Day-Old Abandoned Litter of Five

[catwoman707]

Good to know they are using the bottle well now.

Any additional amt you can feed now is fine, I wouldn't go 10 mls of course but surely would go even 6-7 if they will take it.

The more the better, using good judgement on not overfeeding them, or semi-forcing them to take too much.

Also, are you absolutely sure the scale is always accurate? This is not alot of weight and such small amt of change sometimes doesn't register properly, is why I ask.

 

[mazie]

We're all on pins and needles, haven't heard from you in 2 days Dusty Tiger, how are they doing???

 

[keyes]

We're all on pins and needles, haven't heard from you in 2 days Dusty Tiger, how are they doing???

I know what you mean.  I'm completely cheering for those babies and of course Dusty Tiger. 

 

[dustytiger]

Oh, wow! I'm so sorry to have worried you all! I was trying to catch up on a bit of sleep and I guess I went a little overboard because the end result was that I slept all day long save for feeding times when I'd get up to feed, clean, stimulate and pet the babies for a while before going right back to sleep. I'm finally properly up and awake, though, and I just had "breakfast" at 1AM! 

Not to worry, though, they're all still hanging on with me!

I actually feel like the consistency of their diarrhea is getting a bit better! It's not that watery anymore and seems a little more like a paste now.

To answer previous posts, however,

@StefanZ,

Thank you for the info! If that's the case, then I might stick with the puppy GM because I think they might need more fat considering how little they weigh.

@catwoman707,

I tried to get them up to 6ml, but they all seemed to get full after 5ml tbh. I'm hoping that this time they'll be able to drink it, but like you said I haven't been trying to force them into it.

I can't say my scale is exactly state of the art, but it IS a digital one, and I tried weighing really small stuff and it seemed to give me a fair answer. A syringe was 3 grams, tiny salt-shaker was 80, and a bottle-cap was 1. I can't for certain speak for how accurate it is, but it definitely registers smaller weights so I'm assuming it could detect the small changes in theirs. It might be rounding down/up with the oz measurement, though, so maybe I should stick to weighing them in grams as that seems to get more accurate results.

 

[catwoman707]

Glad you were able to do some catching up sleep!

5 mls works, you don't want to force it, just get as much in to them each time as seems sufficient, the more the better of course but not overfeeding either.

So it sounds like you are on the right track here.

I do think we might do better tracking weight with the grams scale to get a more accurate daily reading.

 

[dustytiger]

Okay, so I took their weights again this morning and I got,

Big Tabby-- 118g

Big Black-- 113g

Small Tabby-- 115g

Small Black-- 95g

Black and white- 102g

So it seems like they've all gained a fair amount!

 

[catwoman707]

 
Okay, so I took their weights again this morning and I got,

Big Tabby-- 118g

Big Black-- 113g

Small Tabby-- 115g

Small Black-- 95g

Black and white- 102g

So it seems like they've all gained a fair amount!

Yaay!! Now that's what we want to see!! AWESOME!!  

  

  

 

[mazie]

Hi Dusty Tiger, I noticed you are online now.  How are the babies doing?  You indeed are hero to all of us on The Cat Site!  I hope you feel our love and support in your crusade to save these kittens!!  I know I am not just speaking for myself, we are behind you.  Big Tabby, hope those beautiful eyes are open!

 

[dustytiger]

Omg, you're making me feel famous! 

Honestly, I'm super grateful for all the support I've gotten! I doubt I'd have been able to get them this far without everyone's help, considering how much misinformation I was given. I mean, I really just started out wondering if I would be able to introduce them to my resident cat, and then I found out that the milk I was feeding them was all wrong! So, honestly, I'd say most of the credit goes to everyone who helped me on here as well as the little kittens for keeping up their fight.

Really, I can't thank everyone on here enough! 

 

 

[mazie]

Hang in there, you are doing a GREAT job!!!!

 

[dustytiger]

Thanks, I'll do my best! 

 

[riley1]

If you look at your original weights it seems like most of lost a little weight since your first posting.   You first posted in grams .  Did you get a different scale?  I am not very good with math: does 118 g equal about 3.2 oz?

 

[dustytiger]

Ah, yeah, if you mean the very first weights I posted on the very first page, the scale I had was inaccurate. It pretty much would show that anything was around 120g. Later I got a digital scale that showed their correct weights

Also,

3.2oz would actually make around 90-ish grams

118 g would make about 4 oz

Their actual weights at the start would have been

Big Tabby-- 100g

Big Black-- 95g

Small Tabby--95g

Black and white- 85g

Small Black-- 85g

Compared to their current weights,

Big Tabby has gained 18 grams,

Big Black has gained 18 grams,

Small Tabby has gained 20 grams,

Small Black has gained 10 grams,

and Black-and-White has gained 17 grams.

I'm still a little worried about Little Black since it doesn't seem to be gaining as much as the others even though it's been drinking the same amount, but I'm glad it's gained a little bit at least.

 

[keyes]

@DustyTiger   Let's face it, you are a hero to those babies.  I've only had to do this once and it was 1 kitten and so I have a slight idea of what you're going thru.  You're being a momma to 5!

 

[riley1]

I have 7 once.  They added a single to my 6 pack.  Ate me out of house & home after they got better.  Shelter provides food but it is junk so I buy their food.

 

[Norachan]

Even a little weight gain is better than nothing. I hope they all continue to thrive.

 

[dustytiger]

Okay! I come with an update on the kittens!

Their new weights are

Big Tabby-- 124g

Big Black-- 125g

Small Tabby--122g

Black and white- 107g

Small Black-- 106g

So it seems like they're on the right track. The small tabby, the big tabby, and the small black one have opened their eyes!  The small black one looks like a little alien come to earth to spread cuteness with that little face. 

I was wondering, though, is it okay to bathe them? In general, I don't like showering/bathing cats, and I've been cleaning them with damp cotton swabs, but they're getting just a tiny bit of an odor and I don't want them to be dirty. I change their bedding and everything regularly throughout the day (almost every feeding time), but they still seem to have gotten a bit of a smell in spite of my efforts to keep them clean.

 

[reba]

Wow, that's great how exciting!!!!  I'm so happy for you. 

I was advised against bathing them because they can get chilled so easily.  Plus, why add one more thing to worry about.  That said I had one who peed on himself constantly and I used to rinse him off by putting his parts under the faucet. 

Oh one other thing I forgot to mention was I had two boys and one would try and suckle on the others penis.  It was so frequent that i had to separate them into separate tubs.   So just a heads up to watch out for that.

 

[dustytiger]

Oh one other thing I forgot to mention was I had two boys and one would try and suckle on the others penis.  It was so frequent that i had to separate them into separate tubs.   So just a heads up to watch out for that.

Oh, gosh, one of my boys just started doing that and now he doesn't want to drink his milk! What should I do? I separated them, but he hasn't eaten this mealtime. I barely got him to take 2ml. I'm going to check back up on him in half an hour to see if he'll want to eat. Also, his poop was a strange color, it was a lot lighter than the others.

Also, you're totally right about the baths. I was just worried they might be getting too dirty, but I certainly don't want to complicate things.

 

[StefanZ]

 
I was wondering, though, is it okay to bathe them? In general, I don't like showering/bathing cats, and I've been cleaning them with damp cotton swabs, but they're getting just a tiny bit of an odor and I don't want them to be dirty. I change their bedding and everything regularly throughout the day (almost every feeding time), but they still seem to have gotten a bit of a smell in spite of my efforts to keep them clean.

You can bathe them if necessary. But make sure they dont get chilled. Not during the bath, nor afterwards. No draugth, warm and cozy, dry off thoroughly, and a heating pad.

Kittens that age dont hold up their own body temp, they must get active warming up.

As many examples shows, it can be done.  For example, when de-fleasing.  Or to help them stimulate - having their rear end in running warm water  ( essentially  as Reba herself did)