Hi,
I volunteered to a shelter to foster kittens. I was given a litter of 4 and the mama. They got here 8 days ago at around 2 weeks, maybe 2 week + 3-4 days. They basically threw me food and the cats and told me good luck. The instructions are, I kid you not, "give them food and water, love them, name them, weigh them every day".
Everything was perfect the first 4-5 days. Super nice and cooperative mama, takes good care of her kittens, healthy kittens gaining weight steadily...
But now, 8 days in, I have the following problems:
1. One of the kittens isn't gaining weight. She was
372 g on 15-05
367 g on 16-05
378 g on 17-05
377 g on 18-05
370 g today
I called the shelter 2 days ago and again yesterday, and she said she wasn't at all worried. I'm so confused and stressed out. She suggested yesterday that I supplement with formula. I tried to, but for now I can get the bottle to work, the kitten doesn't seem to want it... She's very playful, the same as the others, and seems to be doing fine, she's not left alone or neglected by the mother, but to me it's very worrying. And she seems to have diarrhea (I don't see all that's going on down there due to the mom taking care of that), but the vet tech doesn't seem to think it's a problem. What do you think? There's a long weekend coming, and the vet tech made me feel like I was dumb to worry.
2. The mom is losing weight. She has ample access to wet and dry kitten food, lots of fresh water. I often remind her to eat, but she seems picky. I try to offer different kinds of wet food, but I can't do that every day, it would become expensive. I give her some of the formula that the kitten didn't drink, she seems to like it. However every time she seems really into a kind of food, she loses interest the next time...
3. Mom seems constipated. This morning, there was blood in her stool.
They worry me so much
I can't believe everything went downhill so fast. Any tips, encouragements, anything to help out a new foster mom? Thank you so much.
I volunteered to a shelter to foster kittens. I was given a litter of 4 and the mama. They got here 8 days ago at around 2 weeks, maybe 2 week + 3-4 days. They basically threw me food and the cats and told me good luck. The instructions are, I kid you not, "give them food and water, love them, name them, weigh them every day".
Everything was perfect the first 4-5 days. Super nice and cooperative mama, takes good care of her kittens, healthy kittens gaining weight steadily...
But now, 8 days in, I have the following problems:
1. One of the kittens isn't gaining weight. She was
372 g on 15-05
367 g on 16-05
378 g on 17-05
377 g on 18-05
370 g today
I called the shelter 2 days ago and again yesterday, and she said she wasn't at all worried. I'm so confused and stressed out. She suggested yesterday that I supplement with formula. I tried to, but for now I can get the bottle to work, the kitten doesn't seem to want it... She's very playful, the same as the others, and seems to be doing fine, she's not left alone or neglected by the mother, but to me it's very worrying. And she seems to have diarrhea (I don't see all that's going on down there due to the mom taking care of that), but the vet tech doesn't seem to think it's a problem. What do you think? There's a long weekend coming, and the vet tech made me feel like I was dumb to worry.
2. The mom is losing weight. She has ample access to wet and dry kitten food, lots of fresh water. I often remind her to eat, but she seems picky. I try to offer different kinds of wet food, but I can't do that every day, it would become expensive. I give her some of the formula that the kitten didn't drink, she seems to like it. However every time she seems really into a kind of food, she loses interest the next time...
3. Mom seems constipated. This morning, there was blood in her stool.
They worry me so much
I can't believe everything went downhill so fast. Any tips, encouragements, anything to help out a new foster mom? Thank you so much.
