small kitten

catfish

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I have kittens that are 12 days old and all are doing fine, eyes open moving around, but 1 is much smaller than the others. Is this normal or should I be worried?
 

tnr1

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Originally Posted by catfish

I have kittens that are 12 days old and all are doing fine, eyes open moving around, but 1 is much smaller than the others. Is this normal or should I be worried?
Being small isn't a concern in itself...you may want to give him some "extra" by feeding him some KMR (which you can buy at local petstores).

Katie
 

gayef

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Is the little baby getting enough to eat? As momof3rugrats has pointed out, the best way to tell is to weigh the babies at the same time each day on a little kitchen (or other) type scale that weighs in both grams and ounces. If you aren't seeing a steady upwards weight progression in this little one, then it may be she isn't receiving her fair share of nurishment and should be supplemented.

Sometimes, kittens are just small - it may not always mean there is a problem, but it is best to make certain. Weigh all of the babies and chart their progress to get a better idea of what's happening.
 

celestialrags

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Originally Posted by catfish

I have kittens that are 12 days old and all are doing fine, eyes open moving around, but 1 is much smaller than the others. Is this normal or should I be worried?
Lots of times pregnant cats will breed with different males or a different times. The kittens born that were bred at the later side of it will be "younger" The kitten is probley just on the small side from being concieved later then the others. She will probley do fine, most "runts" are fine, but... you should keep an eye on her and weigh her to be sure she is gaining, once the littler ones start to loose weight they tend to get dehydrated and go down hill fast.
 

momof3rugratz

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Also if the eyes are open then this little one is a fighter and doesnt plan to go anywhere. Also could be like us some are just different
Makes them special.
 
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catfish

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I don't understand what happened. I went to the store yesterday and got some KMR. I tried feeding the kitten but he just wouldn't suck from the bottle, I even tried just getting him to lick some off my finger. He was so strong and just kept pushing the bottle away so I figured he just wanted his mommy. I gave him back to the mother cat and watched him the rest of the day to make sure he was eating, and he was, even moving around and everything. But when I woke up this morning he was dead! What could have happened!? Everyone is so upset, we really thought he would do OK, he seemed healthy except being a little small.
 

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Sometimes there is just something wrong with the babies. I once lost 3 from a litter of 5 apparently healthy kittens! Although the first one passed at 2-3 days old, the other two were 6 and 7 weeks (I think). They seemed perfectly healthy and strong, but something happened.

With my current (foster) litter, I am weighing everyone every 1-2 days, so if there is any loss I can catch it early. I have one that was tinier at birth, but it has been gaining steadily, so I know it is thriving.

With the three I lost, I took the third to the vet to have a necropsy done. They found nothing wrong. It was an apparently healthy kitten, and they didn't find the reason for its death. It was born to an experienced queen (3 litters in 6 months), who was an attentive Mom. In fact, both the older deceased kittens had lick marks in their fur, where their Mom Sugartoes had been trying to awaken them.

It is very heartbreaking to lose a baby. However, your kitten spent its entire life with its Mom and siblings, warm and feeling safe. And now, it will be a member of your family forever. I have little angels buried in my yard. Although their lives were short, they were happy during that time, and knew their Momma's love. As did your little one.
 
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catfish

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Thank you, I guess I just thought there was something more I could have done. I thought that as they got older I would be in the clear, but you said you lost a couple when they were older. I hope we don't lose any more, I don't think my kids could handle it, they were very upset since they have already named them all.
 

beckiboo

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Yeah, it is pretty heartbreaking for the kids to lose a baby. When I was thinking of giving up fostering after Sugartoes lost her 3rd kitten, it was because I was afraid of the longterm effects on my kids, age 6 and 10. (I also have a 17 y/o, and 22 y/o...but that's another story! LOL!) DH pointed out that kids have been growing up on farms for years, and losing animals, and they grow up ok.

I think there was a problem with Sugartoes...like I said, she had 3 litters in 6 months. Her last litter before she was turned over to the rescue, she had in the rafters of the home, and either they all died, or only one survived. Unfortunately, having a litter of kittens isn't always easy. However, My first foster litter was with Festus, and they all grew up, although I lost her sister Mattie to a disease (FIP) at about 5-6 months. The next litter was Sugartoes, then I had one named CoCo. I got her and her 5 kittens when they were 2 weeks old. All five grew up healthy and strong...despite catching colds, having sniffles and eye gunks. One baby needed to be formula supplemented at about 4 weeks. And now my girl Sarabi has 6 who all seem fine. They are 2-1/2 weeks old.

I hope the rest of your babies do just fine.
 

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When Deja Vu had her kittens, even though it was my 2nd time, I did extensive research (which I didn't have the chance to do 15 years ago, that one just came in from the street, ate, lay down, and had 7 kittens). This new cat looked so much like the one 15 years ago, that's why I named her Deja Vu.

Anyway, out of the 7, the next morning I found one dead. I rushed them all to the vet, hoping it wasn't something contagious. He checked them all and said they were fine, then felt the kitten I had lost and said it just didn't feel right inside. I wouldn't have known what to look or feel for. He said sometimes one is just not born right, and it's not anything anyone did or could have prevented.

When Deja Vu had her kittens (5 this time), there was one that was small, but I also began to notice after a few hours that she wasn't eating either.

I frantically got on the web, and based on everything I had read, and what I could do for makeshift in the house, I made a temporary KMR homemade mix (not recommended for more than a day, 2 at the most), and used the end of a very rounded chopstick which seemed the size and shape of the mom's nipples. I dipped that in the mixture, and tried very gently to get the kitten to suck on it. I stayed up all night trying and trying, at about 1/2 hour intervals. At one point suddenly she opened her mouth and made a really loud smacking sound, and the sucking instinct kicked in (it hadn't before). In fact, this was something I only found described on one site (there may be others, but I didn't find it). Luckily, it worked and she pulled through, but it could have easily gone the other way. But before you think you could have done something like that, read on....

I told you that story to tell you this one. When I was doing the research there was one thing just about every site said, and they all said it in almost exactly the same words.

And that was that sometimes, no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, kittens sometimes die. It's a fact of life, and a downside of a very joyous experience. They can die within a day or two of being born, up to even 2 weeks later for absolutely no reason that we can see.

You shouldn't feel guilty. If the other kittens are prospering, growing and are healthy. then you are doing the right things. As someone already pointed out, there is little you can do if mother nature has not cooperated. Even humans have SIDS. It just happens, and the best way to handle it, in my opinion, is, as sad as you feel, put your attention on the kittens that are healthy and strong and surviving. That's what the mother cat does.
 
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catfish

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Wow, thank you for those stories. I am still feeling a little guilty, but I am taking your advice and focusing on the kittens that are still with us. We have bought a scale now and I am weighing them faithfully everyday. So far they are all still thriving. I feel like the other one getting small just kind of snuck up on me. One day everything was fine and the next it seemed all the kittens had grown huge but that one. Maybe if I had been weighing them I would have noticed the subtle change sooner. No more mistakes with that though I have a growth chart for each kitten now, I don't care how obsessive my family thinks that is.
 
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