Premature Kitten - Later Care

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DeweytheLion

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Hi guys! I've been having fun searching through all these old forums. A bit afraid they'd be too inactive for me to get responses, but my worry has been relieved.
So, about 2 and half weeks ago, 17 - 15 days ago to be exact, my friend called me and let me know someone had brought her very small kittens with intention of having her mom kitty be a surrogate. Apparently, the people called her beforehand and asked if she would let her mom cat nurse her 3 week old kittens. Well... the kittens she had brought over were definitely NOT three weeks old, and mom cat did her best but the little guys couldn't compete with her bigger babies. She bathed them, they still had afterbirth all over, chilling them , and her owner placed her in such a way she could feed them at least once until I came for them in the morning.
Okay, so these are literally the smallest kittens I've ever seen in my life. I get there and almost start shaking because I actually have never seen such tiny creatures-- still breathing!
There were four total, I was told. One kitten died during the night, and the next died the following day. 19 hours later the next kitten died. I was heart broken but I knew I had done my best. These kittens weighed 1.8 oz, 1.9 oz, and 2.4 oz when I brought them home. They were hardly 2 inches long. (I seriously thought my friend was trying to give me baby rats.) As Im sure you can guess, the kitten who weighed 2.4 oz is the lone survivor. He is such a sweet boy and though I haven't had a decent amount of sleep in 2 weeks, I wouldnt give it back.
So we're leading to my question, slowly but surely.
A few days after the last kitten died, I had named him Tiny Tim Tom cat, I found out that their parents are brother and sister. I am also 100% sure they were premature-- no hair on legs, belly, some parts of their faces, and they were obviously very underweight (remember they were 1 day old when I got them). I named this little guy Dewey, who has already been adopted by my dad. He is exactly 17 days old today, and yesterday began to stretch his eyelids open. They're still not close to actually being open, but I can see his little left eye now. (I want to know, there's no way he's opened them too early? And if he has, what can happen? I've been concerned about him losing an eye hahahah) My kitchen scale took a crud on me about 4 days ago, so I don't have an accurate weight for him, but he is still smaller than a week old kitten. (I'll attach a photo) if I were to guess, I'd guess around 4.5-5 oz
I feed him every 2 hours still, as he is still so little and I don't want to starve him. In the beginning, he was fed every hour on the hour, and as much as he would eat. Plus about a mL of water after every feeding. (He's been steadily eating about the same amount of food since he was a week old, maybe only gone up about 1 cc or so. I should also mention though that for a 2 day period he didn't want a thing to eat, although he did eat with persistence, it was significantly less, going from 6 cc to 2 or 3 cc) He did have some bowel trouble in the middle, but he seems to be doing better about that. Other than a sore bum!
I think he's doing great! He loves the kisses and cuddles and warm heating pads and rice socks. He sneezes sometimes and it always worries me! I also tried feeding him from bottle but he decided that was too good for him, so we're back to the syringe until he gets bigger.
SO FINALLYYY
I would love to know what else I can do for him, and if I'm doing it all right. His size is a tad concerning, usually only when I see other kittens his age. But he was premature, so I did expect him to take longer. I just want to feel reassured that he is on the right path. (If I can figure out how, I'll post a before picture of Dewey as well. He has come a long way) And also, what else is there that I can do for him? The Internet doesn't have much information about care as the premature kittens get older.
Thank you so much in advance! ❤
(Remember I said the kittens were 2 inches long? Well, I wasn't kidding. Tiny Tim Tom cat was 2 inches. His brother, Dewey, and sister were 2 inches and a half. That picture was taken as soon as I got them home.
 

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StefanZ

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You apparently did well, because he is still alive. Can you get raw goats milk? Pedialyte oäinstead of common water. Get back a scale beSt in grammes. Also he must get more
Cc a day as he
Grows.
 

Sarthur2

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DeweytheLion DeweytheLion

Sounds like you are doing a great job with him!

It is just about the right time for him to be opening his eyes. Make sure they are not crusting shut by wiping over them with a warm, damp cloth, but do not pry them open.

A week-old kitten should weigh 4 ounces, and 8 ounces at 2 weeks, 12 at 3 weeks, and a full pound at 4 weeks.

The correct amount of formula is 8mLs per ounce, so at 4 ounces he needs 32mLs each 24 hours divided by 12 feedings = 2.66mLs each feeding. More if he wants it.

It would be beneficial if you could buy a new kitchen scale to track his weight.

You may put Desitin or A&D ointment on his sore bottom.

If his poops are hard you may add a drop or two of olive oil to his formula to soften them.

The sneezing sounds like an upper respiratory infection. If it gets worse or he gets clogged up, he may need a round of Albon from a vet.

He is precious! Thank you for rescuing him! :)
 
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DeweytheLion

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Thanks guys! Would aquaphor work? I think I have a bit of that.
I thought about the URI as well. I actually paid to borrow someone's humidifier haha! Would that be a beneficial treatment? Thanks again so much
 
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DeweytheLion

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I went out and bought another kitchen scale. Little guy weighs 4.4 oz
and already the aquafor seems to be helping! Thank you again.
 

StefanZ

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He doubled his weight, didnt he? So its just to continue and marsch forward! One step at a time, and with time and effort we are there. :)

May I ask, is Dewey after Dewey ReadMore Books?

He is incredibly small, isn't he?
Thank you <3
 

kashmir64

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What exactly are you feeding him? I have found the best mixture for myself is 1 part KMR (powder) to 3 parts goat milk. However, if what you are feeding is nutritionally beneficial, keep it up. With the replacement formula I wouldn't think he would need any water.

I'm going to be frank with you, so don't hate me. Since he is inbred and a preemie, keeping him alive is going to put a strain on you. Don't be surprised to find out his lungs are not developed properly. This may be why the others died. That and problems that arise from inbreeding.

However, I've also seen preemies do exceptionally well. Just be aware of everything he does.

You are doing great so far. Keep it up and we are here for you.
 
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DeweytheLion

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He doubled his weight, didnt he? So its just to continue and marsch forward! One step at a time, and with time and effort we are there. :)

May I ask, is Dewey after Dewey ReadMore Books?
He's actually named after a mayor from a children's TV show :lol:
 
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DeweytheLion

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What exactly are you feeding him? I have found the best mixture for myself is 1 part KMR (powder) to 3 parts goat milk. However, if what you are feeding is nutritionally beneficial, keep it up. With the replacement formula I wouldn't think he would need any water.

I'm going to be frank with you, so don't hate me. Since he is inbred and a preemie, keeping him alive is going to put a strain on you. Don't be surprised to find out his lungs are not developed properly. This may be why the others died. That and problems that arise from inbreeding.

However, I've also seen preemies do exceptionally well. Just be aware of everything he does.

You are doing great so far. Keep it up and we are here for you.
I read about that some and have been worrying since, so he'll get checked out by the vet next week and I'll keep my fingers crossed everything's fine.
Also, for goat's milk I was planning on buying fresh, local milk, but would it be better to buy it in store?
I've switched him over to a new kind of kitten milk replacer (he was being fed powdered KMR) to see if his problems with constipation would get better. Unless you order online there are only two kinds of kitten formula in town, so the next one I bought was Advance Perki-lac for kittens. I tried to do research online for it but I couldn't find anything, so I decided to just try it for myself, introducing it slowly with the last of the kmr I had left
The ingredients sound beneficial enough to me, but I'm obviously no expert, and I think the raw goats milk could potentionally help him gain more weight.
I was wondering about pedialyte too. I couldn't find the flavorless kind but I bet if I looked around I could. Would it be worth it to add it to his diet?
Thanks for all the help guys!
 

kashmir64

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Although store bought pasterized is good, it's nowhere near as good as raw. If you can get the raw goats milk from a farm/dairy, then get it.
I have never heard of Perki-Lac before, so I looked it up. It doesn't have the protein that PetAg has, nor the probiotics, but it is made by Manna Pro, which is a good thing.
You could add a couple of drops of coconut oil into the formula for his constipation.

IMO, if he's taking the bottle well then I see no need for pedialyte. Unless there is a diarrhea issue.
Others may have better advice on this than myself, but I never used it unless needed.
 
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DeweytheLion

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Also, I want to give him some poly dex drops but want to know it's completely safe first.
I'm sure he's got a URI, he's got the runny eyes, nose, sniffles and sneezes and all of that business, but is it dangerous considering his size and all?
 

IndyJones

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I will also add be sure to keep him warm. Premees can't regulate their body temperature well.

Budweiser was a Premee who was dumped off the back of a Ford Explorer in a cardboard box. We used an incubator for him because we had one for the chicks. He actually lived longer than any other barn cat. About 24 years. But Premees can be hard to raise because they are fragile like humans who are born premature. The inbreeding is also concerning, if there are genetic defects in the bloodline, they are far more likely to rear their ugly head in this case.
 
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DeweytheLion

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I will also add be sure to keep him warm. Premees can't regulate their body temperature well.

Budweiser was a Premee who was dumped off the back of a Ford Explorer in a cardboard box. We used an incubator for him because we had one for the chicks. He actually lived longer than any other barn cat. About 24 years. But Premees can be hard to raise because they are fragile like humans who are born premature. The inbreeding is also concerning, if there are genetic defects in the bloodline, they are far more likely to rear their ugly head in this case.
Wow! That's an old kitty even for an indoor. I have been keeping a heating pad with a blanket over it in with him, it only has one setting so I haven't put it on "low" and when I take him out to feed I fill a hot water bottle, though he usually tries to walk off of it :lol:
I have high hopes for the little guy; tiny but mighty ❤
 
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DeweytheLion

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His whole right eye is now open, but not quite ready for business
Should I be worried if his pupils don't dilate?
He has some pretty big eyes, and they are 90% pupil which is the only visible part of his eye. I did figure since it was completely open it would be okay to lift his upper eyelid and take a peek. When I opened his nest to find it so open I got spooked by how dark and menacing he looked :lol::hearthrob:
I noticed they weren't dilating when taking him from his dark nest into a somewhat well lit area, lamp on my dresser, pillow, hot water bottle and blankets underneath is where I feed him. I don't know why, I guess it's close to where I leave him to sleep. I didn't dare use a flashlight, I'm trying to use minimal light around him now that he has his eyes open, and especially because they're so much pupil!
I'm so worried, because of my inexperience with such little ones I'm sure.
Is it possible he's blind, or is this not something I should worry about?
Indy said something about her premie. Do you remember what it was like when your baby opened its eyes?
Thanks guys :lol:
 
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