Kitten Weight Gain/ Too Much, Too Fast?

fefeline

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Hello,

Long story short, I have taken in a newborn kitten on 27 June. I think she was approximately 5 days since she still had a crust from her umbilical cord and she opened her eyes 7 days after. She was weighing 180 grams the day I took her.
Now, i’m guessing she is 3.5 weeks old and weighs 501 grams, which I think it’s a bit too much.
I have a little experience with bottle feeding kittens, but none of them were near this big and bulky as she is.
Is there any problem with her? Or she is just a fast growing kitten?
 

lutece

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Does she seem like a normal kitten in other respects? If I'm calculating correctly, that's about 18 grams per day, which is faster growth than average but within normal range. I wouldn't worry about it if she seems healthy.
 
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fefeline

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Yes, the only problem I experienced with her was constipation, probably from the formula. But she was seen by our vet who gave her an anema and told me to give her 2-3 drops of olive oil per day. It’s working.
She’s active, she’s starting to have more control over her movements and she seems just fine. I’m thinking of getting her onto some gruel soon, as she’s starting to grow teeth, bite the nipple.

Also, she has some sprouts, some days she gains maybe 10 grams, then some days she goes up 30 grams. This is the only worry I have
 
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fefeline

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Yes, the only problem I experienced with her was constipation, probably from the formula. But she was seen by our vet who gave her an anema and told me to give her 2-3 drops of olive oil per day. It’s working.
She’s active, she’s starting to have more control over her movements and she seems just fine. I’m thinking of getting her onto some gruel soon, as she’s starting to grow teeth, bite the nipple.

Also, she has some sprou
 
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fefeline

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Sorry for the double post.
Here are some pictures of her
 

Sarthur2

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If she’s getting teeth she is 4 weeks old and should weigh a pound, so she’s in the right range. I wouldn’t worry. She may be ready to begin lapping gruel from a flat plate soon! :)
 

war&wisdom

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She looks and sounds beautifully healthy. Every kittens grows differently! She might be a big adult cat.
 
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fefeline

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Thank you guys! This is my first post here& your opinions really helped me.
 

StefanZ

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Her spots looks interesting. I presume she had a Grandfather of some sort. Bengal?
 
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fefeline

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I was wondering too. She was found in a busy intersection, someone left her there probably. So I don’t know her heritage.
I took her because the people who found her were not able to take care of her and had no experience. When I saw a picture of her she seemed like a normal newborn kitten, but when i saw her in real life I was surprised by the thickness of her coat, her bulky structure and her enormous paws.
 
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fefeline

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Hello! I recently took in an orphan kitten. When I brought her home her eyes were not open and she still had a crust where her umbilical cord was. So I presumed she was 1 week or less. She opened her eyes 7 days after I took her.
I have her on kitten formula, and by now she has to be somewhere in between 3 and 4 weeks old. She’s been doing great, she is active and eats well.
Now, the problem is that when I started feeding her with the formula she had an episode of diarrhea that passed with some drops of mint tea and some electrolytes for human babies.
After that, she became quite constipated. She was passing stool every two days.
Along with the constipation came a lot of peeing and I cannot figure out if this is normal because she’s starting to go on her own or has any correlation with the constipation.
To help her pass stools, I started giving her some drops of olive oil last Thursday which made her go once that day and once Friday morning, but the feces were very hard and brown. She also had a big stomach.
I took her to the vet on Friday and they performed a small parafine anema on her but she didn’t pass a stool, maybe because she just did that morning. But the vet also said it is possible to have an urinal infection. She gave me antibiotics. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t doubt the vet’s knowledge but I would’ve first take a pee sample and see what’s going on before prescribing antibiotics on such young kitten. So I went home and decided to not give her the meds.
Sunday she went twice, the last stool was visibly softer.
She eats well, her abdomen is almost normal now and today she went again, helped by few drops of parafine and warm water massage and the poo was softer I always stimulate her, always did, but she almost every time just pees, A LOT. And also pees in between meals.
I am a tad bit worried about her weight gain, she is not gaining too much weight, could this be because she’s relieving her intestines, finally? I can clearly see that her abdomen is not swollen any more.
What about the pee?
Sorry for the long post.
 
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fefeline

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The one that I can get from a supermarket?
Should I mix it with the formula?
In my country we don’t have KMR, I am feeding her LactaDiet.
 
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fefeline

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Will do that, i’ve heard good things about it. I will try to find a bio version of it, at least
 

Sarthur2

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The peeing is normal and good. She is drinking a lot of milk so she will pee a lot. She is getting to the age where she can pee on her own, which is also normal, and means she is maturing. You will be able to train her to a litter box when she is 5-6 weeks old. In the meantime, keep her and her bedding clean. It sounds like you are doing a great job with her! :)
 
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fefeline

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So, quick update.
The kitten has small pieces of poop coming out but nothing too serious. I gave her two drops of parafine oil today again. Last worthy of mention poop was on Tuesday.
Today she didn’t eat as much as I hoped but she was always a picky eater so I’m trying not to get too worried.
But for the first time she felt interested in some gruel (formula+ Babycat Royal Canin canned food), she licked it off my finger but didn’t want from the plate. I was still happy! It means she is one step closer to eating solids and maybe then her constipation will disappear as I know formula can cause that in hand reared kittens.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find goat milk at the supermarket. I will try again tomorrow.
 
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fefeline

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Hello again, the kitten has pooped! Soooo happy!

Quick question, I don’t know her parents so I don’t know what to expect of her. Recently it seems to me that her coat got thicker and longer. Is this baby hair or she just has a medium coat?
She’s also 600 grams today. Canines are emerged. Her paws keep getting bigger lol.
 
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fefeline

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Hello guys, coming to you with a quick question.
My kitten is now probably 5 weeks old and I started the weaning process. But she refused to eat any kind of gruel or wet kitten food there is.
She was still on a bottle, drinking 20-30 ml per feeding, every 5 hours. Gaining weight. She’s now 650g.
Last night, after feeding her (15 ml) I decided to try one more time with some Royal Canin Babycat pate. She finally showed interest and ate quite a bit off my finger then from a plate.
After 5-6 hours she only drank 10 ml of milk and ate again some pate.
Now, it has been only 4 hours but I decided to feed her again, and I started with the pate. She ate a little but then refused the bottle, only took few sips.
Should I be worried?? Is this normal? Does the pate keeps her full longer? I don’t know how much is enough for her.
She seems very active, playful. Peed 3 times in her litter, but no poop since yesterday morning.
Thank you!
 
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