It's allowed. When I had to sub-q my cat I just walked in and purchased both the fluid and needles without the vet appt.
wow thank you for commenting on my thread when you've been going through all this - thank you for helping them and great tiny is doing well xx they are so so so tiny and vulnerable at that age - poor little things xxHi 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.
aw he is beautiful xxx
wow he's got amazingly large claws and beautiful fluffy fur!! xxView attachment 185168
Right before his visit to the vet. He looks much better and I think he feels much better. He was just fed and the vet administered subcutaneous fluids. He'll be back in next month for his first round of dewormer, then a couple weeks longer he'll get his boosters and when he reaches 2 pounds he'll be neutered and adopted! (Her estimation for the time that will take is 2-3 to even 4 months!
The vet thinks he was dehydrated but believes he'll be okay now. He lost all of his siblings to FKS, it would have been a terrible shame to lose him too. I'm feeling more confident about him surviving. Go Dewey
Thank you
They are coming in! I've noticed for about 3 days now. I've been calling them his plastic vampire fangs
I sure am doing my best! Thank you so much. These little comments brighten up our world. Seriously even sniffle a bit.I just read through this whole thread, I don't really have any other advice (TCS kitten experts, as usual, have given great tips), but I'd like to tell you that I think Dewey is so cute, and I love your description of him, "the biggest smallest kitten" is so accurate because this little guy is so brave and strong as he works through his medical issues. You're being an amazing purrson to him. I'm sending Dewey and you all the best wishes.
Sarthur2
About how much yolk would I give him? Right now I'm feeding him a kind of off solution, 1 part goat's milk, 2 parts pedialyte, and 1 part formula. On average 1 part is 1 cc. I think I'd feel comfortable with mixing .5 cc of the egg in or less, would that be appropriate? And should I wait to start giving it to him? I just can't risk sleeping through another alarm during the night.
