Labour soon?

[Sarthur2]

Yes, cats can pant on and off for a few days after delivering.

 

[redbowlingball]

Thanks, that's good to hear. 

 

[Sarthur2]

If you have KMR, give her a dish of it a day. The calcium seems to help their system to recover more quickly.

 

[redbowlingball]

Ok, I'll put some out for her now.

 

[Sarthur2]

She'll probably lap it up like crazy! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

 

[redbowlingball]

She did! A good half of the bowl I made for her disappeared in minutes, haha.

 

[redbowlingball]

Weigh in help would be appreciated :/

Blue patches - 86g-105g- 109g. Gain of 4, overall gain 23

Golden tabby - 108g-118g - 123g. Gain of 5, overall gain 15

Blue blaze - 95g - 103g - 116g . Gain of 13, overall gain of 21

Black - 95g - 107g - 118g. Gain of 11, overall gain of 23

Blue ticked tabby - 105g-115g - 128g. Gain of 13, overall gain of 21.

Quite concerned about the low gain in blue patches and golden tabby, however, the overall gain is quite high for the blue and the golden is quite lively and also the second largest. Not sure what to make of those two. Very pleased with the other three though. 

 

[krissy marissy]

One of mine had only a gain of 6 yesterday, but this morning had gained 18. If I were you I'd make sure those two got extra feeding time alone a few times today. If you notice small gains again at next weigh in you should supplement.

 

[redbowlingball]

We weigh in during the evening, so we're about to go to bed. I made sure the blue was latched on after weighing and tomorrow I'll be in often and trying to encourage her towards the better nipples. I'll also weigh her in the morning and then again in the evening, with my fingers crossed. I did try to see if she'd take some milk from a syringe tonight but she wasn't having it. I'm not so worried about the golden, he's a bruiser and always seems to have the best nipple in his mouth. 

 

[Sarthur2]

Agreed. The first two need to gain more. See that they get extra nipple time or else supplement them.

 

[redbowlingball]

Do you have any tips on supplementing? We tried but failed. Perhaps we'd be better with a bottle rather than syringe? I wanted a bottle originally but couldn't find one with good reviews in the UK. 

 

[talkingpeanut]

Kittens who have a mom to nurse from won't take a bottle. You can use a small needleless syringe or a dropper. All you do is have them lay belly down, raise the head slightly, and do one drop at a time into the cheek. Let them swallow, and repeat. It's slow going at first!

Oh, and baby and formula must both be warm.

 

[Sarthur2]

When you say you failed, what happened when you tried to feed?

 

[redbowlingball]

I just went back to check on the blue and she's gone up to 110g, so she is gaining. I left her latched on again. We have two needleless syringes and we took a kitten each, put them on our laps and tried to get the milk in their mouths, but all the kittens did was wriggle and cry for their mum, so they just got the milk on their noses instead. If they haven't gained much overnight I'll try again in the morning. I might have to be a little firmer in handling them. 

 

[redbowlingball]

The blue patched girl has gained 9 grams overnight and the golden tabby has gained a whopping 18! Looking good

 

[Sarthur2]

This is music to my ears!

Is this from nursing mom, or are you supplementing?

 

[redbowlingball]

That was just from Skye feeding them overnight. Looking forward to weighing them all this evening and seeing how the others are getting on. My little golden tabby was up at 141 this morning so I'm excited to see how big he gets and see if he overtakes his sister as the heaviest of the litter. I'm devoting much of my day to picking out cute names for them all until their new owners name them. I'm sick of referring to them by colour, haha.

 

[redbowlingball]

DSC08750.jpg

• redbowlingball
• May 10, 2016

 

[talkingpeanut]

That's too funny. One tired mama!

 

[Sarthur2]

It sounds like mom's full milk is in now. Great picture! [emoji]128077[/emoji]