I was given 5 3-week-old kittens to foster yesterday. I'm feeding them KMR with a bottle, stimulating them after meals, weighing them before and after, and giving them a heat source they can crawl away from. But it's been less than 24 hours and I already have questions.
1. They are TINY. Like the size of newborns. The littliest was 112g on arrival (108 this morning) and the biggest 169g (now 180). So I know kittens should gain about 14g per day, but what if they're so severely underweight? Should they be gaining more to catch up? If so how much?
2. Greenish stool: how worried should I be? Consistency is normal.
3. Also, the teensiest kit pooed a LOT (greenish), and had a tiny bit of red blood at the end. Likely from straining, or should I be panicking? He's already lost 4g, and he's struggling to latch so I'm getting a miracle nipple today. Hopefully he'll eat better with the smaller nip.
I've only had 1 bottle baby before and he was a hefty 320g at 10 days, so these miniture rugrats are intimidating. Any help/cheerleading much appreciated
1. They are TINY. Like the size of newborns. The littliest was 112g on arrival (108 this morning) and the biggest 169g (now 180). So I know kittens should gain about 14g per day, but what if they're so severely underweight? Should they be gaining more to catch up? If so how much?
2. Greenish stool: how worried should I be? Consistency is normal.
3. Also, the teensiest kit pooed a LOT (greenish), and had a tiny bit of red blood at the end. Likely from straining, or should I be panicking? He's already lost 4g, and he's struggling to latch so I'm getting a miracle nipple today. Hopefully he'll eat better with the smaller nip.
I've only had 1 bottle baby before and he was a hefty 320g at 10 days, so these miniture rugrats are intimidating. Any help/cheerleading much appreciated