New Bottle Baby!

[Artchic528]

A neighbor found this little 2-3 week old tortie kitten in her yard, in the rain, all alone (no mom nor siblings anywhere to be seen). Seeing as I have experience with neonate kittens, I offered to take her in and care for her.

Meet Callie!!!!!!

 

[StefanZ]

Good you DO have experience.
What advices do you need, aside of our positive vibes and well wishing??

 

[StefanZ]

I see the eyes are clear, no runny nose. The preliminary opinion its a healthy kitten... Momma prob happened to lost it under transport between two places... Or got scared off...

 

[Artchic528]

Good you DO have experience.
What advices do you need, aside of our positive vibes and well wishing??

Well….she isn’t really latching on to the bottle. I don’t know if it’s the formula (Petag Milk Replacer Plus is what the neighbor gave me) or if the nipple isn’t cut right (I did an x cut on the tip). Either way I’m not too terribly worried. She weighs 291 grams so she’s right on target for her guessed age. I’m just letting her sleep and be cozy until next feeding.

 

[Artchic528]

[UPDATE]

Turns out it was the temperature of the formula that dissuaded Callie from nursing, meaning it wasn’t warm enough. I ran it under hot water from my tap for a good minute or so and tested on my wrist to make sure it was perfectly warm but not too hot.

Callie seemed to like this temperature better as she drank nearly 15 milliliters! After toileting her, I put her back in her nest where she settled down and purred herself to sleep.

 

[StefanZ]

Swell! Excellent you found cause to this problem.

A couple of tips: The kmr you use is surely very good. If you ever wish to change or try something else, goats milk is useful.
Raw goats milk has even some potential plusses... it too comes from an alive momma.

A stuffed animal as company may be useful.

Possibly also some warming up device; its nice if nothing else. Even if she is now in the age she can keep up her own temperature, if the nest is cozy...

 

[Artchic528]

I had this old stuffed cat toy from when I was a kid in the 90’s that was part of the Kitty Kitty Kittens toy line. It has a neat feature where it purrs somewhat realistically when you tilt its head side to side. Anyways, I dug it out of storage and gave it to Callie. She wasn’t impressed at first but I think she’ll warm up to it eventually. I also moved her into a clear storagw tote. I think it’s nice and cozy in there!

 

[Artchic528]

Callie is making these little what almost sounds like grunts or short little whimpers. It’s not her purring, she does that a lot too. It’s something else. I admit I have been out of the game on bottle babies for a while so I’m a bit rusty. I have the basics down. Feed, toilet, weigh, etc. I just don’t remember if this is a normal noise little neonates make. Here is a YouTube short I made of her “grunting”.

- YouTube

 

[Sarthur2]

It’s difficult for me to hear if she’s just breathing or grunting. How is she overall today? Still eating well and good energy?

 

[kittyfostermama]

Those sounds are totally normal. After just raising a litter with a mama cat, I hear the kittens make these exact noises when they are rooting around and looking for a nipple on mama cat. That is an adorable kitten btw!

 

[Artchic528]

It’s difficult for me to hear if she’s just breathing or grunting. How is she overall today? Still eating well and good energy?

She’s pretty healthy and gaining weight. Her last weight was 339g. She drinks anywhere from 6-16ml from her bottle at each feeding. Her poop is pretty soft, almost liquidy. I don’t know if it’s because of the transition to the formula (I’m using Petag Milk Replacer Plus for Kittens as that’s what the neighbor gave me) or if she has intestinal parasites. Since she’s almost 3 weeks old, I ordered some Pyrantel pamoate suspension and oral syringes so I can worm her just in case.

 

[Artchic528]

Got the Pyrantel pamoate and dosed her based on 1ml per 10 lbs. Based on her weight of just shy of 3/4 of a lb I gave her .075ml. It was hardly a drop but Callie took it like a champ. Hopefully that’ll help her tummy feel better.

 

[Artchic528]

I don’t know if I’m weighing her right. She weighs 346g according to my kitchen scale. Is that an okay weight for a 3 week old kitten?

EDIT: She’s beginning to toilet on her own. I had her on the bed and she peed all over my comforter. Typical Tortie-tude! Lil’ Stinker!

 

[Artchic528]

Maybe I’m not letter her eat enough each feeding. I squally see her drink anywhere between 8-16ml each feeding. She drank nearly 30ml at this last feeding. She seemed varacious. Either way she now weighs 356g.

 

[Sarthur2]

Here are the goals:

Goals are 8 ounces (226 grams) at 2 weeks; 12 ounces (340 grams) at 3 weeks; and one pound (453grams) at 4 weeks — then about a pound a month thereafter until grown.

So your kitten is doing exceptionally well. Although kittens are constantly growing, they will occasionally have a plateau where they are less hungry and may not eat as much or gain as much for a day or two, then suddenly are voracious eaters again — much like human babies and toddlers.

Artchic528

 

[Artchic528]

Callie flails her front legs (arms?) around a lot when I try to aim the bottle at her mouth. It’s hard when she’s pawing at the nipple! She makes the cutest chattering noise when I finally do get the nipple in and she’s trying to start the flow! I’m probably going to purr-ito her next feeding to see if that helps.

Her little claws are getting really sharp and my hand is feeling it! I might take out my mini claw trimmers and see about clipping them. She’s drinking about 15-30ml at a feeding now. I weigh her after each feeding and she’s 374g now as of her last feeding. Granted a few grams are the formula in her tummy. She still has lose stools so I might take her to see a vet this week if they don’t improve.