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- Mar 19, 2021
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We picked up our pregnant foster on Thursday and 23 hours later she had 6 kittens. She is very young and this is likely her first litter—I had to cut the cords on #4 and #5 and she sat on the kittens too many times in the first few hours (she’s doing much better now). The runt only weighed 72 grams, had trouble latching, and seemed to be exiled at first, but I spent hours helping him through the night and he’s got it down now and is no longer sitting by himself. Twenty four hours after the completion of the birth, the runt has gained 9 grams (and he didn’t eat for the first 3 or 4 hours and fell off or was kicked off until this morning) and the other 5 gained 13 to 20 grams. There seem to be 5 of the 8 nipples that are working or are preferred—I can’t get anyone to latch onto the other three. And of course, Runt’s favorite nipple is also preferred by one of his bigger siblings.
I’ve seen several recommendations on other threads here that I should supplement with KMR sometimes when there are six or more kittens, paying particular attention to the runt. Is this true? And if so, do I only supplement when one individual doesn’t gain 10 grams or do I do it every day or every other day, rotating through the lineup, to help decrease the amount of milk mama needs to produce? She’s a small cat. I would guess 5 pounds pre-kittens.
Thanks in advance for your help. This site was so helpful with our first pregnant foster (who lost her babies in pregnancy).
I’ve seen several recommendations on other threads here that I should supplement with KMR sometimes when there are six or more kittens, paying particular attention to the runt. Is this true? And if so, do I only supplement when one individual doesn’t gain 10 grams or do I do it every day or every other day, rotating through the lineup, to help decrease the amount of milk mama needs to produce? She’s a small cat. I would guess 5 pounds pre-kittens.
Thanks in advance for your help. This site was so helpful with our first pregnant foster (who lost her babies in pregnancy).