New Born (5 day) kitten can't(?)/won't(?) Nurse! Please help me help her!



She is part of a litter of three and not long after birth she and her sisters were all eating fine and so we left them and mom alone except for observation from a distance.

But about the middle of day three I notice she looked smaller and was less able to move than the others. So I went and picked her up and she was skin and bones as if she had not eaten since that first time on day one.I immeately went out and bought a nursing syring a nursing bottle and cloystrom milkreplacer for kittens.

She hate the syring but is slowly accepting the bottle. But she really seams to want to nurse from mamma. THe problem is thought she nestles in fine and even kneeds mammas stomach with her paws she cannot locate any of the teats and just wanders back and fourth.When guided to a teat she does not seem to know how to suckle from it.

Now at five days old I have been bottle feeding her about every hour to two hours (she almost could not do this on day three but I figured she was Hypoglyciemic (I know thats not how you spell it) from lack of food those first two days and added a small aditional amount of suggar to the formula she seems more alert and a bit better) and letting her eat as much as she wants to thought it is never very much she only consumes about 3/8 an oz in a 24 hour period.( Ibelive that it should be closer to 3/4 oz. per 24 hour period.)

I had to cut the nipple special so she could get food by lightly gumming up and down because she seems not to know how to suckle at the bottle either. It is now early morning(2:40) day five and she only weight 3 oz. which is 0.3 oz. heavier than on day three but still light by her sisters 6 and 7 oz. weights.

I am worried she is not going to make it despite all my efforts she is supose to go to the vet Thurs since the only one within 80 miles is on vacation till then. Is there anything else that I have missed that I might be able to do to help her pull throught this.(PS her mother is currently cleaning and caring for her except when I am feeding her. Mamma would even let her nurse if baby could figure it out and now also defend herself against siblings. Now more than twice her size.) Please help if you can.

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• New Born (5 day) kitten can't(?)/won't(?) Nurse! Please help me help her! - KD7KXW, Tue May 6 05:09:50 2003
• Kitten Update - KD7KXW, Wed May 7 03:39:53 2003
• Jol'linair, has passed on. - KD7KXW, Thu May 8 03:52:09 2003