- Joined
- Jun 20, 2021
- Messages
- 6
- Purraise
- 8
Hello everyone,
I’m new here. Exhausted and a bit discouraged, taking any advice anyone can give me.
I started fostering a mama cat and her 2 week old kitten a week and a half ago. She initially had 4 kittens. One she didn’t care for. It was bottle but passed the day after. One passed from the day after - it was bleeding from the mouth. Third one started losing weight for a few days and suddenly passed the same way as the one before. Fourth one was starting to lose weight so I took them in. Mind you, I’ve been non stop bottle feeding for 3 months and I’m running on almost no energy at this point.
A vet checked the mama, turns out she isn’t producing much milk or the quality is poor - hence the loss of weight. Now, here’s the trick.
I’ve been syringe feeding the little one with a miracle nipple for more than a week and it’s been a disaster since day one. She does NOT want it. She never asks for food. She never seems hungry. She literally fights it every step of the way. Head going side to side, meowing, you name it. The vet tells me she has no succion reflex but she doesn’t want the milk (Royal Canin) either way... so I’ve been forcing her every time. Of course, she’s aspirated some, so she’s on antibiotics. The vet tells me I’m gonna have to do that until she’s old enough to eat on her own....
It’s breaking my heart to have to force feed her every time. It takes me 40+ minutes just to give her 10ml. I know I’ve done a good job since she arrived at 212g at 2 weeks and she’s now 318g at 3 but psychologically it’s not the easiest.
I’ve tried the burrito, taking her by the scruff, all the advice I found online. I don’t know what I can try anymore. She was eating from her mom just fine and was suckling from her okay.
Am I doing something wrong ?
If anyone has any advice, I’m willing to try it. Thank you very much.
I’m new here. Exhausted and a bit discouraged, taking any advice anyone can give me.
I started fostering a mama cat and her 2 week old kitten a week and a half ago. She initially had 4 kittens. One she didn’t care for. It was bottle but passed the day after. One passed from the day after - it was bleeding from the mouth. Third one started losing weight for a few days and suddenly passed the same way as the one before. Fourth one was starting to lose weight so I took them in. Mind you, I’ve been non stop bottle feeding for 3 months and I’m running on almost no energy at this point.
A vet checked the mama, turns out she isn’t producing much milk or the quality is poor - hence the loss of weight. Now, here’s the trick.
I’ve been syringe feeding the little one with a miracle nipple for more than a week and it’s been a disaster since day one. She does NOT want it. She never asks for food. She never seems hungry. She literally fights it every step of the way. Head going side to side, meowing, you name it. The vet tells me she has no succion reflex but she doesn’t want the milk (Royal Canin) either way... so I’ve been forcing her every time. Of course, she’s aspirated some, so she’s on antibiotics. The vet tells me I’m gonna have to do that until she’s old enough to eat on her own....
It’s breaking my heart to have to force feed her every time. It takes me 40+ minutes just to give her 10ml. I know I’ve done a good job since she arrived at 212g at 2 weeks and she’s now 318g at 3 but psychologically it’s not the easiest.
I’ve tried the burrito, taking her by the scruff, all the advice I found online. I don’t know what I can try anymore. She was eating from her mom just fine and was suckling from her okay.
Am I doing something wrong ?
If anyone has any advice, I’m willing to try it. Thank you very much.