I also found out after it died that it hadn't been swallowing the formula at least not much of it... there were little strings of the formula in it's mouth and spots of it on it's tongue. I do know that the more active is swallowing because I watched him plus he's actually attaching himself to the bottles nipple not for long but he gets a little... he's sucking isn't strong enough to get much so I'm glad the botle is kinda like a dropper too (it's squeezable). My opinion is that as long as he keeps fighting I'll keep trying.

Thank You for the link am looking it over to see if I can use any of the information on it to help me out too.

I'll take anymore advice offered so if anyone can think of something :-D

I'm probablly hoping alot more then I should be but if I give up he might and I don't want that


TTYL
Leanna
 

hissy

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 19, 2001
Messages
34,872
Purraise
76
You need a special feeding nipple for your bottle, and you can get it through Walgreens or sometimes walmart. It has an elongated tube that allows the formula to get down the throat easier than just the standard bottle nipple. You can ask at the pharmacy, they sometimes keep it behind the counter.

You will need to be careful how much you feed the preemies and how fast. They will require feedings every 2 hours around the clock and in the meantime you need to keep them in a warm small box, away from any air currents or drafts. You should really "pouch" them, you can find the directions on the website given above.
 

kumbulu

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 6, 2002
Messages
4,338
Purraise
3
Location
Perth, Western Australia
Hi Leanna. I'm Tania and somehow I have a knack with preemies. As well as visiting the Kitten Rescue web site, please read this article about premature kittens and how to care for them.

This little one sounds very ill. Caring for preemies is an almost 24 hour a day job and even with the best of care, his chances are pretty slim, so please don't blame yourself if he doesn't make it. Good luck with the tiny one..
 
Top