Pregancy in young concerned about age of mother.

[jcbjlt]

3.1 and 2.8. The gray one is 4.1. It is the biggest. Will try the feeding. They are ALL latched on at this minute. That does not seem to last long. The cream ones seem so small, I wonder if they have different fathers. The orange and gray ones are fiesty and already are fighting for the same nipple.

 

[catwoman707]

Congrats on a nice looking litter!

I can tell from the pic that the one skinny one is going to have trouble, I can almost guarantee it.

It will likely die unless you begin helping it now, before the weakening really gets going, then nearly impossible to stop.

What you will want to do is, get an empty water bottle, make up some kmr in to it, not alot since stored is only good for up to 2 days, so maybe 1/4 of the bottle.

Mix the powder 2 to 1, 1 part kmr mix, 2 parts water.

When you need to supplement, pour a small amt from the refrigerated bottle of mix, so it's ready.

Make a bowl or mug of very hot water, and float a small container on top of the hot water to warm up the formula.

You will need to use a 1 ml no needle syringe, it's the really skinny, smaller then a pencil size.

When the milk is warm, draw it up in syringe, wrap baby in a towel loosely, and sit at a kitchen table with a towel down and baby on that.

Feeding is tough when they have momma and will fight it,  so lots of patience is needed.

With baby in front of you, on it's tummy/paws, pick the head up slightly and push the syringe in to the side of the mouth until it opens, then drop one little drop of milk in to the cheek area, never in the throat!

Tiny newborns are very hard to gauge breathing, they squirm and will be mad, crying, etc. and will inhale easier then imaginable, one tiny drop inhaled is pneumonia and death, so this is critical.

After doing so a few times you will be more confident.

Baby will not take a bottle so don't even bother with that.

Only time is when there is no momma.

Feed 2 syringes full, as many times a day as possible. Squirt a full syringe in your hand, you will see it looks like more in the syringe then it really is, a very small amt.

Once you get 2 in to the baby, put back.

Just know it takes time to get 2 syringes in to it, and it will get cold, so to rewarm just drop the syringe filled directly in to the hot water for maybe 1/2 a minute if even, you will know by feeling it.

They hate being syringed, and hate it even more if it's cold milk!

Most def start doing this for the tiny one, very important if you want this one to get stronger and thrive.

 

[jcbjlt]

I had tried feeding the kitten in the box and of course it was a nightmare. Mom was not happy. I did what you said -snuck the kitten out. He hated every minute of it. I did it again and the next one liked it! Only one of three tolerated it well.
I will keep doing this every couple hours but I must go to work and I still need to go to the vet today!

 

[Sarthur2]

So glad you are syringing. Can you weigh them tonight? Feed the tiny one every chance you get for now! [emoji]128149[/emoji]

 

[catwoman707]

I had tried feeding the kitten in the box and of course it was a nightmare. Mom was not happy. I did what you said -snuck the kitten out. He hated every minute of it. I did it again and the next one liked it! Only one of three tolerated it well.
I will keep doing this every couple hours but I must go to work and I still need to go to the vet today!

I know it! Darn babies start crying out when you sneak them away from mom so of course she gets all stressed and wants baby back.

Funny!

 

[jcbjlt]

They are doing great!!! All suckling from mom. She is excellent and won't leave them except to go to the bathroom and snack. She freaked out when I crumpled the dirty old newspaper the day before. I think she thought I was stealing a kitten? Very weird. She blocked my way so I could not leave-meowing like when she was in labor. It was a little scary.
I think the KMR gave them the energy to fight to get to a nipple. I can tell they are improving. I gave it to them five times and to all three cream kittens since they were the littlest.
I called the vet. He does not think she has a URI or herpes as she does not sneeze except when drinking water. He asked about eye/nasal discharge, cough, fever and appetite. I said no other symptoms except the vaginal discharge before birth. In regards to the vaginal discharge, apparently the old sample I have is now bad and I need to collect a new one. He will give me a swab but he thinks I should wait as it will clear up now the birth has occurred.
I did not reweigh them but I will tomorrow. I can tell they are getting stronger!!
Can I quit supplementing? It is time consuming but if I need to I will? Do the bottles with nipples they at the feed store for kittens work? Seems much easier. Using a syringe is almost an art!!

 

[talkingpeanut]

You will know by weighing them if they need supplementing or if they are thriving.  By weighing them daily, you are making sure that they are gaining enough per day.  For now, you will need to continue using the syringe.  Kittens with moms will not take a bottle.

You're all doing great!

 

[Sarthur2]

Is mom still having the vaginal discharge?

 

[handsome kitty]

You are doing an awesome job!  Yes, it's time consuming and a lot of work to syringe feed the kittens, but if you get them off to a good start it can make a huge difference down the road.

 

[jcbjlt]

I can't tell if mom is having discharge yet. No smell and she is quite meticulous about cleaning right now. I think she is an excellent mother. She will not leave the box for more than a few minutes. Weights. 3.0, 3.3 and 3.4 for the three cream ones. I could not tell the difference between the three to verify who I weighed on day 1. Is this good or do the need more? I only fed twice today. I thought weights would be a litter higher.
Thoughts? They same healthy? No signs of URI in kittens. They seem healthy. Mom does not sneeze when she drinks the KMR I make her but does sneeze with water? I did notice some water droplets on her nose after she sneezed today.

 

[talkingpeanut]

I think you need to continue to supplement.  I would try for 3-4 times per day.  How much are you feeding each time?  You can also rotate the babies so the little ones get time with mom while the bigger babies are sleeping.  

 

[handsome kitty]

You can mark the cream kittens with a sharpie on the tail or under the forearm so you can tell them apart.   You will need to reapply as it is cleaned off.

 

[raina21]

You can also do washable marker on their inner ears (or colored sharpie, but the fumes of those things are so strong, I wouldn't color their whole inner ear with that, a little dot would probably do).

 

[jcbjlt]

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• jcbjlt
• Apr 7, 2016

I just ran home from work for lunch (kitten feeding) and found the mom and one kitten outside of the box. Why did mom pull out one kitten only to feed it? The other four kittens are in the box sleeping. I put them all back together.

Also the ears of two of the cream kittens are turning dark but only on the tips. I think they might be the point color kittens.

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• jcbjlt
• Apr 7, 2016

 

[StefanZ]

I just ran home from work for lunch (kitten feeding) and found the mom and one kitten outside of the box. Why did mom pull out one kitten only to feed it? The other four kittens are in the box sleeping. I put them all back together.

Also the ears of two of the cream kittens are turning dark but only on the tips. I think they might be the point color kittens.
 

Good question.  But it would be worse with vice versa, mom taking one out, and more or less abandoning it.

Here it may be she feels the kitten needs some quaity time alone with momma.  So beware if this kitten is a runt. If so, support momma in her helping.

Cat moms tend to abandon the weak kitten, but sometimes we can see they take extra care of the weak.

Yeah, these whities are surely points to be.   This is much more common than solid white kittens from a non solid white momma.   - Unless you have reason to think the dad was solid white.

Solid white gene, alike white spot gene, are dominant, so they show always, if the cat carries the gene.

While the point gene is recessive, and thus both momma and daddy must carry it, and must meet in the kitten doubled up, to show on that kitten.

With two carriers, one or two kittens in a typical litter will be points.