When to supplement with formula

[Thewildflowermama]

My cat gave birth 3 days ago to 5 kittens.
I have been weighing them 2 times a day and they are all gaining! One is gaining weight super slowly! They were born on June 28 - the one I'm talking about was 88g at birth and today was only 104g.....
I have KMR kitten formula but I'm not sure if I should start using it or not?
Thoughts?

 

[Willowy]

It's best to see if you can help him get more nutrition from his mother first. Can you remove the larger kittens while they're sleeping, to give him access to the "good nipples" without any competition? If he can get some good alone time with mom, hopefully he won't need to be supplemented. Also give the mom cat some KMR to drink every day, and make sure she's eating kitten food, so her milk will be more nutritious. There's always a risk of aspiration when handfeeding kittens, so you don't want to do that unnecessarily.

 

[StefanZ]

Yes. Especially, as 16 grammes in 3 days, isnt good, but its no catastrophe either. So try Willowys advice first.

And during the time train on giving kmr / goats milk unless you are already very experienced with this. Use a dummy if you wish, and train to squieeze forward drop by drop.

Can you get raw goats milk? Its potentially even better than KMR.

 

[Thewildflowermama]

Hi!! Thank you for the replies.... we tried a tiny bit of formula but it really didnt want it.... theres one really big kitten that keeps taking the "good nipple" so I moved that one away so the little one could get on.... hopefully it worked.... I havent weighed them yet this morning because mama gets stressed out when I do!
I will definitely look into goats milk!
Mama is eating kitten food! So I should give her a bit of the formula as well?

 

[Thewildflowermama]

I tried to get a video but it wont let me.... it wont latch on the good nipple... it just kind of crawls away

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, give mama formula in a dish daily. She needs the extra calcium for nursing.

 

[Sarthur2]

Kittens tend to “claim” a nipple and continue to nurse only on that one for the duration. Do weigh him daily since he’s the runt. If he needs supplementing he will learn to take it from a syringe and begin to look forward to it.

Syringe Feeding — Kitten Lady

 

[Thewildflowermama]

Ok great! Thank you for the help!