Advice Needed

[iloveallcats]

A 2 days old orphan kitten was found and i offered to take him in my care since i had in care young orphaned kittens before. They found a cat mom for him, the cat accepted him, but he doesn't suckle on his new mom! This is his second day with his new mom, they had to feed him with a syringe because it didn't work with the mom. They don't have enough time to take care of him, so i would take him, but a cat mom is always the better solution, any advice?

 

[di and bob]

He may need to get a little stronger before he can accept step mom. A little honey applied to teh gums of his mouth may make him a little stronger temporarily, but he may be just too weak to suckle. If he can't suckle mom, he will have to be syringe/bottle fed. Make sure he is kept very warm, a cold kitten can't function.Their are others who are much more experienced then me on this site, it is very early in the morning here, I'm sure they will be on to help you. Bless you for trying to help, keep us posted!

 

[StefanZ]

Yes, but if he doesnt suckle so he doesnt suckle... He may be too weak for it as yet - and will perhaps perk up later on.
He may be a weak suckler, perhaps the wacuum effect too weak. but if he can swallow, he can often be saved by handfeeding with a syringe.
Best is probably if they can try with hand feeding two-three days more (if necessary little but often).

If not, you have two possibilities - take over momma and all - you do the handfeeding, momma helps with care and warmth. Hoping he kicks in as extra bonus.

OR - you take over the whole responsibility. Its not easy but may be done if determined. And you arent totally newbe, so he does have a fighting chance with you.

 

[iloveallcats]

He may need to get a little stronger before he can accept step mom. A little honey applied to teh gums of his mouth may make him a little stronger temporarily, but he may be just too weak to suckle. If he can't suckle mom, he will have to be syringe/bottle fed. Make sure he is kept very warm, a cold kitten can't function.Their are others who are much more experienced then me on this site, it is very early in the morning here, I'm sure they will be on to help you. Bless you for trying to help, keep us posted!

I thought he might be too weak, but he has quite a lot of energy, he has a very strong meow also. I don't think that is the problem, this is why i am quite confused and i don't know what to do.
Thank you for your answer though!

 

[iloveallcats]

Yes, but if he doesnt suckle so he doesnt suckle... He may be too weak for it as yet - and will perhaps perk up later on.
He may be a weak suckler, perhaps the wacuum effect too weak. but if he can swallow, he can often be saved by handfeeking with a syringe.
Best is probably if they can try with hand feeding two-three days more (if necessary little but often).

If not, you have two possibilities - take over momma and all - you do the handfeeding, momma helps with care and warmth. Hoping he kicks in as extra bonus.

OR - you take over the whole responsibility. Its not easy but may be done if determined. And you arent totally newbe, so he does have a fighting chance with you.

I cannot take him with the momma cat, she has kittens too, and her owners won't give her away. I also wouldn't be able to take in an adult cat, since i have adult cats myself and i only keep kittens that i foster in one special room. I would definitely take full responsability because i fostered newborns before, but i just don't know what to do in this kind of situation. As i said, he seems very energetic, so i don't think weakness is the problem..

 

[StefanZ]

Ok, so the options is, if they can handfeed him a couple of days more - to see if he begins to suckle from momma (and monitor by weighting him daily, to be sure he eats)

Or you swallow the disappoinment, and take him yourself taking full responsibility.

Cat momma is best, but a dedicated rescuer is the very good second best.

 

[iloveallcats]

Ok, so the options is, if they can handfeed him a couple of days more - to see if he begins to suckle from momma (and monitor by weighting him daily, to be sure he eats)

Or you swallow the disappoinment, and take him yourself taking full responsibility.

Cat momma is best, but a dedicated rescuer is the very good second best.

Thank you so so much for the advice! Hope the little one will start suckling from momma!

 

[talkingpeanut]

They need to weigh him daily to make sure he doesn't take a turn. I wouldn't wait more than a day. It doesn't sound like he's getting anything to eat.

 

[iloveallcats]

They need to weigh him daily to make sure he doesn't take a turn. I wouldn't wait more than a day. It doesn't sound like he's getting anything to eat.

There isn't much i can do rather than take him in my care.I don't even know the people that have him right now. I only talked to the organisation that found him and they keep me updated with everything. They found another momma cat but they are waiting for the owners response.
I will keep everyone updated.

 

[iloveallcats]

Good news! They found a mom cat with younger kittens and he immediatly latched on her!

 

[talkingpeanut]

Great! They will need to continue to weigh the little one to monitor!

 

[StefanZ]

Yes, its absolutely necessary to continue to weigh, unless he is visibly thriving and visibly adding. Its not unusual a weak suckler latches on and hangs on, but dont get really hardly anything...

We had for example, once a horror here, with a kitten whom latched, suckled and even got supplements. After several weeks we asked for photos, and saw - a pitiful skeleton with some fur on...

He apparently hardly didnt got nothing from momma although he "latched and suckled" and the supplement was 1 ml at a time - what was perhaps almost enough for an newborn, wasnt nowhere OK for a 8 weeks kitten...

A terrible and forceful memento about weighting. If you arent very experienced, and or see the kitten visibly thriwing and gaining - daily weighting is a must if you want to be succesfull.