Newborn Kittens

[HaiRai]

Hi everyone This is my first day on the site.

My cat had 6 kittens on 3/14/22, I just noticed that one of them has tiny scratches on the corner of his mouth. Is this from fighting his siblings for food? No one else has scratches or anything. He is the 3rd smallest of all 6, but he always fights with the biggest of them for the nipple.
Everyone is healthy, gaining 10-20g each day. they have a health evaluation on April 18th just in case. (That's the earliest my vet can fit them in)

Picture is of the kitten in question. He's a cutie

 

[HaiRai]

Here is a picture of the little scab!!

 

[di and bob]

That may very well be the reason, kittens fight ferociously for a favorite nipple. You might let him nurse alone for a while, while the others sleep, otherwise, all is normal and they will figure it out! Beautiful kitte! Make sure you have mom spayed when the kittens are 8 weeks old or so, mom will start weaning them then. Cats can and do come back into heat within weeks of giving birth and you will be swimming in kittens. I had one little female (I FINALLY trapped her!) that had 17 kittens over the summer. DO NOT let her outside!

 

[Sarthur2]

Yep, it’s from getting scratched. You can trim the very tips of their very sharp little kitten claws and that will help. Use a baby nail clipper.

Make sure, as Di and Bob said, that this baby gets its nipple time. The biggies always bully out the smalls in a litter this size.,

 

[vince]

I don't think they can retract their claws for a few weeks, either. That might be why he's getting scratched.

 

[Marley401]

Yep, it’s from getting scratched. You can trim the very tips of their very sharp little kitten claws and that will help. Use a baby nail clipper.

Make sure, as Di and Bob said, that this baby gets its nipple time. The biggies always bully out the smalls in a litter this size.,

I am curious, how do you make sure the littlest kittens get to nurse without the others interfering? Do you remove the others?

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, that or put them on nipples when the others are sleeping, or both.

 

[HaiRai]

I am curious, how do you make sure the littlest kittens get to nurse without the others interfering? Do you remove the others?

Hello sorry it's been so long. Yes I would just make sure she was getting food by removing the other kittens or cupping her in my hand around mommas nipple.
All 6 kittens are getting huge and have been gaining weight steadily

 

[HaiRai]

Hello all Mama and Kittens (5weeks now) all have a vet appointment on Monday. I was wondering if orange poop is normal for breast feeding kittens or if that means something is wrong. They just started using the litterbox today so I finally caught a glimpse of their poo since mama does most the work.

 

[HaiRai]

Oh and this is little runt girl now she weighed 45g when she was born. Now she's a whopping 300g

 

[Sarthur2]

Orange stool usually means there is too much bile in the stool. However, what are they eating? Are they still on mom’s milk only? Sometimes this will clear on its own. Other times it can be indicative of a liver problem. It’s difficult to say. It’s good you are seeing the vet soon. Hopefully all will be well.

 

[HaiRai]

Orange stool usually means there is too much bile in the stool. However, what are they eating? Are they still on mom’s milk only? Sometimes this will clear on its own. Other times it can be indicative of a liver problem. It’s difficult to say. It’s good you are seeing the vet soon. Hopefully all will be well.

They're still nursing on mama kitty. I'm hoping it's nothing serious like liver issues since they appear to be very healthy and Mama and dad cat don't have any hereditary health issues that we know of. But yes hopefully all is well at the vet appointment