Underweight Newborn

[Abigailfosters]

Hello!
A quick back story - I foster for my local cats protection branch (UK) I am fostering a pregnant cat, she came to me Monday evening.
She started giving birth yesterday evening. Kitten 1 at 8.04pm and kitten 6 at 2.12am (it is now 2.37 am here)
I am worried about kitten 6, she is only 67g, the other five are between 100-110g!
She doesn't look underdeveloped/lacking fur she is just tiny!
Should I see how she gets on or help her now? I want to give her the best chance of survival and I read anything under 75g is at a bigger risk of death.
She didn't seem as interested in cleaning her and to be honest she seems exhausted!
Thankyou in advance!

 

[abyeb]

You could get some KMR to syringe feed her. Let her nurse too, and rotate kittens, so that she can have some time with mom without the bigger kittens pushing her away. Also, be sure to weigh her frequently (twice a day probably). The others you should weigh at least once per day.

Here are some helpful articles:

Hand Rearing Kittens: What You Need To Know To Save A Newborn's Life

Weighing Newborn Kittens (and How This Could Save Their Lives)

Thanks for caring!

 

[Sarthur2]

Here is a helpful video for supplementing:

Syringe Feeding — Kitten Lady

You should begin to supplement right away. That is a very low birth weight.

Keep us posted!

Abigailfosters

 

[Abigailfosters]

Thankyou both for replying! She took 1.5ml of milk replacer at 3.45, it was a struggle, she didn't seem to know what to do at all once she got going she went crazy for it. She wasn't feeding from mum and got quite cold so I warmed her up, fed her and she is now having a nap in a knitted hat on my chest! Hopefully she pulls through, I wanted to put her back with mum but she couldn't keep warm for some reason, I assume because of how small she is? Other 5 kittens are non stop feeding, poor mum is exhausted!

 

[Furballsmom]

Can you give mama some good food mixed with kmr? She needs the extra nutrition

You can use a sock or two partly filled with dry beans or rice and gently heated in the microwave (test on your skin) and let tiny baby snuggle with those.

 

[StefanZ]

She didn't seem as interested in cleaning her and to be honest she seems exhausted!
Thankyou in advance!

I suppose here you do mean the momma? Yes, momma must too get some extra nourishing. Pedialyte as drinking water, and or some kmr / goats milk as fluid...

If the little one seems to weak to suckle from momma, you must take over the whole charge for giving food, not just some supplementing.

The little one needs about 20 ml a day, say 2 ml every second hour, or 1 ml every hour... And you sleep through one feeding in the night.

Put her to momma anyway when the siblings are sleeping. She perhaps gets something... Momma is always nice, so if she manages to suckle, she will do it and get it...

Exactly what kmr do you use? Can you get raw goats milk?

A IR heating lamp is good to use, for example when you are feeding, this way she wont get chilled out.
They are common, many rheumatic persons use them. Or persons with lizard therraries... Perhaps you can borrow from some neigbour?

 

[Sarthur2]

Abigailfosters

This is good to hear! Can you continue to keep her warm and feed her every 1-2 hours? She needs this until she can get her weight up. This could take a few days. She’ll need round the clock care.

Premature birth weight is anything under 90 grams. Weigh her daily.

 

[Abigailfosters]

Thankyou so much everyone for your advice, sorry I haven't updated yet it's been a busy couple of days!
Firstly I fed kitten 6 through the morning and put her back with mum at 10am. All went well but she still struggles to latch so we still fed her every two hours which she demolishes so clearly not getting much if anything from mum.
My mum went to the vets to grab some syringes for feeding kitten and also he ask for something to boost mum cat's energy. vet advised us to take mum in due to trembling and being pale. She ended up having a calcium IV and the vet mentioned that she didn't have much milk supply for the amount of kittens so we are having to suppliment them.
Kittens are all gaining and toileting well. Mum is feeling a little bit better and cleaning her kittens but doesn't seem to be feeding them well. There is one big kitten that never takes milk from me so must be getting the best milk from mum! The 6th kitten takes 2.5ml every two hours and can only suckle from a syringe not a bottle so I assume doesn't have the power to get what little milk mum has!
I've been using cimicat from the vets and a miracle nipple on a syringe for 6 and bottle for the rest! They will be named soon haha

 

[Sarthur2]

Give mom a dish or two a day of the formula to drink. It will continue to provide the calcium she desperately needs. Feed her unlimited dry kitten chow and as much wet food as she wants as well. Hopefully she will get stronger and begin to produce more milk soon.

Good you are supplementing the kittens. Give them as much as they will eat. They need it to grow on. Has #6 gained weight yet?

 

[Abigailfosters]

Give mom a dish or two a day of the formula to drink. It will continue to provide the calcium she desperately needs. Feed her unlimited dry kitten chow and as much wet food as she wants as well. Hopefully she will get stronger and begin to produce more milk soon.

Good you are supplementing the kittens. Give them as much as they will eat. They need it to grow on. Has #6 gained weight yet?

Thankyou! I have been giving her the formula, she is doing much better, leaving the kittens for a few minutes to eat/toilet/have a look around. Before she hardly moved unless absolutely necessary!
All my foster cats get unlimited dry food and regular wet food but as she was a stray until 2 days before birth we didn't have chance to feed her up!
The kittens have started to not take the bottle most feeding times and they are still gaining weight so mum must be producing more now, kitten six (I've named her Neen) is still being fed every two hours, occasionally she takes 5ml other time 2-3ml. I read that you shouldn't over feed kittens but they would drink as much as they wish from mum wouldn't they? So should I restrict her to age appropriate ml or let her have as much as she wants?

 

[Abigailfosters]

Oh I forgot to say! Neen is now 102g, she was 67g at birth then dropped to 65g but she has been gaining approximately 10g a day which I think is amazing considering!

 

[Sarthur2]

Give Neen as much as she wants. She needs it. So good to hear she is gaining, but she’s still small right now. Also relieved to hear that mama kitty is doing better!

 

[Abigailfosters]

Thankyou for all your advice, I appreciate it! I've had quite a few litters but never any issues with kittens other than eye problems!
When they were born Martha(mum) didn't chew through the cord until the placenta was birthed, so occasionally she'd drag them around or they would hang while she stood to push. I tried to hold them up most of the time. There wasnt enough space for me to get my hands in-between kitten and mum to cut/rip the cord so I left them be. Only now I'm worried about a couple of them. All but Neen's cords have dropped off, Neen's and Emily's 'belly button' looks swollen, red and sore. Should I get them seen?

 

[Sarthur2]

Yes, get them seen right away. It sounds infected and will only get worse without antibiotics.

Abigailfosters

 

[Abigailfosters]

It's been another busy couple of days! Got Martha and Kittens seen, Martha had a scan and also snaptest for FIV/FeLV, unfortunately she tested positive for FIV. She has fluid in her uterus but they don't want to spay her yet due to already having reduced milk, we're trying her on antibiotics as the vet thinks it's possibly slow healing because of FIV.
They aren't worried about their umbilical's at the moment but we've got to send of another sample of Martha's blood to get a more reliable test done. Then do the kittens once they are old enough. It's been none stop for the poor girl!

 

[Abigailfosters]

Kittens are adorable though!

 

[Sarthur2]

What do the umbilical areas look like? Are they healing now?

I’m wondering if the fluid in Martha’s uterus is pyometra? Did the vet consider that?

Abigailfosters

 

[Abigailfosters]

What do the umbilical areas look like? Are they healing now?

I’m wondering if the fluid in Martha’s uterus is pyometra? Did the vet consider that?

Abigailfosters

They are no longer red or sore looking, look like hernias now rather than infection. I'll add pictures, hopefully you can see!

Yeah pyometra came up, I have dealt with a few pyometras so that was my first thought/ worry. That's why she was put on antibiotics, we were told to bring her back immediately if there was any change in her, since she started antibiotics she is none stop eating, the kittens are gaining more and she is wandering round more! She is back in tomorrow for another blood sample as they need to send it off so I'm going to get the hernias checked again (I mentioned it when I dropped her off for the scan but I'm assuming they forgot to discuss it with me with everything else going on, if they were worried they would have)

This is Neen's , you can't really tell as it's a lump under her skin. Also do you think her stomach is a little wide?

 

[Sarthur2]

I can’t tell much from the picture, but it’s good the vet plans to check them again. Also good to hear that mom is eating well!

Hopefully after tomorrow’s vet trip you can all settle down for awhile.

 

[Abigailfosters]

Hey again!
A little worried about Neen tonight. She has been doing really well but today she isn't interested in food much, just chewing on the bottle, we are managing to get 5ml into her every 3 hours but sometimes not even that. Last night at midnight she weighed 283g and had gained to 295g through the day, I fed her at 9pm and she was back down to 283g so has gained weight today, but lost it all in 3 hours? (I'll do her proper weigh in at midnight and see what her 24hr gain/loss is) but in the mean time I'm worried that she isn't interested in food either! She seems fine in herself, looking around, crying for Martha, not overly sleepy. Am I over worrying? I'm honestly terrified to wake up and she has passed away so I want to notice any signs of fading as soon as possible!