Kitten crying??

sapling

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I posted another thread here about the kittens in general, but I am worried about one kitten so I am posting for advice - I went in to weigh them tonight and one of them was crying and crying REALLY loudly. When I picked him up he squealed harder. I stimulated his bottom with a towel because I was worried mom hadn't and he peed a lot, but he continued crawling around and crying. Mom was pretty well ignoring him so I put her in the box and got her to lie down so he could nurse. He did that for a bit and seemed pretty happy, but after about a minute he let go and started crying again.

I decided to go ahead and weigh him and he's only gained .05 oz. since yesterday. Everyone else has gained at least .4! I am really worried about the little guy but I have no clue what is going on. It's 1:30am here! Does anyone have any ideas??
 
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sapling

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He looks like he's fallen asleep now finally, but I am still a little worried because of the lack of weight gain. He wasn't the runt but now he is tied with the runt in weight because he didn't gain any!.

For now I will let him sleep but not sure what to do when he wakes up if he's still crying. I have tried feeding them from a bottle and they just refuse to take the nipple (one of them sucked all over my palm but just pulled her head back when her lips hit the bottle, sigh lol)
 

bluebells belly

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Hi, I would check the weight of all of them again and see how much less he weighs. If it's a significant amount you will have to keep trying with a bottle. Failing that i would ask the vet, he made need to be fed by tube. Can you see mums milk if you gently squeeze her nipple? How many other kittens are there?
 
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sapling

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There are 7 kittens total - he weighs 5.5 and the largest is a little over 7 oz, so he's not incredibly far behind (the runt weight 5.45), but I'm still concerned.. he is still asleep, and spent a little time suckling so maybe he was just having a bad night.

I read something online about how kittens can be born with anuses that don't connect to their bowel, and I think I've been permanently traumatized because anytime anything is wrong I'm convinced that's the problem and they're going to die horribly. But I don't think any of them could have survived 8 days without taking a single poo.. right??
 

bluebells belly

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He would have poo'd by now. The mother seems to clean them up quickly! I am like you i read something and then get completely paranoid and decide that it is actually happening. Two of my new babies seem to sleep a lot and sometimes aren't with the mother at all. It crosses my mind to feed them with a bottle but they are gaining weight just not as much as the other 3. I suppose we all have different appetites so i'm thinking it must be the same for kittens!! I will never stop worrying and i don't expect you will either. How many days are they?
 
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sapling

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They are 8 days old now. Since there are 7 and mom is small I have been super paranoid about everything! (First, I thought Mom would try to kill a couple of them. Then, that she would do it accidentally. After that, I became convinced Mom had a fever and wasn't going to nurse the babies. Found a baby that was sleeping soundly, scooped him up, and freaked out for the 3 seconds before he stretched and rolled over. Read something that says any kitten under 90grams at birth will probably die (my runt was about 80 grams). And the entire time I've been desperately searching for kitty poos which are always mysteriously absent.)

They gotta get bigger soon or I'm going to have a heart attack! If any of them actually get sick I don't know what'll happen
 

jlutgendorf

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As far as seeing kitten poos, I didn't see any from our 5 until the little buggers were about 6 or 7 weeks old and mom was tired of "clean up" duty. She should be getting it all as she cleans and stimulates them so it's normal not to see any.

If you watch closely when she bathes them, you may be able to see them peeing before she gets it all. I saw it a few times, but no poos!

you may want to try supplimenting your loud kitten with a dropper or small needelless syringe so you can force a very small amount of formula out for them to get a taste and then s l o w l y drip it into its mouth. (don't go too fast or you can get formula into its lungs, which is obviously not good.)

I think this site has good info about bottle feeding if you feel it's neccisary. www.kitten-rescue.com

~Julia
 

bluebells belly

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Originally Posted by sapling

They are 8 days old now. Since there are 7 and mom is small I have been super paranoid about everything! (First, I thought Mom would try to kill a couple of them. Then, that she would do it accidentally. After that, I became convinced Mom had a fever and wasn't going to nurse the babies. Found a baby that was sleeping soundly, scooped him up, and freaked out for the 3 seconds before he stretched and rolled over. Read something that says any kitten under 90grams at birth will probably die (my runt was about 80 grams). And the entire time I've been desperately searching for kitty poos which are always mysteriously absent.)

They gotta get bigger soon or I'm going to have a heart attack! If any of them actually get sick I don't know what'll happen
I read that mum can lie on the kittens and accidently kill them! so i'm checking on them all of the time, infact i'm getting exhausted because i can't sleep properly. I am certainly more tired than mummy cat
 

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sapling, have you tried helping him to latch on to a different nipple? Kittens often have a favourite nipple and if this little one has been 'left out' with a nipple that isn't supplying as much milk, he may get discouraged when he tries to nurse.
 
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sapling

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He seems to like the nipple right under her armpit, which is a pain to get to because well, she has her arm down most of the time. He CAN get to it, but I think it takes longer.

If I attach him anywhere else, not a happy little camper.
 
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sapling

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Originally Posted by Bluebells Belly

I read that mum can lie on the kittens and accidently kill them! so i'm checking on them all of the time, infact i'm getting exhausted because i can't sleep properly. I am certainly more tired than mummy cat
I was the same exact way the first 3 days - I only slept about an hour at a time. I fell asleep sitting up in a chair next to their box several times accidentally.

Day 4 rolled around, no one was died, or smushed, and everyone was gaining weight.. I finally started sleeping 3 hours at a time and they were ok. Now I'm a bum and only check on them once during the night.
 
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sapling

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OK, now the kitten who only gained .05 last night has gained .35, but another kitten didn't gain any weight! Am I just paranoid?? Is a one-day nongain normal? Is mom running out of milk? (I squeezed one of her nipples and a little milk appeared, but maybe not all the teats are getting it?) I don't want anything to happen to the kitties.
 

michelle mayall

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one of my babies lost 3 grams in one day i have been giving him a few feeds every day just to build him up they are all active and thriving so im not worried its only been the last 2 nights that ive gone to bed myself lol
 
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sapling

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I'm not sure - it looks like they 'about' have doubled their weight but I didn't get the first weigh till 48 hours after their birth, so it's a guesstimate..
 
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sapling

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I just tried bottlefeeding them again and they are having none of it. They won't even consider putting it in their mouths, much less sucking on it. I've been squeezing it a tiny bit to get a bit on the tip, then dabbing it on their lips, and they'll lick it up but they still refuse to take the bottle.


Someone mentioned feeding with a dropper.. possibly would work, but their heads weave around so much I'm not sure how I would ever get it in their mouth.. I think I'd end up with kittens with milk all over their faces.

Also they just cry and cry and cry whenever I pick them up and take them away from mom - they never seem to get over it! After 10 minutes max I usually put them back because they seem so upset. I've been handling them since they were born, but they still don't seem used to me at all.. it seems like they are too busy trying to crawl away to even think about nursing on the bottle.
 

bluebells belly

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A couple of my kittens are smaller than the others, i try to put the smaller ones to the mothers nipple but they seem really dim and don't suck. The weird thing is when they want it they get it and i often see them suckling happily. Your babies may be full so don't want the bottle. You sound like me i'm so besotted with them that i keep handling them and to be honest i don't think they like it much!!!If they have near doubled their weight i think that they'll be fine. How much does the smallest weigh?
 
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sapling

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Originally Posted by Bluebells Belly

A couple of my kittens are smaller than the others, i try to put the smaller ones to the mothers nipple but they seem really dim and don't suck. The weird thing is when they want it they get it and i often see them suckling happily. Your babies may be full so don't want the bottle. You sound like me i'm so besotted with them that i keep handling them and to be honest i don't think they like it much!!!If they have near doubled their weight i think that they'll be fine. How much does the smallest weigh?
Hehe that just made me laugh - I have been sticking them up to mom's nipple and the internal (and sometimes external) dialogue is something like: "C'mon! Just suck! No what are you doing? Don't suck on his face! C'mon the nipple! Your lips are touching it! Why do you want to suck on his face?! No stop sucking on your foot! The nipple! ... Did you just fall asleep? He just freaking fell asleep on the nipple..." *rub gently with finger to wake them up* "No.. no don't cry.. just please suck.. oh god don't cry.. ok go back to sleep.. back to sleep.. just stop.. shrieking.. sleep.. sleep.."

The smallest is between 5.5 and 6 oz.. I forget exactly, would have to run get my notes. I think it was 5.85 though.

I just keep reading the other posts on this forum about kittens dying (and made the big mistake of going to the 'Crossing Over' forum which I can see usually being a really great spot but was an exercise in paranoia for me with all the kittens).

I went and checked everybody for a flat chest.. poor little kitten mentioned somewhere else on this forum who died of that.
I don't think they have a flat chest (I'm assuming it would be well.. somewhat obvious if you're looking for it.. or at least, pretty flat..) And no one seems to have a fever, or funny bumps in their tummies, or red runny eyes, or infected feet... everyone is dragging themselves around on their bellies, and shrieking at high volume, (and dragging themselves inside the bowl of the plunger but we won't talk about that.. man am I glad Momma cat is on the job bathing).
 

bluebells belly

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You're so funny i think i've just wet my self, silly bugger!!

I also read about the flat chest( poor little thing and so awful for the owner) and YES you guessed it! i checked each and every one of them.

I haven't noticed the cross over forum but i dare say i will pay it a visit now and completely depress myself for the rest of the day.
 

bluebells belly

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Originally Posted by Bluebells Belly

You're so funny i think i've just wet my self, silly bugger!!

I also read about the flat chest( poor little thing and so awful for the owner) and YES you guessed it! i checked each and every one of them.

I haven't noticed the crossing over forum but i dare say i will pay it a visit now and completely depress myself for the rest of the day.
I have found the crossing over forum.. Wish i hadn't now!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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