New mother and underweight kitten

[unfetteredmight]

Hello, I'm looking for advice on if I should do supplemental feedings for a 3 week old kitten. I took in a young pregnant stray that showed up on the 1st and 4 hours later she gave birth to two kittens. I've had 3 cats over my lifetime, and have a Calico now, but I've never tended a mother and kittens so I'm learning as fast as I can. I set her up in my master bathroom and ceased using it and kept the door closed to try to make her feel like it was a safe space. Without getting into all the depressing details, she ended up rejecting one and despite our efforts it didn't make it. The other one is growing, but not as fast as I'm reading it should. I didn't weight the kittens on the first day, but on the 16th the remaining kitten weighed 221 grams, today it weighs 272 grams. That's 8.5 grams per day, but I'm reading it should be at least 10. He appears to be a healthy kitten except for a mild eye infection that I am treating. He walks around, is surprisingly strong for such a little thing (he doesn't like getting medicine put in his eye so I have to burrito him), is playful, and has no problem latching on and suckling if the mom would sit still. I don't know if it's because she is young and bursting with energy, but I swear sometimes I want to hogtie her so that baby can get a full meal (I'm not going to).

So after boiling the bottle and nipples to kill any germs that might have remained from the other kitten, I've tried to hand feed it a supplemental meal (KMR) twice since yesterday. It absolutely refused the first time so I thought maybe it wasn't hungry. Then this morning when he was trying to eat and mom kept moving on him I attempted again and he still refused. She is caring for it, cleaning it, stimulating it too pee and poop, and feeding it. I just don't think she is letting it feed long enough.

Should I be overly concerned it's only gaining 8.5 grams per day? If so, how can I get it to take a bottle?

 

[Sarthur2]

Try a syringe. Kittens with moms often reject the bottle. It does sound like he could benefit from supplementing. He’s 9.5 ounces at 3 weeks and the average is 12 ounces, but it also sounds like he is thriving.

Will mom let you pet her while she’s nursing so he can nurse longer? He’s probably starting to cut his baby teeth and it may bother mom if he bites her.

If you can get him to 5 weeks you can introduce soft mushy food. Then he can eat as much as he wants / needs and his growth will take off.

Here’s a helpful video. If your little guy realizes you’re giving him yummy milk he’ll enjoy the supplementing.

Syringe Feeding — Kitten Lady

 

[unfetteredmight]

Try a syringe. Kittens with moms often reject the bottle. It does sound like he could benefit from supplementing. He’s 9.5 ounces at 3 weeks and the average is 12 ounces, but it also sounds like he is thriving.

Will mom let you pet her while she’s nursing so he can nurse longer? He’s probably starting to cut his baby teeth and it may bother mom if he bites her.

If you can get him to 5 weeks you can introduce soft mushy food. Then he can eat as much as he wants / needs and his growth will take off.

Here’s a helpful video. If your little guy realizes you’re giving him yummy milk he’ll enjoy the supplementing.

Syringe Feeding — Kitten Lady

I started letting momma kitty venture into my master and I've been staying in my bedroom so I can give her attention when she wants it and keep an eye on things. She then decided under my bed was preferable for her and the baby to being in the bathroom. She's been a lot more relaxed and letting the baby feed for much longer.

I suppose she just didn't like being alone and/or wanted to pick her own living arraignments. In any case she seems relaxed and not antsy. As I type this she's been feeding the kitten for a good 10-15 minutes and is just laying there with her eyes closed as content as can be. I expect that I'll be seeing the average weight gain per day going up from here.