Kitten swallowed rubber nipple

[2blackkittens]

Hi,
I have 2 foster kittens and this morning one bit off most of the nipple when I was feeding her. She is about 4 1/2 weeks old. I’m just wondering how likely is it that she will pass it on her own?? Has anyone had this experience and the kitten was ok??

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Keep a very close eye on her - you may want to contact a vet if her behavior changes (lethergic, won't eat) and she isn't able to pass it.

Can you start giving some canned kitten food?

 

[Sarthur2]

She will pass it in a day or two. Here is a very recent thread where it happened:

Please help "8 week" old kitten only wants to play and not eat.

 

[2blackkittens]

Thank you for the reassurance. I’m just so worried about her. I contacted the humane society who the foster program is through and they just said to watch her for vomiting or diarrhea but didn’t say whether they thought it was likely to just pass through. I’ve been transitioning the two kittens I have to canned food giving them gruel. They just don’t seem to like it so I have to syringe feed it to them. They won’t eat it on their own. So I’ve been supplementing with formula while giving them two to three syringe fulls of the gruel. One of them also seems to have a hard time when she passes her stools. This is not the the one that swallowed the nipple. I had been stimulating them to go potty until about 3 days ago when they were doing it on their own. They took right to the litter box for peeing and then both had gone poo yesterday but the one hasn’t gone in a little over a day which seems to be her pattern. Is this normal or is there anything I can do to help her more easily pass stool?

 

[Sarthur2]

Start adding 2-3 drops of olive oil to their feedings. This helps to soften poop and make it easier to pass, and it is non-toxic! If the poop gets runny you can back off on the oil a bit.

 

[catsknowme]

I have had it happen more times than I care to admit. Call your vet for advice. My vet has me put a dab of vaseline or coconut oil on their mouth or a few drops of oil in the formula. I have not lost a kitten to bowel obstruction yet. Our county has finally started a kitten foster program plus they as well as private parties are doing TNR so I have not had to foster a kitten this season

 

[2blackkittens]

Start adding 2-3 drops of olive oil to their feedings. This helps to soften poop and make it easier to pass, and it is non-toxic! If the poop gets runny you can back off on the oil a bit.

Thank you, I started doing this today for both kittens.

 

[2blackkittens]

I have had it happen more times than I care to admit. Call your vet for advice. My vet has me put a dab of vaseline or coconut oil on their mouth or a few drops of oil in the formula. I have not lost a kitten to bowel obstruction yet. Our county has finally started a kitten foster program plus they as well as private parties are doing TNR so I have not had to foster a kitten this season

Is the vaseline/oil to help the rubber piece pass through?

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, to help soften poop and move it through.

 

[2blackkittens]

I feel like the worst cat owner in the world. I was feeding kitten again this morning with brand new rubber nipple so thought it wasn’t possible to be chewed off so quickly. I wasn’t paying close enough attention because I was trying to help my kids with something too. Kitten swallowed another nipple! Is this really really bad?? I’m too embarrassed and scared to tell the humane society! We plan to adopt these kittens and I’m afraid they won’t deem me fit anymore!

 

[2blackkittens]

I feel like the worst cat owner in the world. I was feeding kitten again this morning with brand new rubber nipple so thought it wasn’t possible to be chewed off so quickly. I wasn’t paying close enough attention because I was trying to help my kids with something too. Kitten swallowed another nipple! Is this really really bad?? I’m too embarrassed and scared to tell the humane society! We plan to adopt these kittens and I’m afraid they won’t deem me fit anymore!

I am trying to transition them to the cat food but they will not eat the gruel on their own. I’m syringe feeding them some gruel but was just supplementing with some formula too.

 

[Sarthur2]

It’s time to put the formula in a dish and let them learn to lap it. The hungrier they get the quicker they will learn to eat. You can even mix the formula and the wet food into a mush that they can easily lap up. They will catch on!

Don’t beat yourself up over it. It’s happened to the best of us, especially once they are teething!

 

[2blackkittens]

Ok so don’t even give it to them in a syringe? I just get worried they won’t eat. The instructions the humane society gave said they should eat at each feeding in grams the first two numbers of their weight divided by 2. But they have never eaten that much. So one of them is 602 grams so she should eat 30g at each feeding according to the instructions. Usually she eats around 11g. They are gaining weight steadily, about 15-20 g a day, so I know they are getting food. Does that amount of food sound accurate for how much they should eat at one feeding? That’s been my worry with them not taking to eating the gruel on their own, that they won’t be getting enough.

 

[2blackkittens]

Oh and do you think both nipples will pass? She had a stool for the first time this morning since ingesting the first one and it didn’t pass yet.

 

[happykitty]

I have had it happen many times. Less likely to happen if you use the miracle nipples as they are tougher to chew through. Lots of gruel and formula to keep the bowels moving and kitten will be fine. You are doing great work fostering, keep it up. Use your finger to help them learn how to eat without the bottle/syringe then slowly lower your finger to the plate.

 

[Sarthur2]

602 grams is 21 ounces. A kitten should weigh 20 ounces at 5 weeks, so they are right on target if not a little ahead! They are clearly getting enough to grow on, so feed however you think best, but no more bottles.

The nipple tips will pass. Give it time.

 

[2blackkittens]

I have had it happen many times. Less likely to happen if you use the miracle nipples as they are tougher to chew through. Lots of gruel and formula to keep the bowels moving and kitten will be fine. You are doing great work fostering, keep it up. Use your finger to help them learn how to eat without the bottle/syringe then slowly lower your finger to the plate.

Thank you!

 

[2blackkittens]

602 grams is 21 ounces. A kitten should weigh 20 ounces at 5 weeks, so they are right on target if not a little ahead! They are clearly getting enough to grow on, so feed however you think best, but no more bottles.

The nipple tips will pass. Give it time.

Thank you! I’m so glad to have found this site!

 

[2blackkittens]

Kitten who ate the nipples had another good size stool just now and no nipple. How many days will it take for it to pass?

 

[Sarthur2]

Are you poking through the poop to check? The nipple tips are easy to miss as they are not very big.