Counting Down...

[Sarthur2]

Please get weights today. With six it’s important to know that all are getting enough.

Give mom a dish of KMR a day. She needs the calcium for nursing.

 

[Whitney_erin]

Awe they are beautiful, congratulations! I can't believe she had 6 wow!

 

[Thestarcatcher]

Please get weights today. With six it’s important to know that all are getting enough.

Give mom a dish of KMR a day. She needs the calcium for nursing.

The only reason I didn’t get weights yesterday was because they were all constantly feeding. When I tried to remove them from mom they would pull on her nipple. She was getting distressed so I stopped.

 

[Thestarcatcher]

She is breathing a little bit quickly and keeps trying to lick herself but the kittens are constantly nursing and fighting over nipples lol.
View attachment 231518

Sarthur2 any tips on how I can supplement the runt? I’m super nervous. He weighed in at 74 grams today while all the others seem to be gaining. I’m supplementing those 4 weeks old but he is just so small... how can I be careful while ensuring he gets enough food? Or can I separate the rest and just have him nurse for awhile? Not sure if that would work because I want all of them to get their share.

 

[Thestarcatcher]

Here you can see the size difference pretty well...

 

[ileen]

What are their weights?

 

[Sarthur2]

You can do both. Put him on mama when the others are sleeping, AND supplement.

Best to use a very small one mL syringe. Ask for one at a pharmacy. Feed tummy down, head up, drop by drop in the side of the mouth. Try to get 1mL into him at a time initially. Allow time for him to swallow and breathe between drops.

Here’s a video:

Syringe Feeding

74 grams is very small. Has he been gaining at all? Are you weighing daily?

 

[Thestarcatcher]

I finally found an opportunity to weigh today. Mom and I have a good relationship, but she gets wary of me and stressed out when I remove them or move them. The others seem to be growing well (I can physically see his growth) however as far as this one I haven’t seen much. I’m a bit confused because every time I go over there he is nursing, I will try feeding him one ml a day slowly. I’m always afraid she will reject them because I do have other kittens and I touch them. I wash my hands very well in between but she smelled my hand today and when I tried petting her, her reaction was more standoffish than normal.

 

[Sarthur2]

So what does this kitten weigh?

 

[Thestarcatcher]

So what does this kitten weigh?

He weighs 73 grams. I wasn’t able to feed him that much. It seems he has trouble identifying a nipple even if I hold him there. Mama trusts me, but gets distressed if I hold him there too long. She just wants me to pet her lol. I’m praying that I’m able to get him to eat more. I will be diligent and try again in an hour or two

 

[Sarthur2]

Did you watch the syringe feeding video I posted?

This kitten needs 1.5 mLs every 2 hours if he’s not getting food from mom. It’s very important. You may lose him otherwise.

He needs 20mLs each 24 hours right now.

 

[Thestarcatcher]

Did you watch the syringe feeding video I posted?

This kitten needs 1.5 mLs every 2 hours if he’s not getting food from mom. It’s very important. You may lose him otherwise.

He needs 20mLs each 24 hours right now.

Yes I did. He is latched right now I’ve been keeping an eye on him. I’m very familiar with kitten lady’s videos. He had no desire to eat at this point and when I came back into the room he was doing good on mama. I will keep trying to feed him but I can’t force feed him because otherwise since he has no gag reflex he will possible aspirate. I’ll weigh him tonight to see where he’s at. I use kitten lady’s method with my 4 fosters and so far they are doing great. I’m just so scared to correct this one during feeding.

 

[Sarthur2]

I must be confused. I thought he wasn’t latching on mom.

 

[Thestarcatcher]

I must be confused. I thought he wasn’t latching on mom.

He wasn’t. I kept trying and he wasn’t. So I tried feeding him with a syringe and then he refused that except for a few drops. Then he went back to sleep. I went back in the room to check on him 20 minutes later and he was latched. I’m not sure why he has such a hard time sometimes. Even when I was correcting him and he was searching, he would go in the opposite direction. But then when I came back in all were latched, even him.

 

[Thestarcatcher]

Sarthur2 so I had decided to weigh the kittens today and now mama is going crazy. She keeps making a deep meowing noise at me and moved a single one of her kittens into a box she then kept coming up to me and meowing excessively. So I put on a pair of gloves, moved all of her kittens to the box, and started the laundry on her birthing blankets. Now she is just abandoning them in the box and keeps coming up to me meowing and isn’t satisfied when I pet her. She is well fed. I fed her ample canned food today and kmr. Any ideas why? She seemed really destressed that I touched her babies. I weighed only 2. The one I weighed was one of the grey tabby who was 106 grams. I then weighed the runt who weighed around 76 grams. I’m worried about him but I’m scared that she will now abandon them if I touch them what should I do?

 

[Sarthur2]

She’s anxious because you upset her comfy box. She’s confused when you move things around.

Be prepared to immediately replace blankets in her favorite box when you change the bedding. Make it go quick!

Are you weighing them in front of her? You should, that way she sees that you are not harming her babies.

She should be okay!

Since the runt is the one to be concerned with for now, just weigh him daily right now as long as the others seem okay.

 

[Thestarcatcher]

She’s anxious because you upset her comfy box. She’s confused when you move things around.

Be prepared to immediately replace blankets in her favorite box when you change the bedding. Make it go quick!

Are you weighing them in front of her? You should, that way she sees that you are not harming her babies.

She should be okay!

Since the runt is the one to be concerned with for now, just weigh him daily right now as long as the others seem okay.

She didn’t have them in a box...she had them in a corner...All I did was weigh the two kittens, in front of her. After I would put them back she wouldn’t take my affection anymore. Before I touched them she was fine. So she moved one of them to the box. Since she moved one, I decided to just move all of them in there so that I could change the bedding. So I washed her bedding, came back and she was in there with them but being distressed as described above. So I ended up fishing the laundry, putting things back how they were, moving the babies to the corner, putting blankets in that box (because at that time it didn’t have any since we used a lot during birth, and then I put them all back in. She was cautious of the blankets at first and even now moved them. To the front of the box. I would weigh them not too far away from her on a table in our room since scales aren’t accurate on carpet...if I see improvements in his size should I still keep weighing to be sure? I don’t want to stress her out so much.

 

[Thestarcatcher]

Just weighed him...he is at 77 grams. Every time I see him though he is latched onto mom with the others?? How long do they normally latch in order to get adequate feedings?

 

[Thestarcatcher]

Kitten update!!
All the kittens have started opening their eyes! They will be 2 weeks on Monday!




I will take more photos later! Mama has been getting more trust worthy with handling and actually is more afraid when I do wear gloves. So I thoroughly wash my hands before and after handling

 

[ileen]

How's the weight of the runt?