Bottle Baby Sneezing/coughing While Feeding

[egatron]

Hello everyone! First time poster here.

A little over a week ago, I realized one of the feral cats I regularly feed gave birth in a neighbour's vegetable bin (mostly empty) so we've been keeping close eye on them. Unfortunately a couple days later the bin tipped over, possibly as mom was trying to jump atop and we found one of the kittens trapped under one of the drawer parts. He must have gotten very lucky, because even though he was chilled pretty badly, he mewed and seemed to be fine. We offered him to his mom, who is a experienced mother, but she wasn't that interested. He seemed very weak, so we warmed him up with our body heat first, then with a hot water bag. I knew this could cause the mom to abandon him, but it seemed to be his best bet. Then we brought a wooden box and put the kittens in it. Mom cat settled in and accepted the nest. But she didn't accept the little one, because the next day we saw that she had separated him from his siblings Feeling sorry and guilty for this, I took the kitten to my house.

Sorry for the long introduction! I find it wrong to separate kittens from their mothers so young, so I felt the need to explain. Anyhow, he has been doing fine so far (14 days old today) apart from his feeding habits. He's very greedy and very active, making it impossible for me to keep him still on his belly and lift his head. He mostly eats "floating" in my palm. Also, I need to be extra careful not to give him anything more than enough to fill the nipple, or he goes in a sneezing fit and worries me for at least until his next feeding, googling aspiration pneumonia symptoms! This is my main concern. I went to my vet clinic and asked for a detailed explanation of the condition, twice! They told me I would notice an immediate difference if any milk got in his lungs and also stated that it was only called "pneumonia" because of the similarity of symptoms to pneumonia and that it wasn't actually pneumonia. They then went on to advise feeding him on his back like a human baby though, and that cancelled all they said. Is there any reason why it could be okay to feed a kitten that way? I didn't feel like I could correct them on it but that didn't sit well for me because I take my adult cat to that same clinic. I then visited another vet, who gave kitten's lungs a listen and informed me that he was fine. The problem is, kitten has done this sneezing thing a few more times after that, and I feel like I could only be certain if I took him to vet after every single feeding!

When it happens I hold him upside down and gently pat his back until he stops sneezing and starts mewing again. There is no visible deformity of the palate. He's fine if I feed his formula in little chunks (I keep the formula in a syringe and put 1 cc in his bottle, feed, put 1 cc and so on - he squirms way too much for me to confidently hold the bottle otherwise), he swallows some air because of this but I burp him every time and he doesn't have much problem letting out the gas. It's just that he's a fast eater and he can't swallow fast enough if I don't pull back the bottle before formula fills the nipple for a second time. I feel like I'm affirming his greediness by doing this and that makes me worry he'll try eating just as fast when he's moved on to lapping his food from trays, when I can't control if he inhales any food or water, although I admit that it is a little too early to fret about that already

To sum up: I'm a neurotic first-time foster mom, and I'd like to hear anyone who's had experience with aspiration pneumonia. Is it immediately obvious if a kitten is developing it? Would I notice any rattling? If a kitten sneezes while feeding, does that mean he's definitely aspirated? (I use surgical gloves to handle him as I don't want to put my adult cat at any risk before I get the kitten dewormed and vaccinated - maybe he doesn't like the smell of them? We basically "wrestle" each feeding - maybe it's just the formula on his face that irritates him? I haven't seen any milk come up his nose so far.) I would also appreciate any bottle-feeding tips. Don't hesitate to tell me off if anything I described sounds wrong! I've learned a lot from this forum, foster care or otherwise. I apologize for the lengthy post, but I had no idea on foster care until last week... And I would definitely give him over to someone experienced if I could, but there's no such community where I live.

Thanks in advance!

 

[lacy2000]

You are correct when you feed him on his stomach. There is no reason to feed a kitten on its back.

Sneezing doesn’t necessarily mean he aspirated. It means he is successfully expelling it from his respiratory system. I’ve had quite a few kittens sneeze milk and none of them have had any issues. Have you tried feeding more often? It might prevent him from being too eager to drink and he will drink slower. You can also try letting him eat as much as he can, waiting a few minutes, and offering it again. A lot of times kittens like second or even third rounds of formula, which will allow him to eat more and not be as hungry for the next feeding.

Thanks for rescuing this baby! Any pictures?

 

[egatron]

First two is from his first day, the one with his toy is the most recent.

Relief to hear that! He is over a week old, I have been trying to convince myself that his reflexes must be better than a newborn. I'm feeding him every 3 hours, sooner if he starts whining but I have to wake him up most times. Today he cried for the bottle only an hour after his feeding for example, and he was still very eager. But he was hungry then. I could certainly try feeding more often during the day. I do let him have breaks, maybe not long enough. He's definitely calmer when he's almost done, purring and suckling way slower.

Thanks for the reassurance

 

[lacy2000]

He’s gorgeous! Every 3 hours seems the correct amount of time between feedings. You seem to be doing everything right!

One thing I am also thinking of is that a nipple with a hole that’s too large can cause sneezing because too much milk comes out. If you can get another nipple and poke a smaller hole or use a miracle nipple (the holes are already there) it might be worth a try!

 

[egatron]

I finally figured out how to upload a file but it's taking ages for me, so here's my favorite photo of him



The first nipple I used was cut a little too large, it was dripping rather fast when the bottle was held upside down but then I got a new one. Both are cut in a cross shape as advised by the vet, but I guess a cross might release too much when suckled. I tried piercing with a needle first, but that didn't work at all. I saw miracle nipple in a video and LOVED it, unfortunately no sellers ship to where I live. I'll be on the lookout for it anyway, never too late to be safe I might also get another bottle and try to pierce several holes on the nipple with a needle to see if that would help.

 

[StefanZ]

Anyways he surely isnt inhaling although the behavior... because he hasnt the dreaded pneumonia.

 

[egatron]

So I would definitely see a change in behavior if he inhaled? Good to know.

I read somewhere that inhaled formula could rot in lungs and that would cause the pneumonia. Could be wrong since I have only one source for it and it was a forum post (can't be sure if it was TCS), but that had me worried also. A small enough amount to go unnoticed, but still enough to cause an infection. Is that a thing?

I would imagine even a single drop could show symptoms in a kitten's tiny lungs... Then again, I'm clueless!

 

[Sarthur2]

Try wrapping him in a towel like a burrito, with only his head sticking out. This will limit his movements for now while you are feeding him. He might get less milk in his nose this way.

Have you tried Miracle Nipples yet?

Miracle Nipple

Or

Miracle Nipple

They are more like mom’s nipples.

 

[egatron]

I don't know how, maybe because I hold him too gently as I'm afraid to hurt him, but he's managed to squirm out of all the burritos I made of him His eyes are fully open now, so he's a little bit calmer. But only a little! He hasn't sneezed today, although he burps and passes gas more often as I'm sticking by my 1 cc at a time rule.

I live in Turkey and the first seller does ship to Turkey, however shipping is very costly and it would take a long time to get here. I'll ask around locally to see if any shops have it, or at least a similar product.

 

[lacy2000]

Don’t worry... I’ve actually never had a bottle baby that sat still in the purrito! They all squirm their way out no matter how tightly wrapped it is.

 

[egatron]

Sorry to update this with a non-improvement, but this is my situation right now:

Since posting here, I've been doing everything as usual. Belly down posture, new teats everytime the flow feels too fast... I even moved onto feeding larger amounts at a time because the kitten seemed to be fine most of the time. There were occasional sneezes, but nothing too much.

Our vet paid us a home visit recently for my personal pet, and it coincided with the kitten's feeding time, so she offered to feed him. To my surprise, she fed him standing up, slightly on his back, but I was more surprised with how much calmer the kitten was that way. I was still nervous about doing it myself though, so I tried while she was there, and it worked just fine! This still made me uncomfortable though, so I was timid during his next feeding - he was still fine. However, during the next feed it (unsurprisingly) went wrong and he sneezed a considerable amount of milk out - I can't say if it was too much, but it was definitely more than what I was used to seeing. I turned him upside down and patted his back until he calmed down. I went back to belly-down for the next feeding, but he did it again. (I fed him once more since then without any problems.)

I'm so angry at myself for going against what I knew to be the first rule of bottle-feeding. I feel exhausted and appalled that no vets in my vicinity has been able to aid me with something as simple as bottle-feeding. I would hate to lose this healthy baby to human error.

There is no regular rattling coming from his lungs, actually the only noises I can attest to aspiration are his little grunts while he's squirming to suckle (though I might be imagining things as I'm very anxious about this). His appetite is fine, he just had a huge poop, he doesn't appear to be lethargic. In fact he walks around, he can sit down quite firmly, he reacts to light and sound perfectly.

Is it possible that this poor baby avoided a sure death yet again? If any respiratory symptoms arise, should I presssure the vet for antibiotics?

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, if symptoms begin, start antibiotics immediately to avoid pneumonia!

If he feeds better in the position the vet showed you, then use that in his case only.

 

[egatron]

Could I request antibiotics as a preventive method, or would that be too harsh on a three-week-old kitten that doesn't have pneumonia?

He fed better but only for a while, then he almost choked. I don't feel confident enough to carry on with that :/

 

[Sarthur2]

You certainly can! Ask for clavamox drops.

You mean you don’t feel confident enough to feed the way the vet showed you that seems to result in less choking?

 

[egatron]

Thank you! I hope they're willing to prescribe.

I probably wrote my previous post in a post-feed sleepy haze, sorry about that. I'll rephrase: I have always fed him belly down, there was an issue with him sneezing but I later chalked that up to the hole size. I tried smaller holes, but kitty got frustrated with the amount he could get and started clawing his face, causing little cuts around his nose and on his eyelid. He didn't sneeze/cough much though, so I went on with it, trying to restrain him as best I could. By coincidence, my regular vet dropped by to give my adult cat her yearly shots recently and that's when she fed him the way I described - slightly leaned back but not lying flat on his back. Kitty seemed much more relaxed then, didn't even swallow any air! The vet informed me that this posture should be safe as she has always done it that way (she has raised orphaned kittens before).

When I tried, it was fine the first two times, but on the third milk started bubbling up his nose. I helped him sneeze it out by holding him upside down. When it was time for his feeding after that, I couldn't bring myself to do it that way and went back to belly-down, but milk came out of his nose again. I changed the teat I was using in hopes that that would fix it. He was fine with that teat and on his belly. He's fussy but I see that as the lesser evil.

So, feed him on his back and he inhales, feed him on his belly and he'll try to claw his face off. I truly am lost

 

[egatron]

I just fed and weighed him - he's down 7 grams but last time I weighed him was before his big poop, which was a result of 2 days of constipation. I last weighed him at around 8 am, now it is 6 pm so it hasn't even been 12 hours.

Other than that, he sneezes very occasionally but it's always when he's playing with his towel or in my hands (I wear latex gloves).

 

[egatron]

Well, as I thought, the vet finds it unnecessary to give him drops yet, so all I can do at this point is hope that he's alright.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Sarthur2]

Keep us posted! It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job taking care of him!

How is the mama cat doing with the siblings? Are they okay? Are you feeding mom?

 

[egatron]

Thank you, I hope I am

Mama cat is fed daily. I heard one of the kittens passed... unfortunately there are many male cats around. I wish trap-neuter-return was a common practice around here. Anyway, remaining 2 siblings are doing just fine. One girl and one boy, I suspect. They're slightly chubbier, of course

 

[Sarthur2]

Can you bring the mom and siblings into your home? Perhaps mom would accept the baby now, and you could find them all good homes.