Foster Momma Had 8 Kittens, Some Really Small

[LillaB]

I took in a pregnant cat for a rescue. She was supposed to have 1 or 2 kittens according to the vet. Well, surprise!!! She had 8! Kittens are 2 days old. We have 2 really small ones, I weighed them last night and they were both 2.1oz. This morning they were 2.35 and 2.45. They were both hyphothermic after birth, but after turning on the heat to 80 F and putting them on a blanket heated in the dryer the warmed up. I've spent the first day holding them up to a nipple as they were too weak to stay on by themselves. Yesterday they were doing really well, latching on and staying on. They are nursing all the time and usually they have the last 2 nipples that seem to be more swollen than the others. They sleep in the middle of the pile, seem to be content and warm. I get up every 2-3 hrs during the nights to make sure they're ok.

My main concern is Mom, who is not a big eater at all. She almost never takes the canned food, tried RC baby cat, buffalo wilderness kitten and holistic select grain free. Getting her some Weruva by tomorrow. She usually eats a little more than 1 cup of dry food. Just swapped her to the blue buffalo kitten kibble today which she finally seems to like. Tried yogurt, cheese and will try hard boiled egg in a few. She drinks almost 3 cups of water. Oh, and she wouldn't eat nutritional paste either. I don't know if this is enough or what else should I try?

She doesn't mind if I organize the kittens to the nipples but doesn't like if I take them out of the box for weighing. I was thinking about rotating them, but I'm concerned about her not liking it.

any advice?

 

[StefanZ]

Reading, will write some soon

I took in a pregnant cat for a rescue. She was supposed to have 1 or 2 kittens according to the vet. Well, surprise!!! She had 8! Kittens are 2 days old. We have 2 really small ones, I weighed them last night and they were both 2.1oz. This morning they were 2.35 and 2.45. They were both hyphothermic after birth, but after turning on the heat to 80 F and putting them on a blanket heated in the dryer the warmed up. I've spent the first day holding them up to a nipple as they were too weak to stay on by themselves. Yesterday they were doing really well, latching on and staying on. They are nursing all the time and usually they have the last 2 nipples that seem to be more swollen than the others. They sleep in the middle of the pile, seem to be content and warm. I get up every 2-3 hrs during the nights to make sure they're ok.

My main concern is Mom, who is not a big eater at all. She almost never takes the canned food, tried RC baby cat, buffalo wilderness kitten and holistic select grain free. Getting her some Weruva by tomorrow. She usually eats a little more than 1 cup of dry food. Just swapped her to the blue buffalo kitten kibble today which she finally seems to like. Tried yogurt, cheese and will try hard boiled egg in a few. She drinks almost 3 cups of water. Oh, and she wouldn't eat nutritional paste either. I don't know if this is enough or what else should I try?

She doesn't mind if I organize the kittens to the nipples but doesn't like if I take them out of the box for weighing. I was thinking about rotating them, but I'm concerned about her not liking it.

any advice?

 

[StefanZ]

I see you do know quite a lot, as you are doing and thinking correctly.

Yes weighting is crucial, especielly of the smallest. But as they did gained nicely, they seems to be healthy ones. Which is a big relief of course. An IR heating lamp is useful. For example when you weigh them or supplement them, they wont get chilled off. Many rheumatic persons has such. Or people having terraries with lizards.
Weigh them nearby, so momma sees they are near and not harmed. Lay some cloth on the scale, so the kittens wont get cold and protest... You may even weigh them in a box or similiar, so there wont be any risk of them rolling down... Just tare the scale against the extras.

Rotating is useful. Having half of them in an extra little nest... I see you manage nicely for the moment, there seems not to be any violent fights. but be prepared you will need to do so...

Re momma. Yes eggs are good. If you dont have problems with salomonella in eggs in your place, raw yolks are extra easy to digest.
Otherwise, boiled eggs are excellent yes.
Nutri paste - the trick is to smear it on her paws, so she willy nilly licks the paste off...

Goats milk is good as supplement, and cheaper than KMR. Raw goats milk has some potential edge, but canned or dried is OK food, and is cheaper.
Otherwise you can use full fat plain youghurt.

 

[Sarthur2]

Make sure mom gets a daily dish of KMR. She needs the calcium with 8 kittens.

Be prepared to supplement any who are not gaining 6-10 grams a day each.

You've got a big job on your hands! Thank you for fostering!

 

[LillaB]

Thank you guys for answering!
StefanZ , OMG, yes, there’s fighting!!!! I have a huge guy, weighing 5oz on the first day. And he likes the 2 bottom nipples ONLY, the ones the little ones use. He will absolutely not eat from anywhere else. Until now I was protecting the runts from him, but now he seems slightly weaker (sill gained .25 oz haha), so I want to make sure he gets enough too. None of them like the first 2 nipples, they almost never use it.

They’re 3 days old today. Is it too early to rotate them? I’m really worried about Mom’s reaction. If she refuses to take them back, I’ll be in big trouble. I’m really scared to try to bottle feed them, I’ve never done it before and don’t want to do more harm than good. They all seem to be healthy. If course if I see them going downhill I’ll step in, but so far they’re good. WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO ROTATE THEM WITHOUT SUPPLEMENTING? Maybe let each group nurse for 30 mins? Then next time I’ll take the other group first? I just want them be able to eat without fighting.

Mama didn’t like eggs either. I put some nutritional paste in her mouth she swallowed that at least. I’ll try KMR with her for sure.

 

[LillaB]

They are gaining really well, IMO everybody gained since last night and now my 2 runts are 74 and 79 grams. The next one is 93 and all the others are 100+.

 

[StefanZ]

Yes you can rotate momma wont reject them

 

[LillaB]

I think we’re doing very well. They’re constantly eating and gaining. They gained 10+ g during tonight ONLY except for one who gained 6g. Now only one is under 100g. I did try to take some of them out so they don’t fight but Ashley didn’t like it. And I only peeked at them once during the night to make sure they’re all warm. They still gained the same amount. So maybe I just leave them alone and weigh them 2x a day to monitor?

When would you say we’re out of the woods?
I’m giving Ashley the Tomlyn nutritional paste. How much Can I give her? She’s still not eating too much and almost no canned food.

 

[Sarthur2]

Will she drink KMR? She really needs the calcium.

She can have a couple of squirts of the paste per day.

You are not out of the woods for about 3 weeks.

 

[maggie101]

I took crare of a mama and her 4 kittens. The mama would not eat out of a can. Only liked to hunt for food before she had the kittens. My cats eat out of a can. I have never tried raw food but maybe that would work? The mama died of liver disease. I read it's because feral cats do not get enough protein

 

[LillaB]

Finally I found a brand she will eat. Of course it's the most expensive one, the Weruva brand, lol. I mix in the kmr, because she won't drink that either. She's weird....I have to take some and smear it in her mouth, then she will eat it from the bowl. I have to hold the bowl the whole time or she won't eat. She's a princess in disguise haha. I'm not going to mess with raw food, that's for sure. She eats the most while in the box, nursing and I don't want the raw food anywhere near the babies. She loves her kibble, so I'm thinking she's a kibble addict, not a hunter.
kittens still gaining....eating....even purring, they're starting to act and look like cats more and more every day. They're so stinking cute.

 

[LillaB]

Guys, you were right about us not being out of the woods yet. One of my bigger boys suddenly stopped gaining and in spite of nursing constantly, he didn't eat any measurable amount. On the second day I was sure something was not right so asked the rescue lady for help. They sent me someone who was experienced in bottle feeding and with sick tiny kittens and she took him. (I was trying to feed him myself but he wouldn't let me, he was screaming at every attempt and I never fed before) He is still alive, but still not gaining since last Friday. I noticed something was up with his breathing and yesterday I was researching what might be wrong with him, I found the FLAT CHEST SYNDROME. I think he has it AND one of my runts too!!!
I alerted the other lady immediately and she sent some pictures of him to her vet. I also contacted with the rescue lady, haven't heard anything back yet. I'm not sure if they'll get them to a vet; the rescue had some rough and costly cases lately and they already owe to their vet. So I want to do everything I can for my little guy. I pressed his chest gently and I'm pretty sure his ribs come out not inward. I want to try to make the little jacket for him, I'm not finished with the other thread yet showing it. I need all the help I can get, please! I've also read about supplementing mom with taurine, anybody had luck with that?

 

[LillaB]

@catwoman707, I see you're the xpert of this syndrome, please share your thoughts with me. I checked his ribs again, if I slightly press them, his breathing seems to be slowing down visibly. also when he is laying on his side. That's a god sign, no? Should I go ahead and make him the little jacket? just a piece of non stretchy fabric will do? what else could I use for supports? I don't want them to be pokey, they are always on top of each other. Also, should I keep him with me to ensure his jacket is on properly and he is on his side or he is better off with mom and siblings?

 

[Sarthur2]

The jacket needs to be made of a stiff supportive material such as cardboard, which is why we recommend a toilet paper role cut and sized to fit. It can be supported with part of a popsicle stick on each side.

The purpose of the jacket is to keep the kitten's chest up off the ground so that the chest does not further flatten, thereby allowing the chest to expand outward in a more normal fashiin as the kitten grows.

There is no cure that a vet can prescribe for flat-chested syndrome.

A vet check is wise though to make sure the kittens are not breathing rapidly from infection.

 

[Sarthur2]

Also, the kitten should stay with mom and siblings with the jacket on. He does not need to stay on his side. The jacket keeps his chest up so he should be able to breathe.

Are you able to share this information with the foster who took the other kitten?

If that kitten improves and gains weight it needs to come back to its mom eventually.

 

[LillaB]

There was another jacket that Catwoman invented, I think it was soft and not out of cardboard....maybe I misunderstood.
We have a vet appointment for Thursday morning, we'll see what he says.....probably the other kitten is coming too. Unfortunately the lady who took him doesn't think I'm right (maybe I'm not), so I don't think she'll try it....but maybe if the vet sees that one too.... I don't want to just give up and let him die

 

[Sarthur2]

I am not aware of any other vest. I do think you misunderstood.

What does the lady who took the other kitten think is the problem?

 

[LillaB]

She just says it’s a wait and see I usually like to be more proactive and try to find a cause. She thinks he does ok as he is taking some kmr from a syringe but he still doesn’t poop. He only eats only 1 ml a time which she thinks is fine, I think it’s too little? I don’t know.... might be something else, but I did notice he was breathing funny when I still had him.

I took screenshots of the vest I was referring to, hope it’s not a no-no....it’s from a thread here.

 

[Sarthur2]

That's a pattern cut from stiff paper. It has sticks for support on either side. It gets tied together with string or yarn. Then the kitten is wearing a soft "shirt" on top of it.

The vest itself is not soft. If it were it would be of no use.

The pictures are from Catwoman's thread.

 

[LillaB]

Sarthur2 May I ask where in Florida are you? I'm in the Tampa bay area. We've been to the vet, she thinks it's funnel chest, but she also said they almost never see kittens these small and has no experience with chest problems at all. Do you know a vet who might have experience?