Newborn kittens don't gain weight the first 24 hours?

[fio15]

A friend found a pregnant cat about a week ago and we brought her to my house to care for her as she looked like she was about ready to pop. We took her to the vet on Monday and she did not really want to say much about a pregnancy until she could do a $200 X-ray. [emoji]128530[/emoji] Lo and behold, the cat gave birth the next day (well really 2 days later) on Wednesday early morning, we were up with her from 2am until 7am. She had 5 kittens at this time. We were so exhausted that we did not think to weigh the kittens but did so later in the morning around 10-11am. Their stats were 85g, 100g, 105g, 85g, 83g. Later that day around 6pm she had two more and they were 93g and 91g. She had one final one the next day but it was a stillborn [emoji]128532[/emoji]. Well the problem is that it has now been more than 24 hours and the kittens have not gained any weight, with some of them even losing a couple grams. I called the vet and they told me not to worry that they don't gain weight as easy at first but that if by the 3rd or 4th day they still hadn't gained anything to call them. I've been reading and I haven't really seen anything to support this so I'm not sure if I should be worried or not. We bought some formula just in case, should we try feeding them on top of what their mom is already feeding? They all seem to be nursing and sleeping just fine. Please some advice would be much appreciated :-)

image.jpg

• fio15
• Apr 17, 2014

 

[andrya]

Hi there.

Thank you for helping to take care of this cat and her kittens. l'm sorry, l have no experience with kittening at all, but my answer will bump the thread.

Do you have a dropper and KMR or any type of kitten milk available to give them a jump start?

lf you do go the dropper, or bottle route, it's important to feed the kittens with their bellies down just as they suckle their mother, not belly up as this is dangerous.

l'm sure someone with more experience will be by shortly, please keep checking back, and keep us updated on their progress.

@StefanZ    @tulosai  

 

[tulosai]

I am on a phone so will try to reply in more detail later. They should have gained weight by now-10 grams each minimum. It is very bad that some have lost weight. Please begin feeding them with a dropper every 2 hours (ideally-every 4 minimum) immediately. Your vet sounds very ignorant. This is a very serious situation.

When you feed make sure it is just a few drops at once into cheek not mouth. They Must be in same position they'd be in if feeding from mom belly down.

Good luck. Keep us updated.

 

[fio15]

Thanks so much for answering! Since they are also feeding for their mother, approximately how much should I start feeding each baby?

 

[fio15]

*from

 

[tulosai]

Okay a bit more.

Kittens don't always gain weight in the first 24 hours but I am reading this as their in reality not having gained weight in well over 36 hours at this point. We like to see weight gain on the first day but after that for sure gain should be steady. 3-4 days is much too long to wait

I am also so concerned because Some have what is considered a low birth weight- below 90 grams. Again i highly recommend you begin supplementing them until you are sure they are on the right track.

Keep us updated!

 

[tulosai]

Thanks so much for answering! Since they are also feeding for their mother, approximately how much should I start feeding each baby?

Just as much as they will take. You will know when they are done

And you are very welcome! They are adorable

 

[catwoman707]

Honestly, if mom is making milk, they are nursing, rather than going off by themselves and laying alone getting cold, normally there's no need to weight them when they have mom there.

Unless of course they are not latched on due to no milk production, or if she wasn't making herself available for them to nurse, then it's another story.

Those kittens in the pic look fine, and they have some lower weights because she had such a large litter.

The only thing you need to know is, that mom is producing milk, who the runts are, because the number one reason they often don't survive is because the bigger kittens constantly bump them off of the nipple that they want, the runt will try a few times, but ends up just going to sleep without.

Day after day of this causes them to not get enough to grow and get stronger, which begins to show soon, and the runt fails to thrive, almost like gives up, and ends up dying.

Especially because this is a big litter, and there will likely be more than one runt.

 

[fio15]

The problem is that it's not just the runts not gaining, it's all of them.. And from what I've been seeing, all of them always find a nipple, unless some nipples are giving more milk than others? So far I am having no luck feeding them.. I am giving the milk on their cheeks and they want nothing to do with it, they start squirming and crying and will let the milk drip and won't drink any of it. They are not happy until they are back on their moms nipple. Should I try putting the dropper inside their mouth?

 

[fio15]

What about if I feed the kmr to the mom?

 

[tulosai]

You don't need to feed KMR to the mom Just make sure she has access to high quality kitten food and is able to eat as much as she wants.

Definitely do not put the dropper into the kittens mouth- you really have to get the KMR into the cheek If not it can lead to them choking and other pad things. Are you putting just a few drops at a time?

Unlike Catwoman707 I do weigh kittens every day even when with mom just to make sure they are okay. Normally,they are, but that's how I keep track and more quickly identify runts etc. Catwoman has a lot lot lot of experience so I am not meaning to say she is wrong in anything she said, just that I have  a different approach. Like I said above, they usually gain weight the first day but should definitely show weight gain by the second day.  My current fosters weighed 89, 94, 107, and 111 grams at birth. The next day they were 102, 105, 122, and 115 grams respectively. I made a note to watch the one who only gained 4 grams but the next day she was 132 grams so all was well This is fairly typical gain in the first few days in my experience.  It has happened to me that they either didn't gain much or stayed the same the first day, but I remain somewhat concerned in your case.

One question for you is are you sure that mom is producing milk? I assume yes, but it never hurts to check.

I do agree with Catwoman that they look healthy 

 

 

[tulosai]

Another option wold be to wait until morning and weigh them and evaluate again then.

 

[catwoman707]

Feeding kmr to mom is a good thing, if she is not eating a great quality food now, although not necessary. However, it MUST be diluted for her as it tends to cause diarrhea otherwise.

It's good for extra nutrients not only for her, who has basically depleted her reserve of nutrients for her growing babies prior to birht.

I understand what you are saying, that none of them have gained, but think about this. Now if you were feeding orphaned babies, then it is critical to weight them each daily and keep a chart on the progress, gain, etc.

But this is not the case.

Anytime I have a mom with her babies here, I have never weighed them, as long as I can see that everyone is nursing, and that mom is allowing this plenty, and she has a good supply of milk for them.

I leave the rest for her, only being observant often, watching that the runt(s) are "plugged" in and not getting bumped off too often.  If there ever seems to be one that might seem "off" a bit, or is away from the rest and mom, then I will intervene, weighing, supplementing, and so on.

By the way, there is basically no chance in hell that your babys are going to allow you to bottle feed when they have mom's warmth and softness and comfort.

This is why kittens who were formerly nursing, but before theyre weaned and end up without mom, they are extremely difficult to get to accept drinking a bottle. It takes try after try, until finally, about the 4th or even the 5th relentless try, they will finally go for it.

Back and forth is just not natural for kittens, which is why when they do have their mom, but for some reason they do need you to help along and supplement, it's going to need to be syringed rather than bottle fed, as they won't accept a bottle if they still have mom too.

They look fine, healthy, and so stop weighing them or you are going to drive yourself into alot of unnecessary stress.

Simply observe, and intervene IF it is needed at some time. As long as you are sure she has a good milk supply.

 

[fio15]

Thank you guys so much for all this advice :-) You are right, I am driving myself nuts thinking the worst. I couldn't help myself and I weighed a couple of them one last time this morning just to see if there was any changes but unfortunately they are still the same. I did check the teats and if I squeeze them two small dots of milk show up, so I'm thinking she has a good milk supply. One of the reasons I've been so worried is that since she's been living outside, her nutrition must have been pretty bad and she is very much on the skinny side, we had her dewormed a couple days before she gave birth and yesterday we put her on frontline because she had more than a couple fleas on her. I was thinking that maybe her supply of milk does not have all the nutrients that the kittens need. But they do seem to all be drinking and sleeping and moving fine so I will leave them alone for now. I am feeding her Taste of the Wild which is a holistic food mixed with some kitten food and since last night started giving her the diluted kmr. Oh and just out of curiosity.. How can you guys tell they are healthy from that picture? I was also hoping something's wrong with my balance but I've been weighing other things and it doesn't seem that way.. Well I will stop stressing for now and just hope they gradually start gaining. In any case, when would it be a good time to intervene? Thanks so so much again ;-)

 

[fio15]

image.jpg

• fio15
• Apr 18, 2014

Mommy and babies

 

[fio15]

Ok one last last thing, I live in florida and my house is usually around 77-80 degrees. I thought that was hot enough for them so I haven't provided anything other than blankets and old clothes. Should I put a heating pad under their blanket?

 

[catwoman707]

No hun, do not put a heating pad down. 

They will get too hot and mom won't lay there and nurse.

Theyre fine in normal temps, even a bit colder. Imagine moms outside in the winter, or having kits in early spring, it's still really cold at night, but her body is plenty for them to stay warm.

SOOO glad to hear your feet are back on the ground, I totally understand though! I didn't always have this much experience, believe me! Just many years and have learned everything the hard way, haha!!

Most of the time, mom should be supplied plenty of fresh water, they really go through it when nursing, to produce all that milk supply.

It's good to offer kmr diluted maybe a small amt once a day is perfect. After a week or so maybe every other day.

Just not too much or too often or she WILL have diarrhea everywhere.

So it does sound like she's got plenty of milk, so no more worrying needlessly

Yes, some do produce more than others, the lower are best, and the biggest ones usually will reserve one of those for themselves.

Yep! Did you know that kittens have one favorite nipple they choose very early on and will nurse on that one the rest of the time? Pretty darn amazing in my opinion!

This is why you will see one nursing away, and another come along and start pushing him off to get to it. "it's mine!!" haha

Time to intervene would be, during observating, you notice something's amiss. You rarely see this in the bigger ones, it's almost always in the small ones, for the very reason I was explaining before, it would take a very feisty fighter runt to get dibs on one of the better nipples, plus she has what, 7 babies? So that means that unless the small ones are feisty little boogs, you want to keep a very watchful eye on them in particular.

You want to clearly see them nursing away, not for a minute or so before a big one comes along and pushes him off, but nursing for a while. Latched on too, this was another thing that used to fool me. It appears they are all lined up, going to town nursing/sleeping, but in much closer observation, they are merely there and not latched on at all, they were bumped off and unable to nurse.

This WILL cause a problem for them sooner or later, they will not continue to thrive, due to lack of actually nursing enough. I do suspect you can likely expect this to happen, since there are so many.

You never want to see a baby off on it's own sleeping either. This is a sign that one is giving up due to lack of being able to nurse.

VERY simple solution for this.

You will get a box, heating pad on the bottom half way covering the bottom in case it is too warm and the kittens need to move away from the heat, and cover the pad with a towel. Every so often, pull the biggest out and keep in the warm box out of mom's reach, and allow the little ones to nurse away for a couple hours.

Then put them back in. If you do this several times a day you will have all kittens thriving and doing great

 

[lolasky]

Awwww they are lovely, wow she had quite a few! 

 

[fio15]

Yes I just can't help it because I really want them all to be okay, I can't stand the thought of losing even one [emoji]128542[/emoji] what do you think could be the reason that they're not gaining weight?
There's one that has been acting a little off actually, I mentioned that all of them have lost a couple grams but she's the one that has lost the most, about 10 since birth. Here's a picture of them right now:

image.jpg

• fio15
• Apr 18, 2014

She'll suddenly fall asleep while nursing, if I nudge her a little she'll wake up and get back to it though:

image.jpg

• fio15
• Apr 18, 2014

 

[tulosai]

I am concerned that one has lost 10 grams since birth.  What is his weight now?