I've asked
catwoman707
for advice here. This situation is not normal. This baby should be thriving.
catwoman707
for advice here. This situation is not normal. This baby should be thriving.-
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cold kitten
- Thread starter kaybellee
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Doesn't sound good to me.
At 5 weeks old this kitten should be thriving, spunky, alert, bright eyed and a round full tummy.
I read through this thread and honestly, I think this kitten is suffering from lack of food over a period of time, and it's catching up to him.
I can't see and hold him to tell you how far gone or at what point he is at, but the bottom line is, it's time to do anything and everything you possibly can to save his life.
Stop counting on mom to feed, this is clearly not working. I pretty much skimmed over some of the thread to get to answering or advising asap, but I'm assuming this kitten was bottle fed and is used to that?
You must start feeding him right now before it's too late, and it may already be, I can't know as I said with out seeing for myself.
Vets are no help with young kittens, at least the majority of them.
So it's up to you to do your best to save him.
Do you have KMR? It doesn't m,atter if he doesn't want to eat, to me he is trying to check out, that is not an option, so please say you will get busy and feed right now.
If he refuses the bottle which he likely will, you need to syringe feed. Slowly but get that volume in his tummy so it's full.
At 5 weeks old this kitten should be thriving, spunky, alert, bright eyed and a round full tummy.
I read through this thread and honestly, I think this kitten is suffering from lack of food over a period of time, and it's catching up to him.
I can't see and hold him to tell you how far gone or at what point he is at, but the bottom line is, it's time to do anything and everything you possibly can to save his life.
Stop counting on mom to feed, this is clearly not working. I pretty much skimmed over some of the thread to get to answering or advising asap, but I'm assuming this kitten was bottle fed and is used to that?
You must start feeding him right now before it's too late, and it may already be, I can't know as I said with out seeing for myself.
Vets are no help with young kittens, at least the majority of them.
So it's up to you to do your best to save him.
Do you have KMR? It doesn't m,atter if he doesn't want to eat, to me he is trying to check out, that is not an option, so please say you will get busy and feed right now.
If he refuses the bottle which he likely will, you need to syringe feed. Slowly but get that volume in his tummy so it's full.
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- #23
He was fed for the first 2-3 weeks by mum then i started noticing that he getting slow and wasnt getting a full tummy at that time I started bottl3 feeding him and he was accasionally feeding off mum also, im still bottle feeding but im trying to still have him be with mum so he does feed off her also
His tummy his full and right now his walking arounr normal after a feed,
He goes through stages where in the morning hr will be lathargic and will hardly move or open his eyes so i feed him and hold him on a hot water bottle on me and pat his head untill he comes too.
His so small it just scares me, i dont want to loose him and i know that may be what happens but i want to do the most i can so i know i tried my hardest.. his made it to 5 weeks now with me feeding cleaning and spending every spare second with him
Its just hard to see him go down hill so quickly without knowing whats wrong
His tummy his full and right now his walking arounr normal after a feed,
He goes through stages where in the morning hr will be lathargic and will hardly move or open his eyes so i feed him and hold him on a hot water bottle on me and pat his head untill he comes too.
His so small it just scares me, i dont want to loose him and i know that may be what happens but i want to do the most i can so i know i tried my hardest.. his made it to 5 weeks now with me feeding cleaning and spending every spare second with him
Its just hard to see him go down hill so quickly without knowing whats wrong
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As was said above, it sounds like you need to make sure he's eating more frequently. How much and how often are you bottle feeding?
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If he's crying he's still hungry. Can you try feeding him more frequently?
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- #27
It depends on how much he is eating. He may need smaller meals more frequently until he is eating more. His stomach may be too small to hold enough food to wait 3 hours before feeding again. Do you know how much he weighs? Multiple that in ounces by 8ml and that is how much he needs in a day. As he gains weight the amount will increase.
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Since he is failing to thrive I would feed him every two hours in smaller amounts.
Can you post a picture of him please?
Hi,
I am going to jump in here...
I have had orphaned, feral kittens with "Failure to Thrive." And the "Deep Sleep" state you describe.
The vet NEVER figured out WHY they would not wake up from a "Coma like" state.
As per my Vet - I would rub them vigorously with a towel to stimulate them awake.
That will "revive a kitten" from cold, and many other things.
They were limp and unresponsive - and scared the you know what out of me!!
They were tested for Thyroid, Diabetes, etc. The vet could not figure out what or why they would not wake up. During this "deep sleep", they would let out a low growl, like they were dreaming.
I would pick them up and I was "Yelling" at them and carefully shaking them! with NO RESPONSE. THEY WERE AS LIMP AS IF THEY WERE DEAD. Just picking one up and/or yelling SHOULD HAVE HAD THEM AWAKE AND ALERT.
Finally they would let out a growl and WAKE UP from what seemed a very deep sleep, almost a coma. I never lost one because of this - but it sure scared me.
One kitten did it soooo often - I carried him in the "hand warmer" pouch of a sweat shirt, so I could keep a close eye on him.
I wondered if it was "Hypoglycemia", (Low Blood Sugar)" from not enough food.)
Sorry there is not much here to help you, but the good news is - one never died because of it.
Good luck and keep up the good work - He is still alive because of you.
Cindy
I am going to jump in here...
I have had orphaned, feral kittens with "Failure to Thrive." And the "Deep Sleep" state you describe.
The vet NEVER figured out WHY they would not wake up from a "Coma like" state.
As per my Vet - I would rub them vigorously with a towel to stimulate them awake.
That will "revive a kitten" from cold, and many other things.
They were limp and unresponsive - and scared the you know what out of me!!
They were tested for Thyroid, Diabetes, etc. The vet could not figure out what or why they would not wake up. During this "deep sleep", they would let out a low growl, like they were dreaming.
I would pick them up and I was "Yelling" at them and carefully shaking them! with NO RESPONSE. THEY WERE AS LIMP AS IF THEY WERE DEAD. Just picking one up and/or yelling SHOULD HAVE HAD THEM AWAKE AND ALERT.
Finally they would let out a growl and WAKE UP from what seemed a very deep sleep, almost a coma. I never lost one because of this - but it sure scared me.
One kitten did it soooo often - I carried him in the "hand warmer" pouch of a sweat shirt, so I could keep a close eye on him.
I wondered if it was "Hypoglycemia", (Low Blood Sugar)" from not enough food.)
Sorry there is not much here to help you, but the good news is - one never died because of it.
Good luck and keep up the good work - He is still alive because of you.
Cindy
Yes, every two hours isnt too often at all. In desperate cases even every hour may sometimes be tried too, if they dont manage to eat enough, and manage just a couple drops before they get tired.. Like may happen with prematures.
SneakyBlonde mentioned a couple of good advices alike carrying at the chest, warming up by wigorously rubbing on with a towel....
She mentioned they can sometimes get too low sugar in blood. This can be often seen by a kitten getting lethargic, seemingly downhill - hey, if not helped, they MAY get downhill in bad cases...
The trick to do is easy: smear glucose sugar on their lips / gum. Glucose sugar goes into blood alredy from the mouth, its not necessary to digest it at first. Thus, this can be done also on a kitten too cold to be able to digest properly.
The same trick may be tried on aware kittens, but too weak to nurse or suckle. Smear glucose sugar on lips / gum, and it gives some energy to work with.
Glucose sugar, brand name may be dextrose or dextropur or similiar. If you dont have it (it seems it may be hard to find in USA) white caro syrup is often used by rescuers. Glucose syrup should be good too. Even honey is useful, contains 50% glucose.
Glucose sugar is also a nice base for homemade pedialyte - so it pays to have it home.
Its ALSO a good diet sugar, you dont get fattened up by glucose sugar in the same way as from table sugar... But this is another story.
Common table sugar may also be used for reviving etc, but it takes much longer time, as it must be digested at first.
@kaybellee
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When he does the deep sleep i rub him with a blanket till he is awake but he usually stays asleep and just moves his tail around a bit and thats all it scares the hell out of me, i will try feeding him more often in smaller anmounts, is it okay if he doesnt drink it all? Latly his been going to sleep half way through,
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I hope some others will weigh in, but he doesn't sound or look well to me. His proportions look off. It's fine if he doesn't eat all the formula in a feeding. The point is to keep his blood sugar and his energy up consistently. Hopefully that will help him to strengthen and thrive.
Have you contacted a vet?
Have you contacted a vet?
Have you tried smearing a little light karo syrup or honey on his gums before you feed him? It will give some instant energy and her may be able to stay awake to eat more.
I agree, his proportions arent the most regular, so to speak. Unless he belongs to some local far far away breed, I would be normally alarmed by such looks.
As you discissed earlier in the tread if he may have food more often than every 3hours, I suspect he is undernourished, really being starved. (what is the word for someone starved as much as being thin?)
So, proceed with the feeding as often and as much you can manage. Btw, did you told exactly WHAT brand of kmr you do use?
Use some mild baby pedialyte for diluting the kmr-powder.
Can you possibly get raw goat milk? fresh or frozen - it could be an awesome alternative. bottled / cartooned / powdered goat milk are too useful, better than for example some inferior brand of kmr - but not the same excellency as raw goat milk.
@kaybellee
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- #39
Ive taken him to my vet and he gave me the formula and bottle but he said there wasnt much else he could do
That was when he was around 2 or 3 weeks old
Ill try smearing a tiny bit of honey on his gums
I know he doesnt look too well at the moment, his development doesnt look right at 5 weeks from what ive seen but he is up and walking around this morning after some of his first feed so ill feed him again in an hour
Thankyou all for all this advice
That was when he was around 2 or 3 weeks old
Ill try smearing a tiny bit of honey on his gums
I know he doesnt look too well at the moment, his development doesnt look right at 5 weeks from what ive seen but he is up and walking around this morning after some of his first feed so ill feed him again in an hour
Thankyou all for all this advice
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