Need Help With Gaining Weight.

[Chainmefree85]

Ok guys i need help. I have 2 seperate litters right now. One looks to be about 4 weeks old and the other is 3 weeks. There is only 2 from each litter left(lost one to fks night before last in the 3 week old batch) so there seems to be 1 from each litter that is thriving and gaining good weight. One of the 3 week olds weights 204 grams and then ine from the 4 week old 198 grams. But the other 2 have been staying at the same weight or losing a little the 3 week old weights 169g and the 4 week old weights 173g and neither seem to want to eat really. The little boy(3 week old)was really interested in food till about a day ago and now hea kind of refusing it. And same with the little girl(4 week old) i need help on getting them to gain weight. Please.

 

[StefanZ]

Can you get raw goats milk?

Use pedialyte or water with honey as the water source.

What exact kmr do you use?

 

[Chainmefree85]

I use Petag milk replacer, pedialyte, karo, powder whole goat milk. And recently i used nutrical have removed that thinking that might have been why he stopped eating. But no he still won't i am able to get her to eat from a syringe but him its hard. And they are under weight for their age

 

[StefanZ]

It seems good this battery.
If the petag is the premixed - it should be changed. Theirs in powder are good.

 

[StefanZ]

Our advisor catwoman707 has mentioned several times it happens they come into a crisis sort of at 3-4 weeks- and become reluctant to eat.
So feeding them becomes a mix of enticing and forcing struggle. May be very frustrating.

The 3 weeks old arent no heavyweighters so its Yellow alert on both.
Red alert on the 4 weeks as thay weigh even less.

Continue with all might. Give them often as you cant give much at a time. Dilute the kmr powder with pedialyte as it contains some extra calories.
Or dilute with goats milk 1:3 insted of 1:2 with water.
And add a trifle honey.

Use raw honey if you can get it.

 

[catwoman707]

As StefanZ mentions, this is something I make sure all of my fosters remember, and to watch for.
Not all, but some kittens who are raised by humans rather than mom seem to hit a spot in their development at around 3-3 1/2 weeks to as late as 4 weeks old where they suddenly/overnight decide they are not interested in eating as they normally do.
I can't tell you why this is, and my only reasoning is having something to do with the unnatural-ness (is that a word?!) of kittens fed by humans, I don't know.
But it must be something along these lines since it happens around the same age and point in development for all who do this.
Their organs/bodies and brains are growing at the highest speed ever right now, so I believe it's something in the brain that causes this halt.

The way to get over this and back on track is for you to syringe feed in addition to what they willingly eat on their own, to make up the difference to their normal amt they take willingly before this started.
It is not their choice right now, it's up to you to get them through this.
The great news is, it's only a couple of days and suddenly they are back on track.
Kits are on the smaller side, not dangerously but have no/very little reserves, so they are still quite fragile and can easily go downhill, and we all know how difficult and nearly impossible it is to turn this around once it starts.

I have also walked other members through the FKS as well by creating a vest to reshape their rib form which works fast. Otherwise the chest squeezes space for the heart and lung capacity quickly.

Kudos to you for taking on 2 litters at a time.
I remember those days, I reached max when I had 24 kittens, 3-4 1/2 weeks old all with calici virus. Ugg now there's a 'fond' memory from my past!

 

[Chainmefree85]

The 4 week old is going down hill she is getting tube fed she had runny white cottage cheese poop. Do we stopped formula and are now doing really diluted pedialyte goat milk and karo. I am also doing karo water. Hoping to bring her back from this as well as penicillin shots....afraid we might lose this one too. And the 3 week old i believe wr caught in time. We started tube feeding him today too

 

[StefanZ]

Tube feeding makes it easier if you have the gears and know how. It seems many vets dont so they cant even show.

 

[Chainmefree85]

We lost the 4 wrek old tonight. Still tube feeding theb3 week. His sister and the brother of the 4 week old we lost tonight seem to be doing good... Will update soon

 

[Chainmefree85]

This was my little girl we just lost

 

[TheDepthsAndSkies]

I'm sorry to hear about your losses, but am amazed at your resolve. Thank you for the determination you have shown and please try to find moments of joy and calm for yourself.

 

[TheDepthsAndSkies]

catwoman707 I am very curious about this lack of wanting to eat that occurs between 3-4 weeks. I'm handrearing a litter about this age, and lost the runt to FKS over the weekend. Can you direct me to any forums about force feeding /relunctant bottle babies?

 

[catwoman707]

I am not aware of any forums that discuss this issue, and google is no help, as you will see info on fading kitten syndrome etc, which I personally do not agree with, it is simply a generic excuse for death in my personal opinion and experience.
I have always been amazed at the lack of neonatal and baby kitten experience that many vets have (don't have!)
It is highly unusual for a baby to die with no reason, somewhere there IS a cause, and often times a preventable cause.....
For instance how often the runt will die, runts often die because they are smaller and are kicked off of the best milk producing nipples, and struggle to get enough to sustain, let alone thrive.
In larger litters especially common, there are 4 nipples that are filled with milk, the big babies get those and keep them throughout nursing. They figure out their fave within the first couple/few days of life and will fight for it.
This is why larger litters do best with rotation, allowing all to nurse as much as needed.
The runt over time suffers from the lack of milk, and goes downhill/passes.
Nowhere on the net have I found any info about this yet it happens all the time.

Having countless litters of newborn kittens over the years, as an observant person I would see a pattern happen, as I said not always, but often enough that I have taught my fosters as well as teach it in my class I have at the local Humane Society for neonatal kitten care.
I have no explanation for why other than their mental development, and where many will die who do not know about this, those babies live on normally because humans were aware and pulled them through this point.
Just suddenly a thriving good sized strong kitten will stop eating, or take in very little.
Well kittens during their high developing period between newborn and 8+ weeks of age can not go for days not gaining weight to keep up with their huge growth period when all organs etc are fine tuning themselves and gaining reserves.
The younger the less time of not taking in enough has a higher risk of dying, and at 3 weeks old are still very fragile and unstable, so left to themselves to get through the period, will suffer and go downhill and die.
So it's something that can be avoided, it's not hard to spot, happens suddenly, and as long as we syringe them to supplement what they are willing to take in, they go back to normal and gain the appetites again within 2-3 days and are fine then.

 

[golondrina]

StefanZ said: "Use water with honey as the water source."
Please how much honey in how much water?
Many thanks.