KMR - questions

As mentioned in another thread my cat recently had 7(!) healthy kittens, however I've noticed one of them doesn't seem to be nursing as much as the others - I spend several minutes carefully directing his head towards the teat, and he'll finally latch on, but after a minute or two he'll seem to lose track of it and start hunting around again. (The others are like those vacuum cleaner infomercials that advertise picking up a bowling ball with the suction.) Also, because she has 7 kittens and is kind of a small cat, I want to make sure everyone is getting enough milk.

I'm interested in getting some KMR, but searching on the internet has me a little confused - is KMR ("Kitten Milk Replacement") a generic term, or an actual brand? Is it a recommended brand, well-considered as healthy, etc? I am planning to get the actual tins of liquid, not the powder, but I would hate to fill the little guys up on something not nutritious.

Also I see it is for sale at Walmart online (a plus because I would like to go pick up a tin or two tonight, and Wally World is 24/7) however on some websites people are saying the "cheap stuff from Walmart" isn't nutritious, etc. Are they talking about a different brand than KMR?

Any help/tips appreciated! I could ask the vet as well, but if I can get a good nutritious milk replacement that won't break the bank (I'm picturing 7 fat kittens sucking up tins and tins a day, though I hope Mom will take care of most of it). On the flipside, I'd rather have healthy kittens and be in the hole a dollar or fifty, than risk sickness or worse because I'm cheap!

I have used and like the Hartz brand of Kitten Replacer Milk but my preference is goat's milk. I do not like the "KMR" brand because in my experience, it can bind a kitten up or cause a major case of poopy butt real fast. Can you try instead to give this kitten some quality one-on-one time with mom by separating the other kittens while this one nurses? It is pretty important that the babies get the first 24 to 48 hours of mom's milk for the beneficial colostrum.

Well his problem doesn't seem to be so much that the other kittens are too pushy - they pretty much leave him alone as long as they have their own teat. But even when he has one in plain view with no competition, and has it in his mouth for about a minute, he seems to lose his grip on it, and start looking elsewhere.

human babies are the same way. sometimes that instict to suck just takes a little more time. Ive read that the first few feeds of the mothers milk is important..provides anitbodies etc. I have a 3 week old orphan kitten who for the first week I had him was taking KMR (the brand..has a pic. of an orange kitten on it) every 2-4 hours. he got poopie butt..but I expected that. He only had it about 5 days after I got him.

I dont have much experiance with tiny kittens but if he isnt gaining weight then supplement with KMR as needed.

Have you thought about making your own formula?There is a recipe on this site that is WONDERFUL for kits.I made it for my orphan babies and they did good on it.
My Vet has a slightly different one and I tried that one also.My babies loved them BOTH!!!

8 oz. can of evaporated milk

8 oz. water----I just filled up the evaporated milk can with water to measure that

1 tsp. of light Karo/corn syrup

1 large egg yolk

mix well and feed to the babies.
(I added a tsp of plain vanilla yogurt also)

good luck

I've been reading up a bit about colostrum - the one kitten did nurse some, just not as much as the others (a few times I successfully got him latched on to a teat). I'm sure more is better, but if he got a basic amount from at least 3-4 feedings (possibly/probably more, but that's all I can personally confirm in the last 24 hours) do you think he will be ok? How long will the mother produce colostrum? One site said 8 hours, another said 2 days.

Mom produces colostrum for 48-72 hours but the kittens intestines that absorb the colostrum start to shut down at 24 hours. So the first 24 hours is vital for absorption. It sounds like your baby got enough to be ok.