Bottle Fed Baby

I have a two week old bottle fed bub and she seems to be crying an awful lot. We feed her (not too much as we had a bout of diarohea) and keep her warm and wash her, but she still seems to whinge a lot.

Is there something I'm missing that the mother cat would do that I'm not?

She moves around a lot and is getting bigger, but I want to make sure I'm doing the best I can.

Thanks

try giving the kitty some bene-bac pet gel, it's a concentrated source of live bacteria. It can help to alleviate your kitty's digestive disturbances most commonly displayed in the form of diarrhea. I'm knew with kittens too.. but maybe your kitty has an upset stomach, and is in a bit of pain?

Do you burp her after you feed her?

Yeah, I always burp her...She never seems to burp much but seems to stop crying when I burp her.

I would pouch her. Get a length of cord, an old pillow case, some soft towels. Fold the pillowcase down to form a soft pouch, place the soft towels on the bottom of the pillowcase- Measure the cord so that it can run under the fold of the pillowcase and around your neck and shoulders resting near your heart. Do a running stitch to keep the cord in place and tie off the ends around your neck. Place the pouch over her head, put the kitty inside, take a large flannel shirt and put that on, buttoning it up a bit, but not cutting off the air- Your kitty now has comfort (your beating heart) and warmth (your body warmth) and your company

Perhaps feed her a little more, she may be hungry. Also, try adding 1/4 teaspoon of full fat yoghurt to the first bottle of the day.

How often are you feeding her?

At the moment 4 times a day as recommended by her vet - She was crying last night and I fed her a little bit more and that seemed to calm her down - Made sure her tummy wasn't too full.

I will try the yoghurt.

Ah - that is the problem! She is hungry.

Kittens get hungry much faster than every 6 hours, and will cry if they feel hungry and are not fed because being hungry is uncomfortable. They will be able to eat adequately to sustain growth if fed 4 times a day, but realistically no one gets hungry on an exact schedule and it is not sensible to wait to feed a hungry kitten until the clock says it's time. It is much better to dilute the formula slightly rather than decreasing the frequency of feedings.

Kittens who are with their mamas nurse pretty much around the clock. That is normal for them. Bottle fed kittens do much better with frequent but relatively small feedings. It is better to dilute the formula a bit rather than decrease the frequency of feedings.

If the kitten is near you during the day, just follow her cues. Normally a kitten will eat, then sleep for 2-4 hours, then repeat the cycle. Let the kitten decide how much to eat. She will release the nipple when she has had enough. If she cries, offer her food. She'll eat if she is hungry and will refuse if she is not. Kittens will not overeat if they are allowed to regulate their own feedings.

I personally do let healthy kittens go for up to 6 hours overnight without a feeding as long as I am able to feed them pretty much on demand during the day.

She pretty much sleeps between feedings only really crying when I get her up. Inbetween she maybe will grizzle once or twice during the day. She seems to still cry after I have fed her and burped her...I was maybe wondering if it is a lonliness thing??

If I let her feed as much as she wants she gets nasty diahrea - Vet said she was feeding to much this way.

Does she settle down in a few minutes or does she seem restless?

You can dilute her formula with a bit of water or unflavored electrolyte replacement fluid (the main US brand is Pedialyte) so she can eat enough that her tummy feels full without adding extra actual food that may cause diarrhea.

Another thing to keep in mind is how fast she is growing. If you are feeding a strictly measured pre-calculated amount then you will need to re-calculate this amount on a pretty much daily basis to account for how quickly she is growing. What was plenty of food yesterday may not be enough today.

Yesterday she was bawling...I fed her regular amount, still wailing, fed her regular amount again, still wailing, fed her as much as she would accept...Seemed to calm down, wailing stop and only occasional grizzles. She was purring after that.

Maybe she just wants more food as she is growing? Her weight hasn't changed too much but will weigh her again today.

I'm worried there is something else that kittens cry for that I'm not providing. I try to give her out time, so she can crawl around to get her strength up but she just seems to want to crawl back to me and be cuddled - Will generally be quiet if I cuddle her with a blanket over her and then stroke her (although that didn't work when she was wailing last night)

ARGH!! I want to give the best to this kitten and I'm afraid I'm missing out on something!

I was recommended to not dilute formula - Says so on the formula container and also by the vet - Should I just try her with some water instead? I don't think we have pedialyte in Australia (and not sure we have anything like it). Is there a home remedy?

Thanks

Jane, are you using Wombaroo or Divetalact? Whichever it is, it's OK to dilute it if needed. We have pedialyte over here but it's easier to get hold of Gastrolyte (the plain, unflavoured one) and either add water to the liquid (1/2 and 1/2) or make up the powder with twice the amount of liquid as recommended (400ml I think). Here's a home-made version:

1 cup water (boiled then cooled)
Small pinch of baking soda
Small pinch of Salt
2 teaspoons of sugar

Mix all ingredients well. Make sure the mixture has been slightly warmed before feeding to your kitten. The mixture will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Also, are you using methods to warm her? Do you have a ticking clock under her bedding and soft toy to cuddle up to? Here's a link to some easy methods for creating warmth for Portia: http://www.kitten-rescue.com/cold_kitten.html

If her weight hasn't changed too much, she most likely needs more formula.

At birth, weight should be approx 85-100g and feed 24ml per day.

At age 1 week weight should be approx. 150g and feed 32ml per day.

At age 2 weeks, weight should be approx. 200g.and feed 56ml per day

At age 3 weeks, weight should be approx. 285g and feed 80ml per day.

At age 4 weeks weight should be approx. 370g and feed 104ml per day.

At age 5 weeks, weight should be approximately 450g and feed 130ml if not yet weaned.

By the end of the 8th week, kittens should weigh approximately 1Kg.
I know my kittens are doing well if the weight matches the age multiplied by 100 eg. 4 weeks-400g.

Originally Posted by jane_vernon

I was recommended to not dilute formula - Says so on the formula container and also by the vet - Should I just try her with some water instead? I don't think we have pedialyte in Australia (and not sure we have anything like it). Is there a home remedy?

Thanks

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Pedialyte is electrolyte replacement solution. It is what you might give a child who has diarrhea in order to prevent dehydration. You probably have something similar.

Diluting the formula is helpful for diarrhea, but should only be done a tiny amount and for as short a time as necessary. It is better to slightly dilute the formula than to let her fill up on water and maybe not be hungry for a feeding.

If she settles down when you feed her more, then she is not getting enough to eat. A well fed kitten purrs and settles down to sleep right away. That's what you are going for.

In general, kittens are not as fragile as we fear. They do not need to be on regimented schedules and feedings. If it comforts them, then it's probably a good thing for them. There isn't a need to over-think things.

semiferal, you're right about kittens not needing completely regimented schedules and feeding but it's important that people who aren't all that familiar with caring for an orphaned or abandoned kitten, understand approximately how much and how often kittens need feeding and how much weight the kitten should be gaining.

Cool, thanks guys!

I have been feeding her extra and that seems to be doing the trick so far. Diarrhea has stopped now!! Yay! And she is doing pretty solid poos (But I'm a bit worried that she is now going the other way a bit and is a little constipated)

I am feeding her Biolac which was recommended to me, as her original formula was not very good and was giving her the diarrhea.

I think too now, that she wants to move around a lot more as she is getting bigger and can walk reasonably well (still wobbling and back legs not very coordinated yet).

Kumbulu, thanks for that recipe I will try it.

I'm not too inexperienced with cats in general, but really young kittens are new to me. I appreciate all your help and have taken all messages on board. I will keep you posted as to her progress.

She loves snuggling with my fiance!! If she is grizzling (after being fed of course) I put her with him and she snuggles up and falls to sleep!! Doesn't sleep on me!!! Hmmm....She must know I'm the gravy train and so cries to me to get fed! Cheeky little thing (Gees, they are cheeky even after 2 weeks!)

After having diarrhea for a while, it's not unusual for a kitten to go 2-3 days without a poop. Give it another day or two and see what happens. If she still doesn't go, there's a section on kitten-rescue about it here http://www.kitten-rescue.com/vomitti...stipation.html

And yes, they definitely have individual personalities very early on, whether cheeky or not!

Originally Posted by Kumbulu

semiferal, you're right about kittens not needing completely regimented schedules and feeding but it's important that people who aren't all that familiar with caring for an orphaned or abandoned kitten, understand approximately how much and how often kittens need feeding and how much weight the kitten should be gaining.

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Oh, absolutely! I still go by the charts that tell how much a kitten should be eating per day and what is considered a normal weight for a particular age, and I've been doing this for a while now.

My point was more that the charts and recommended schedules are there to serve us and the kitten, not the other way around. We shouldn't be a slave to the schedule and not feed an obviously hungry kitten just because the schedule says he shouldn't eat for another hour or the chart says he's already had enough milk for this feeding. All living creatures are dynamic and guidelines are there to give us an idea of what to expect rather than a list of rules to be strictly followed.

She has been pooping pretty well today - I just fed her and then she did two giant poops (Well, the were about 1/4 inch wide!!) but she needed a little assistance as I had to stimulate her pretty well for her to push them out, and the last one I kind of pulled out.

They are moist poop, not dry so she is not too constipated - But I think she will nearly be weeing and pooping on her own soon!!!