Expert: Norman Auspitz - 3/20/2009

Question
I foster cats & kittens, and I have a sick mom cat right now. She's on doxy & chlorpheniramine, but I noticed her three kittens seem less round & pudgy today. Lost a little weight. Her tummy seems flat, and I don't know if they're getting anything from her. They've been gaining weight until today, so I'm assuming she's had milk until today. She hasn't been eating well, so is it possible her milk production slowed down? Could it start back up again? Or if she's dry now, is she done nursing?? Her kittens are only about 9 days old and desperately need a mom to nurse them. I got some KMR into them w/ a syringe, but it wasn't very much as I was afraid they'd aspirate it, since they kept screaming so much! So they just got a little KMR, and I helped them potty since they obviously had to go & mama hadn't helped them!

I guess I may just get my answer tomorrow morning if she has any milk tomorrow.. but I've been fostering for so many years & never had a mom dry up like this with such young babies!

Thank you!
Stephanie

Answer
Stephanie,

Fortunately, at 9 days of age you do have a couple of options.  They should be able to suckle.  Also, you should have a digital postal scale and weight them every day to see if they are still getting any nourishment or not. It may be that she is not totally dried up.  Yopu need to make sure she is getting enough calcium in her diet (a calcium shot may be required).  Also, you may want to check for mastitis which your vet would treat with antibiotics, e.g. baytril.

If they appear to be weak, you can learn how to tube feed from your vet (it really is not difficult, especially once you get the hang of it). Once they gain strength, you can move them onto a pet nurser.    I like to use Justborn kitten milk replacer, although KMR is also a good product.  I like to cut the milk replacer 1-t0-1 with unflavored Pedialyte for the first couple of days to make sure they are rehydrated properly.

A good time schedule for kitten feeding is 7:00 AM, 1:00 PM, 7:00 PM, midnight.

The daily intake for a kitten should be about .3 oz (8-10ml) of formula for every 4 oz (100g) of body weight.  I use the same digital postal scale I mentioned above to weigh the kitten. Make sure the formula is blood heat (a couple of drops should feel warm but not hot on the back of your hand).  Also, the biggest danger in tube feeding is that the kitten will vomit up some formula and then aspirate it leading to pneumonia.  So, you must be careful.

The kitten should gain about an oz (30g) during the first week and then 2 oz (50g) in subsequent weeks.  Once the kitten hits 3-4 weeks, it can be weaned.

After feeding, the kitten should be "pottied" (use a cotton ball and gently massage the genital areas). It will pee at each feeding and poop, maybe once a day.  Also, you need to burp the kitten. Just hold the kitten at your shoulder, head elevate and gently tap its back until it burps.  It is more likely to get air bottle feeding then tube feeding.

A good reference is:  "Hand-Raising the Orphaned Kitten", by M.L. Papurt, DVM; Barron's Educational Series, Hauppauge, NY; 1999.

Please come back to me if there are any more questions.

Good luck and best regards... Norm.