Kitten Help Asap

[toothlessxkitty]

I found 2 abandoned kittens that look to be about 3 or 4 weeks old. I bought bottles for kittens and powdered KMR to feed them,but they dont seem interested in it, even after wetting the bottle. Any tips? Im getting really worried. They haven't eaten in a few hours!

 

[toothlessxkitty]

I

 

[StefanZ]

If they had mamma to recently, they dont know what bottle is. It should be easier with a syringe, or even a dropper. In the side of the mouth, slowly! Tummy down. Hold them in a towel if you want or even wrap in as a burrito.

You can also try with a little sponge, make-up style for example.... it works nicely for some, its almost as suckling for real.

You can try with having a little on your fingers, and let them suckle / lick off your fingers.

Othewise, make do a sweet honey / water solution, and let them drink it off, if you can by any means you can.

This is no food, but it will buy you time.

 

[toothlessxkitty]

My fiancee just tried a syringe, and was able to get them each to eat 8 or so mL of KMR. She said that they weren't suckling, but biting the syringe. How often should I be feeding them? Should I stick with the syringe, or try to work up to the bottle? I was able to get the female to urinate. Should I be helping them out at this age, showing them a litter box, or both?

 

[catsknowme]

Good, they ate! You can try wrapping them up in little bundle which may make them feel more secure (some people here call that the 'purrito'). Since they are using the syringe, and are biting, I'd stick with that. You can try the bottle but be careful that they don't bite off the end. Also, I would keep them in a crate lined with puppy pads until they feel comfortable with you - it doesn't feel like jail to them, it feels like a cave/den to them. I stimulate them to potty but also show them a shallow litter tray - if you can add a little used cat litter, that often helps them to realize the function of the litterbox. Just gently hold their paws and show them how to cover their mess. If you enjoy self-education, you can watch the free webinars at www.maddiesfund.com/orphan kittens and /caring for the critically sick neonatal kitten - it is associated with the University of the Pacific and explains what is normal as well as sick. They offer educational information for foster caregivers. Bless you both for rescuing those tiny little ones!

 

[toothlessxkitty]

Thank you both for the advice!! The link you supplied about the self education for fostering kittens wasnt working, but I was able to explore the site and find a helpful video. There is a male amd female. The female also has some reddish discharge coming from her eyes. It was wiped up right after they were found about 10 hours ago, but has come back. Any idea on what it could be? Also, should I feed them 4x a day, or every few hours?

 

[StefanZ]

If they seem OK, you should give them every second hour, till you are sure they have stabilized. You may jump once on the night, and sleep a full 4 hour.
If they seem weak on the verge, it may be feeding down to every hour, a few drops a time...

When they have stabilized and everything is OK, you can give every 3 hours...

The timetable on the KMR-package isnt very good. Too seldom there. May work with healthy problem free kittens, but none else.

OK, how much - and thus also, how often. You go after their weigh. Its 8ml / OZ (30g) a day. So a kitten of 300 grammes, needs at least 80 ml spread around the clock.... If it manages 8 ml each tome, it means you must give it 10 times, every 2-3 hours....

So this may be a reason why to try with a bottle with time. If bottle works, its easier, less work for you.

Real cat food is more energytight, so once they begin to eat for real, the amounts will be less.

Thank you both for the advice!! The link you supplied about the self education for fostering kittens wasnt working, but I was able to explore the site and find a helpful video. There is a male amd female. The female also has some reddish discharge coming from her eyes. It was wiped up right after they were found about 10 hours ago, but has come back. Any idea on what it could be? Also, should I feed them 4x a day, or every few hours?

 

[StefanZ]

Re this reddish discharge. Home remedies may be, swipe of with a weak saline solution. Or a chamomille tea solution - its soothing.
but be prepared to contact your vet. Eye problems are not to play with if you dont know what it is...

 

[toothlessxkitty]

Update: They are both eating from the syringe. Little boy is eating twice as much as the girl, but hes also noticeably larger in both size and weight. I almost feel like I'm forcing the little girl, though. Im pushing it through the side of her mouth and shes swallowing, but shes resisting. This last feeding, she ate 6mL while he ate 12 mL

 

[Sarthur2]

This sounds about right. They may be able to eat soft wet food soon. Do they have their baby teeth?

 

[toothlessxkitty]

Yes, they have teeth coming in. I have cans of Friskies wet cat food, and hard kitten food. Should I try offering them hard kitten food softened with the KMR?

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, you can do that. You can also offer wet food mixed with KMR.

 

[toothlessxkitty]

Update: I went out and bought a kitchen scale to weigh them. The female is about 400g, and the male is a tiny bit bigger at 425g. That sounds like normal weight for their age, right? The female was up and about, exploring a bit tonight. She was even able to stand up, with some wobbling! =). She also showed a slight interest in playing today. They still seem to be eating less than the guidelines that stefanz gave me. However, tonight they ate more than they usually do. Im going to introduce kitten gruel to them with their next feeding. Should I have them try the gruel before I syringe feed them? Also, the female kitten hasnt had a bowel movement since I found her. The male had a tiny one, like the size of hamster poo. Is this normal? I think Im going to try to make a vet appt for them. The female's eye hasn't completely cleared up.

 

[Sarthur2]

Vet appointment is a good idea.

I would hold off on the gruel for another week since they are only about 4 weeks old. The weights are close to where they should be.

Begin adding a drop or two of olive oil to each bottle. This should help them to poop.

You can mix the powdered KMR with clear pedialyte instead of water. This will help also.

 

[toothlessxkitty]

Vet check went well! He said that the discharge in the females eye is likely just due to pollen and dust from when we found them because their eyes dont look inflamed or anything.He said they looked good, and they are a good weight. He did say that they look closer to 3 weeks old, though. Would mineral oil be okay to use to help them poo? I had already tried introducing gruel before you responded, and the female takes that better than she takes the syringe, but the male wouldn't try it.

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, you can use mineral oil. It's great the female is taking to the gruel. I'm sure the little guy will soon too!

 

[toothlessxkitty]

Back again! They seem to be doing really well, except I haven't seen any signs of bowel movements yet. =(. I tried the mineral oil twice, but no luck. Im going to get clear Pedialyte tonight or tomorrow. Any other suggestions? They are acting normal amd eating well. Also, should I just completely replace the water in the formula with Pedialyte or should I add water as well?

 

[Sarthur2]

You can replace the water totally with pedialyte.

Are they getting enough to eat? Someone should poop soon!

 

[toothlessxkitty]

I think so. The female is getting on average 10 to 12 ccs per feeding, and the male gets around 18 to 20. They are eating twice as much as they were when I got them. They eat every 2-4 hours

 

[toothlessxkitty]

The female pooped last night! She was the one I was worried about. One down, one to go! They are also both gaining a little weight.
How long should I substitute Pedialyte for water?