Question about Kittens

At what age are kittens past the red zone. In other words I know that most kittens that have serious physical problems die within a few days of birth. Does any one know how long it is until it you are past the age limit that you should not be afraid to wake up and find that a kitten has passes.
Is it two weeks or more?

meg, unfortunately, there is no real age. But once my kittens have reached 4 and then 6 weeks, I'm a lot more sure that they're going to be OK. Kittens can be fat and healthy at one or two weeks and then crash.

It's best not to go to bed with thoughts of a kitten possibly dying while you're asleep. Take each day as it comes, enjoy the beautiful newness of these little lives and rejoice in their reaching little milestones.

Just to add, if you weigh each kitten every day, at the same time each day, you will pick up on any problems. Weak or sick kittens will fail to gain weight or even begin to lose. A weight gain of between 10-20 grams a day (use a gram scale for accuracy) is normal.

Originally Posted by Kumbulu

Just to add, if you weigh each kitten every day, at the same time each day, you will pick up on any problems. Weak or sick kittens will fail to gain weight or even begin to lose. A weight gain of between 10-20 grams a day (use a gram scale for accuracy) is normal.

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This is great advice.

Also wanted to add, don't be horribly panicked if there is a day where one only gains like 7 grams, if you keep a chart you may see a huge jump the day after or the day before. It is not unusual to see some fluctuations. The key point is that they are gaining very day. And not consistently gaining only a few grams per day. I just supplemented the ones who may have had a small gain every day. Then again, I had a litter of 8, so I was extra concerned about weight gain.

I have a kitten diary on my website. It starts new with every litter and I update it almost everyday and I include weights. I have never had a kitten die and all of my kittens have grown into healthy companion cats. If you take a look at it you will see that on one day they can gain alot and on another they rest, it does fluctuate.

Thanks, I this is my second litter. I did lose one in my last litter to a heart murmur. I lost him at nine days old. I just dont want it to happen again.

72 hours is the first real milestone. But really, it's all in the individual kitten. As long as they are eating and gaining weight and seem to be thriving, you can be pretty certain that all is well. If one appears to be failing, he probably is failing.

A visit to the vet is always in order for a new litter to rule out any congenital problems.

He is not really failing. He is bigger then the average kitten at his age. He is just a little smaller then the others. Today he weights 165 grams. So he gained 20 grams in about two days.
I think I am just getting a little paranoid.

What matters isn't how big they are but if they're growing. As long as he's growing and eating he's doing fine.