Help! Day old kitten with diarrhea and not nursing

[Sarthur2]

Very good! Sleeping kittens means satiated kittens.

Weights under 90 grams are considered premature weights. Keep a close eye on the tinies and weigh them every 12 hours. All kittens should nurse every 1-2 hours right now.

 

[HCS]

Very good! Sleeping kittens means satiated kittens.

Weights under 90 grams are considered premature weights. Keep a close eye on the tinies and weigh them every 12 hours. All kittens should nurse every 1-2 hours right now.

Mama cat must have gotten annoyed at me checking in on her and trying to weigh her 9 kittens, because she is moving them to beneath a night stand that has a small opening due to another piece of furniture blocking off part of the opening, so I cannot access her kittens now to check in on their growth. I don't know what to do. Mama cat is coming up to me purring, then walking between the area she gave birth (in a box beneath a desk with a blanket over the opening for privacy) and the new nesting spot (the cubby of a small nightstand with a small opening) and growling and panting occasionally as though stressed. I have a dog, who is sweet and gentle, but maybe mom cat doesn't like such a large animal near her kittens.

This isn't her first litter. My neighbor neglected her and her 3 kittens (around 8 weeks old at the time) in October 2021. She was skin and bones with no fat or muscle. I brought her into my house fattened her up to a normal weight, but she escaped and got pregnant and now has 9 kittens. I feel so inexperienced. I have only had kittens when I was very young, around 10 years old. I am in tears and feel so overwhelmed. I don't want to lose any of these sweeties. I have only slept about 3 hours in 2 days. I don't know what to do. I might contact a rescue for their hands-on help and experience.

Sorry for the long post. I love animals so much that I get very emotional when they are in need of help. I just hope they are all doing well with taking turns nursing. I don't think she has enough nipples for them to all nurse at once and I worry about the little guy. Is this litter smaller because it's so large? 4 of the kittens are white, so they might be siamese and I read that siamese cats can be smaller, at least the adults.

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, in a litter this size there will be runts because there isn’t enough room for them all in the uterus. They may have also been conceived a day or two later.

I would definitely keep the dog away from mom and kittens for now.

Mom is panting because nursing nine kittens is hard work. Panting can also mean her calcium reserves are low. This is why she needs to drink a dish of formula a day herself. She needs the extra calcium.

Leave her be tonight and get some sleep so your mind is clear. You can access the kittens tomorrow. Weigh them and supplement them in front of mom so she sees what you are doing. She should relax more in the coming days, as should you.

H HCS

 

[StefanZ]

You had got excellent advices.
I want to mention, goats milk works too; for example as supplement for momma, whom need all her calcium; and goats milk is cheaper than kmr.
Goats milk is much safer than cow milk (you had surely been warned for cow milk). Raw goats milk is best (but may be pricey). But other types are OK, just as long its no funny low fat diet variation.

If dog and momma are best friends, and momma visibly wants the dog near; you can let them be together. Supervised at first, of course.
Who knows, he perhaps will coparent. Some friendly dogs do.

But if they arent best friends, or momma isnt eager to see him, keep him away.... You dont want to stress momma.

She has her hands full anyway. And you must stress her by handling the kittens... Handle them near, so she sees there is no danger on them. Have a cloth on the scale, so it feels pleasant for the kittens.

The weighting is most important with these weak or in crisis. Kittens whom visibly are thriwing its not the same hurry.
But weighting is important, because its the easiest way for the less experienced to notice if there are problems coming; or if everything seems OK...

And yeah, try to sleep. Take also often power naps during your time up... Relaxed sleep 5-15 minutes, and you are fresh again for several hours. Set the phone on silent alarm if you wish, so you wont worry you overslept. Ie, set the phone to vibrate in 15 minutes, relax and sleep some... H HCS

 

[kittiefoster]

My neighbor neglected his cat and she was underweight. I have fattened her back up and had planned to have her spayed (vets booked up for months due to COVID restrictions), however she escaped the house and mingled with a male. She gave birth late at night on friday, 02/25/22. I have been so anxious that I haven't slept all night. She gave birth to 9 kittens!

Tonight, I noticed that one of the kittens seemed off and looked bloated. I gently stimulated it to help it poop. At first, it pooped a liquidy yellowish color. Then, when I stimulated it about 30 minutes later, a lot of runny diarrhea like poop came out, which was a reddish color.

I bought kmr milk replacement and a syringe, since moma has such a large litter, but the kittens are only taking a few suckles and then rejecting it so I don't want to force it, since they might be full. I don't know if this particular kitten tried any of the milk replacement (the kittens look too similar- 4 white kittens, 2 Grey, 3 striped). As far as I can tell, the kitten is no longer suckling (it can be difficult to tell sometimes through the piles of kittens).

It's the middle of the night with no stores open. What should I do? I tried to feed some water from a syringe. It will suckle for a second, then turn away and reject it. Maybe I am not pushing the liquid out fast enough? I go really slow. Should I feed milk replacement? I am concerned that the milk replacement was what gave the kitten diarrhea, but like I said, I can't be sure whether I tried feeding g this kitten. I am really scared of losing this kitten and I am not experienced at this at all.

Sometimes newborn kittens can be lactose intolerant to the kmr... So if you need her to have some calories you can give her the camera but water it down a little bit that way her blood sugar will not drop also... Also kittens will not eat and lose the suck reflex when they are cold, so you want to be absolutely sure that the kitten is warm, you'll notice after a while that kittens purr when they are warm,.. if they try to eat food when they are cold they're digestive systems are not able to process the food so you so you never want to encourage or push food while the kitten is cold

 

[kittiefoster]

I'm sure that you're doing a much better job than you think you are!! Sleep deprivation can play crazy trickss on us, have you tried putting the underweight kitten directly up to the teetz to see if she will eat? Like I said only do that if you know the kitten is warm, if she's not eating it might be because she's cold, and she might not be warm because if the other kittens sense that she's weak, they have pushed her away... The other kittens are usually what keeps her warm so if they are neglecting her she's getting cold and that's why she's not eating.
You've got this! You're doing a great job, and reaching out to get information and doing everything you can. These kittens have a Fighting Chance because of you, I have fostered many many bottle babies with no mama, so I can see this from a perspective where if she had no mama at all... I think that you should use the litter as a means to keep her warm and the mom will keep her clean and just plan on supplementing, but giving water is not advised... It will fill up her tummy and relieve her thirst, and then she will not want to drink from the mama. Newborn kittens are very very messy with their poop habits by the way, that's why the mama cleans them up all the time.
Here are some tips supplement feeding single kittens
1. Make sure kitten is warm, she will not eat if she is cold. they lose the suck reflex when they are cold... The best way to keep the kitten warm is to have her at the bottom of the kitten pile, or under the Mama's arm
2. Place her at the Mama's tiet to see if you can get her to nurse... First you could remove some of the other kittens so that they're not all pushing her away at the same time... Also she may be nursing when you're not looking? More important that she keeps up nursing habits than that you supplement feed, she needs to learn what to do and if you don't give her time learning to root around she won't learn.
3. Give kmr formula but water it down a bit ,because kmr formula has too much lactose for newborn kittens
4. Sometimes newborn kittens will not take the bottle because they are not starving yet enough they will not have a suck reflux strong enough to suck from a bottle, until they are completely starving, so if she won't take it just keep trying. I have had two day old kittens in my care not eat for 12 hours and then suddenly take the bottle because they are so starving that they finally figure out how to suck...
5. Warm up the bottle nipple in a cup of hot water to soften the nipple and make it feel more like Mom because it's warm. The bottle nipple should have more than just a pinhole for an opening, if you have a very sharp pair of scissors you could cut a tiny crisscross in the tip of the bottle.
6. Order some "Purina fortiflora" probiotic powder on Amazon delivered to your home if you can.
It is good to keep on hand for kittens who get diarrhea. Most of the time you will not know when the kittens have diarrhea because the mom is cleaning them up all the time
7. If the runt is getting pushed around or pushed away by the litter put her in your T-shirt or with a heating pad set on low... If you use a heating pad always make sure that the kittens have areas where they can crawl away from heat.
8. This one should have been first... Try to let the kitten get hungry and give her time with the mama without the other kittens if you can it's best that she is getting the Mama's milk, if you supplement a lot you reduce the likelihood that she will actually end up getting enough of Mama's milk to get the antibodies that she needs, sometimes intervening can cause more harm than good ...it's a delicate balance and should only be attempted if you are sure that she's not eating well on the mama and that there is no way to promote nursing rather than bottle feeding
9. If the mama is moving the kittens you can help her out by helping her to move them where she wants them that way she gets the idea that you are helping her... Then you can start moving them to where you want them without her freaking out about it... So consider it a temporary compromise to help remove the kittens wherever she wants them to go LOL (I've had a lot of Mama kittes in my bathroom, just not a lot of births LOL...

You're doing an awesome job!!! I know it seems overwhelming but these are just really little tips with just too many words sorry but there are a lot of details but they are easy to carry out once you know them!! It's still always good to keep in mind that newborn kittens who are not fed by their mother to have only 50% survival rate, you are doing the very best that you can for all of them , and they are definitely doing better than if they didn't have you so keep that in mind and cut yourself some slack!! You are amazing for attempting to do all of this without any experience and winging it, but I know you're going to do a great job!! Best of luck!! PM me if you have any questions I can give you my text number so that you can get information and support more quickly if you need it!
Also try to enjoy this time it's super special and you should be having some fun!

 

[kittiefoster]

Wow! 0- I hadn't realized or seen that you had all of this wonderful advice already from Sarthur2 and that they are doing so well!! Very good advice and also way more condensed haha
You are doing great and you have great support here!! I love the catsite!! They have rescued me more times than I can count and when I first began fostering over 15 years ago they taught me everything that I know! You'll do great with the babies!

 

[HCS]

Thank you so much the both of you! Sarthur2 and kittiefoster, you're both amazing and your tips and support have helped me so much!

I currently live in an old, drafty house and was having a difficult time keeping my other kitties away from mama (they kept escaping the room that they were separated in and would approached mama and sniff at her and hiss). With much tears, my husband and I decided to relinquish mama and her babies to a kitten rescue. I will be able to visit her every day and call about her to keep updated about her well-being. They are going to let us adopt mama and one of her kittens once the kittens are old enough to be weaned.

I feel so depressed about this. I hope I made the right decision. The kitten rescue is filled with knowledgeable staff. They also have their own private vet in case there are any issues, which was probably the hugest deciding factor (I have no money for a vet, which terrified me). If mama cat's litter was smaller, I probably would have been able to care for them myself. The vet had already inspected mama cat and said that I did a wonderful job keeping mama cat and her kittens healthy! I had given the vet/staff all of the details of mama cat's history of being abandoned and malnourished, as well as my concerns about the kittens. The kittens are doing great, even the runt and the one with diarrhea! Mama cat has been purring a lot and has even been affectionate with the staff.

I miss mama cat so much and have been crying off and on all day, but I wanted to do what would give her and her large litter the best chance of survival. I wouldn't be able to handle it if one of the kittens died on me. I am very sensitive and emotional when it comes to animals. I just keep reminding myself that I can visit her. And mama and one of her kittens will be coming back home with me in a couple months!

Thank you again for your support,
Heather

 

[kittiefoster]

Wow Heather!! What an unselfish and loving thing to do! If I were you I would cry too! You have done an amazing job and in the end you did what you decided is best for the moment and her Kitty s!! Being responsible for that's many lives is you don't have the resources to get vet care you totally did the right thing. Kittens will almost always need vet care along the way they almost always get a upper respiratory tract infection where they are sneezing with gunk in their eyes and nose and sometimes I get bad bouts of diarrhea or other infections... Sometimes people just overlook these needs and I know how hard it was to give them up in order to do the right thing. So happy for you that you can see the kittens regularly and that you get to adopt the mama and a kitten that will be so awesome!! Great job grandma!!

 

[HCS]

Wow Heather!! What an unselfish and loving thing to do! If I were you I would cry too! You have done an amazing job and in the end you did what you decided is best for the moment and her Kitty s!! Being responsible for that's many lives is you don't have the resources to get vet care you totally did the right thing. Kittens will almost always need vet care along the way they almost always get a upper respiratory tract infection where they are sneezing with gunk in their eyes and nose and sometimes I get bad bouts of diarrhea or other infections... Sometimes people just overlook these needs and I know how hard it was to give them up in order to do the right thing. So happy for you that you can see the kittens regularly and that you get to adopt the mama and a kitten that will be so awesome!! Great job grandma!!

Kittiefoster, thank you so much for your support. This has been one emotional roller coaster for me. It's difficult not being able to check on the kitten's through the night to make sure they are OK and don't need help. But I just have to remind myself that mama cat has this, and they have a heat pad and a warm, quiet room with privacy. The staff said they will weigh the kittens daily to make sure none are falling behind.
I relinquished them yesterday(Sunday), and a vet has already looked over them and said they are healthy, so I find comfort in that. I am sad though, because when I went to visit today, the staff that is in charge of the kitten room was visiting with a vet and they were closing in an hour, so I wasn't able to see mama kitty and her kittens today. I am going to call ahead of time tomorrow and ask when the best time to visit will be.

 

[kittiefoster]

Kittiefoster, thank you so much for your support. This has been one emotional roller coaster for me. It's difficult not being able to check on the kitten's through the night to make sure they are OK and don't need help. But I just have to remind myself that mama cat has this, and they have a heat pad and a warm, quiet room with privacy. The staff said they will weigh the kittens daily to make sure none are falling behind.
I relinquished them yesterday(Sunday), and a vet has already looked over them and said they are healthy, so I find comfort in that. I am sad though, because when I went to visit today, the staff that is in charge of the kitten room was visiting with a vet and they were closing in an hour, so I wasn't able to see mama kitty and her kittens today. I am going to call ahead of time tomorrow and ask when the best time to visit will be.

Just think about the fact of how you have broken the cycle of neglect... All those kittens would have been born into more rounds and they also would have been delivering kittens in no time at all! In less than a year all nine of those cats could have been responsible for more homeless babies! It is amazing what you have done for them I know the worst part is just not being able to see them and have the joy of playing with them! You should check with the Foster organization to see if you can do a Foster to adopt with the kitten and the mama once the kittens are 6 weeks old they should be able to be weaned... Most organizations will make you wait until the animal is fixed to do an adoption but since you were the original owner they may let you adopt before they are fixed with the understanding that you will be responsible for bringing them in to whatever that they use for the spay neuter process. It's very fun to have a baby kitty and also to then get to experience some of the baby kitty mothering going on. 6 weeks should go by pretty quick and you will soon have a mama and a baby!

 

[StefanZ]

Thank you so much the both of you! Sarthur2 and kittiefoster, you're both amazing and your tips and support have helped me so much!

I currently live in an old, drafty house and was having a difficult time keeping my other kitties away from mama (they kept escaping the room that they were separated in and would approached mama and sniff at her and hiss). With much tears, my husband and I decided to relinquish mama and her babies to a kitten rescue. I will be able to visit her every day and call about her to keep updated about her well-being. They are going to let us adopt mama and one of her kittens once the kittens are old enough to be weaned.

I feel so depressed about this. I hope I made the right decision. The kitten rescue is filled with knowledgeable staff. They also have their own private vet in case there are any issues, which was probably the hugest deciding factor (I have no money for a vet, which terrified me). If mama cat's litter was smaller, I probably would have been able to care for them myself. The vet had already inspected mama cat and said that I did a wonderful job keeping mama cat and her kittens healthy! I had given the vet/staff all of the details of mama cat's history of being abandoned and malnourished, as well as my concerns about the kittens. The kittens are doing great, even the runt and the one with diarrhea! Mama cat has been purring a lot and has even been affectionate with the staff.

I miss mama cat so much and have been crying off and on all day, but I wanted to do what would give her and her large litter the best chance of survival. I wouldn't be able to handle it if one of the kittens died on me. I am very sensitive and emotional when it comes to animals. I just keep reminding myself that I can visit her. And mama and one of her kittens will be coming back home with me in a couple months!

Thank you again for your support,
Heather

You made an excellent job. And did the best decision you thought there was. Yeah, if its a shelter without resources and you are the only hope, or if there is a shelter WITH resources, makes the possibility to choose.

But for future reference.
I know there are usually costs connected with being a good fosterer. But you would probably get access to this vet of theirs for free, it it would be necessary. Most shelters pay for vet costs, and often some other extra costs, for their foster homes.