Does Midnight's mouth look odd to you? Sickly kitten question/pic.

Midnight is smaller than his brothers. He has a virus, including some sneezing, and possibly mild diarrhea. He was seen by a vet, but I hadn't noticed that his mouth appears a little different than the others until after the visit.

It looks normal inside, not a cleft palate or anything, but on the outside-all the other kits have a line straight down from their nose, then the two sides of the mustache area separate at the mouth. Midnight's seems to separate from the nose.

Have any of you seen this? Is this just a normal kitten, or is this interfering with his ability to nurse? I'm posting a link so I can keep the pic BIG!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/.../122705199.jpg

I did try once to supplement with KMR, but he refused. Now we are just observing the nursing, and trying to distract or play with the strongest littermate to allow Midnight a better chance to nurse at 2-3 feedings per day. When weighed at the vets, Midnight weighed 0.6 lb, the others weighed 0.8 lb, and the big orange brother weighed 1.1 lb!

Any advice is appreciated. The foster agency has offered to take Midnight and bottle feed him, but my feeling is that he is better with CoCo. Another option is to move them all to someone else who isn't working full time, so they can spend more time with the family...but CoCo is kind of "pissy", and while sweet and purry at times, has been known to bite or even attack when she feels the kits are threatened. So I think maybe just staying here will be best for all concerned.

Thanks!

well, he looks like a kitten that has been nursing to me, sometimes I have seen the lips look a little different with thinner fur bc of the suckling. But I am not expert, just a guess.

Another view.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y6/.../122705201.jpg

Well I still think it just looks like a nursing kittens mouth with a little thinner hair where the skin rubs against the mothers from nursing.

Thanks. It is hard to see in a pic, but even when his mouth is shut, it is like you see a tiny bit of his gums just under his nose. It is probably normal, but his siblings mustache area comes down lower and covers their gums totally.

I may be overly worried, since I lost 3 kittens from my last litter of 5 . And they seemed to be very healthy and totally normal!

Thanks for the opinion. I sure hope he will be ok. He is smaller than the others, and sneezes more often, but he is very active, so I think he is doing ok for now.

I was hoping some other people would comment too, just for a second opinion. It doesn't look like anything is wrong to me, it is hard to tell in a picture though. I have a cat who is an adult who is bald around her lips, I just thought she was unique.

Keep a close eye on the sneezy kitten, they can deterioriate so quickley. If it keeps up you might want to run him to the vet. the other kittens may catch the sneeze too eventually.

Are you a breeder or is this a rescue cat?

LOL this isnt any input on your question but i had to comment on the second link! It reminds me of homer and bart simpson when homer is choking Bart! She has her little paw on your hand like she is trying to pry yours off her neck!!

Please be careful that the sneezing isn't the start of cat flu. In kittens it can kill, and even good vet care sometimes isn't enough. It also affects their eyes and can lead to ghastly eye ulcers which can lead to blindness. If you're in any doubt whatsoever, please take your kitten to the vet. If she gets a clean bill of health it will put your mind at rest (and check out her mouth too), and if not, then the earlier treatment is started, the better.

Not an expert here, either, but Midnight looks normal to me.
He is adorable, btw.....can I have him?

I looked more closely at those pics, and I do see what you are referring to with his upper lip.
You said it seems that he is nursing normally? As long as he is doing that and growing normally, I suppose it may just be a unique feature.
I look forward to someone with more knowledge answering your questions, as I am curious now, too!

LOL! No, no, I am definitely not breeding black moggies! Although they are very precious to me, I foster only! LOL!
He was seen by my vet, who just said it is a virus and needs to run its course. If they get worse, I will take them in, but otherwise I won't. I know it is very dangerous for the little ones, and am hoping they all do ok. He does nurse, but sometimes seems to be the last one to latch on. The big orange boy nurses kind of spread eagle, like he is saving the faucets next to him in case he is still hungry! LOL! I wish I had a scale so I could keep weighing to ensure Midnight is growing. The rest are definitely growing faster than he is...

And I do not choke my babies! LOL! But they do not like to be turned upside down and examined. They crawl all over me, but don't want me to be in charge. And such long picky claws! I may have to start trimming soon!

I don't know if I mentioned they have fleas and worms, too. They will be old enough this weekend to treat, so that is the plan. I think that will help them all a lot, too. I guess the next person who asks my New Years Eve plans, I'll say "Worm 11 cats!"

He really looks normal and healthy to me. The only thing I noticed in the second picture is that he might be a little pale. Did the vet mention anything about this? It's a hard thing to judge from a picture but you could compare the color of his gums with his siblings'.

*edit*

Never mind, I just saw your previous reply. I think flea anemia is definitely part of the problem. Flea anemia can be deadly, especially for a kitten who is already somewhat weak and debilitated.

Midnight remains active, but the other kittens are definitely growing quicker. I bought some powdered kitten formula, and cut a bigger hole in the nipple, and he did take 1 ounce last night after work, another ounce at bedtime, and an ounce this morning. I mixed the rest into the kitten chow, as the babies are showing signs of interest in the food. (Like the big orange kitten, who I think we will call Gold Rush, who actually ate a dry kibble!)

I posted some newer pics on the furpics forum. I'll get more up this weekend. They are such little dolls, but with slow dial-up it takes forever to get the pics on photobucket! DH got me a digital camera for Christmas, now I want high speed internet and photo software! LOL!

Ohh Im just seeing this.
I think he is just adorable.
Maybe we should p.m Hissy and see what she thinks.

Anyways, Im happy he is growing.
As for Gold Rush... that sounds like one of Lilos babies that we named "Spicy". Which I found that name appropriate for her because she had such a "spicy" cat-ittude. She was always the biggest and always did everything first. And its funny that you mentioned Gold Rush spreading eagle to block the others path to the "food supply" because that is exactly what she would do.
Ohhhh I am now remembering all the fun (yet hard) times we had while raising LILOs kittens. And they all went to wonderful homes, which made it even more rewarding. And of course the runt (Petals) stayed with us.
Please keep us posted (as I know you will) on their progress.

Ya know what.... I was just loving on Lilo here on my computer desk and out of curiosity I looked at her mouth and hers is just the same!!!
it really is. I will try and get a picture of it.

I found this in the Furpics forum of your 3 Stooges! LOL! It really does look the same! So I will quit worrying about Midnight's little mouth, and just keep an eye on the sneezes and small size. Festie was the runt, too, and she is just fine. But they were never sick as babies.



Thanks so much, you have no idea how relieved I feel right now!

Originally Posted by Beckiboo

Thanks so much, you have no idea how relieved I feel right now!

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Oh you are so welcome!!!
And when she was close to me and I was looking at her mouth it was alot more than what it looks like in the picture.
So dont worry girlie!!

Originally Posted by Beckiboo

"Worm 11 cats!"

Click to expand...

LOL. I know that feeling

Over here in the UK Frontline Spot-on can be used on 3 week-old kittens (I think you can use it younger). My vet gave me Panacur Wormer for my last rescue kittens. Salem being greedy, lapped it up no problem. Great fun worming the cats. I always end up shredded