Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a kitten who is the only survivor of a litter of six. She came to me at maybe 10 hours old. She seemed a bit premature.

My daughter and I have been feeding her every two to three hours or so. She is currently in box in my herp room, as it's the warmest place in the house. It tends to stay around 90 degrees f.

She has a slight but almost constant rattle in her nose, probably from formula getting in her nasal cavity. The vet says nt to worry about it, but I do. She is so frail, I can't see that she can afford any kind of infections....

Yesterday was her 4th day, and she became constipated, and we were unable to get her to poop. Her abdomen became distended and hard, and she was unable to eat. We could see her getting weaker by the minute.

I put a small drop of Karo syrup on her toungue, and gave her an enema with a small syringe. Then repaeted at night.

She seems to have pulled through that, and is now eating, pooping, and generally being mad a lot. She is now five days old, and is begining to get peachfuzz on the places where fur hadn't developed yet.

She has grown from 2.4 oz to 3.1 oz. She seems to be doing better now, but it's pretty much moment to moment. We are getting little to no sleep, and the vet seems to not have much hope.

We are looking for any kind of advice on this. What do we need to watch for? What are the milestones that we celebrate? What are some common problems with babies like this, and what do we do about them?

She has made it five days, and is currently thriving. We really wanna keep her that way!

Thanks in advance for any input, and sorry for the long post.

She is on day six, and seems to be thriving.

Hi There,

It sounds like you are taking excellent care of this precious baby.

When an orphan is this young anything good is a milestone. Weight gain should happen slowly and steadily. Good appetite is also an indicator of health. You already know about the importance of the kitten pooping!

I am concerned about the "rattling" also. Bottle fed babies can get pneumonia easily and they may not survive. Since it sounds like this rattling is nasal, and not in the chest itself, your baby probably doesn't have pneumonia.

These tiny babies don't have a great chance of survival, especially if they are premature, but as long as you keep doing everything right you are giving her the best chance. I know the heartbreak of losing a bottle baby and nothing hurts quite like it. I will be remembering your baby in my prayers.

I recommend that you read this article. It is excellent and very informative:

http://www.cathobbyist.com/articles/CatHobbyist/OrphanedKittens.html

Take care, and please keep us updated.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Thank you.

She has now gained nearly a full ounce. She is six days old now. She seems to be thriving.

Yes, I'm pretty sure the rattle is nasal, and not down in her lungs. Sometimes it almost sounds like a purr.

For the time being, she is doing great. We have had a few moments when we were not sure she'd make it, but every moment is a miracle. Every moment she gets stronger.

My daughter has been totally dedicated to this baby, twenty four hours a day. I am really, really proud of her.

We have an understanding that Darlene may not survive. I have lectured her on and on about the dangers of getting too attatched, but, darnit, there's no way not to!

Hi, sorry to be chiming in so late, but I don't generally read this board. We're a haven home for an animal rescue group. We foster the babies who need to be bottled.
You can put the Karo syrup in the formula. A couple of drops is all she needs at this age. It'll keep her stools looser.
Rub her litte bottom with a washcloth until she poops. She'll yell, but kittens always yell when they are getting cleaned up.
You can bathe her in warm water with a drop of Dawn dish detergent. We just hold them so that they can't tuck their chins down and get their faces in the water, otherwise, just put a drop of detergent on them, scrub up, and rinse under the faucet. (Detergent gets the food out of their fur better than shampoo) They hate baths and will yell. Just get her wrapped and warm afterwards. (My kids will carry them around in their pockets to keep them warm.)
You can use a baby syringe if you think there is formula up her nose. They hate it and yell, but it works.

Thank you.

She is, at present, doing quite well. I think I may try the Karo in the formula thing. Sometimes her stool gets a little hard, and it's pretty rough pooping. Pooping makes her mad.

She does, indeed, get very, very mad sometimes. (Especially at the pooping thing.) Much as a mom wants a baby not to cry, it seems a good indication that she's going strong. If she doesn't scream like a banshee I kinda start to worry.

So, when is the kid gonna start to poop on her own?

Can the drop of Karo in the bottle be at every feeding, or should it be once a day or so?

She is now on her 7th day, weighs in at 3.7 oz. (She started out at 2.4) {YAY!} and is reaching cuteness of disgusting proportions.

And thanks again for the input!

One week old, and 3.9 oz!!

I put the karo in every bottle. It's hard for them to make the transition to formula from mamacat milk.
He/she(?) will start to poop on its own somewhere around 3 1/2 to 4 weeks. Litter box training can begin around then, but they don't get very good at using it for anything other than a hiding/pouncing place until they are closer to 5 weeks. Consider the kit to be a toddler until it is 10 weeks, though. Just like human kids, they don't remember the litter box until they have negative time to get there.
got photos?

Thanks.

She isn't making the transition from mother's milk to formula, because she never got a mother's milk meal.

Hey, it worked! I figured out how to post a pic!

OH, how precious!!
You're doing a marvelous job.
There's a kitten chat on Wednesday evenings in CatHobbyist, but conversation about the little ones is always welcome. You'll find a large group of people in those chats who do rescue and will be able to help you and celebrate with you.
(I go by both MaryNY and Tarrigo in chat, depending on what chat it is.)

Stryder she is adorable, and your doing a wonderful job! Sorry , I thought I had replied to your post before, guess I was more concerned to get Mary over here for you, she is our expert when it comes to bottle babys....

and yes please do come to kitten chat, or any chat if you have questions, well you dont have to have questions, your welcome any time, there is a lot of experience in the group, concerning all ages...Kitten Kapers is at 10pm eastern time, in the Cats Meow room...hope to see you there oh , thats on Wednesdays
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PHTessie

Thanks!
I'd love to visit chat, if I am around at that time.

And thanks for all the help. So far, our biggest obastacle has been constipation. I am not sure how often she's suposed to poop, but if she goes for too long, we really start to panic. Hopefully the Karo in the bottle will help with this.

We also panic every time she hiccups, twitches, sleeps, moves, or doesn't move. My caughter can't go 15 minutes without checking on her. I am really, really proud of my daughter. She's a devoted mom, and a tremendous help.

So, how often does she need to poop? She generally does not poop every time we feed her. Yesterday she went from 11:30 am to midnight without a poop. I was about to resort to the enema again, when my daughter coaxed one out of her.

Once a day is fine for pooping.
I know the feeling though. We are terrible when it comes to poking babykits who are passed out just to make sure that they are still alive. (This won't change. Kittens have two speeds---high and off.)

She growed so much!

This is her at day eight.

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Cats; Mustard, Frodo, Ted, Eddie Poe, Puck, Ted, Todd, Fessig, Marla, Bill, Darlene, and mama cat.

Snakes; Mickey, Fido, Dead, Samson, Delalah, Jack Straw, Phobia, Tuesday, Tweeker, Elizard, Cmaeo, and babies.

Ferret; Cricket.

Dog; Stryder

etc..........

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww she's precious!!!

First of all thanks for saving this baby and giving her so much love. She is extremely cute! And I can see why she seems to be mad all the time.....she is a calico and she has apparently gotten a big bundle of calico attitude. Known around here as just plain tude!! You are doing a great job and all the advice that the others have given covers everything. Keep us up to date and keep those pictures coming. I am very partial to calicos!! I love a little kit with tude and I have a number of tudeful cats around here and not all are calicos. Here is a picture of my beautiful Tabitha....now at the bridge. She had plenty of tude!! And was with me for 16 wonderful years

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Tessa Onyx, Foudini, Charlee, Spottie, ShyRaven, Buddy, Tuxie, Widdle Attila Sipowitz, Lizzie, Minnie, ET, Mylo, Penny (We be house cats at last), and Salem, Wicca and Marmalade (We iz also house cats, we guess)and the 5 porch kits also Riley da goggie and Alex da baby hamster too
Tabitha and Samantha..always in our hearts
A house without cats is like a garden without flowers