Expert: Jessica - 7/10/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi i am very worried about my cat and kitten and i need help.My cat had two kittens yesterday on july 8th and both kittens where still born,well i still could feel movement in her but she was not in labor anymore.SO i waited for 24 hours like the vet said and sure enough 24 hours later she had two more babies.One was still born again and one was fine she had a total of four kittens three being still born and one of the hole litter alive.Well i am trying my best to do everything i can to keep this little guy alive this is mom cats first litter of kittens i was meaning to have her spayed but she got out of doors somehow.Well anyway where her teats is her milk feels hard there instead of squishy and when i squeeze her teats there is noo milk coming out f them there isnt anything coming out of them.And her kittens keeps going from teat to teat trying to find milk i guess.Becouse he keeps movin from one to the next.She just doesnt seem to have dropped her milk yet.Can you please tell me when the mom cat was supposed to drop her milk and if this is normal sometimes and if there is something i can do to help her and her baby?I just dont understand why her milk didnt drop.Thanks so much i really would appreciate it.

ANSWER: Hi Evelyn.  Sometimes this happens, and cats may respond to an injection of Pitocin.  This simulates oxytocin, a hormone present in large amounts during pregnancy and delivery which encourages milk let down.  You should get your kitty back to the vet to see if this will help.

But in the meantime, you will have to bottle feed this baby.  You can use an eye dropper or syringe if no bottle is available, and you can use evaporated milk as an emergency formula if no stores are available to buy kitten formula.  If absolutely necessary, whole milk can be used.  However, this must only be used for a few feedings until kitten formula can be obtained.  It doesn't have enough fat or sugar in it to sustain a kitten, and the baby will be severely malnourished if he is fed milk for longer than a day or so.  The formula will need to be heated up to 100 degrees F.  Newborns will usually eat 3-5 cc's every 2 hours.

I hope baby does well!

Jessica

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QUESTION: Hi again well i called the vet and he told me to try and massage her teats he said sometimes this may work to bring milk down.He said if nothing happens after me doing this he told me to bring her on in.Well i did that and now it seems like there is a little milk coming out the kitten was suckling on her but he still goes from teat to teat the only thing now i am worried about is when i massage them if me massaging them brings the milk down just from me massaging her.And then the milk dissapears again could this be possible ?Becouse i really hope the milk flow is constant so the baby can get the right amount of milk he needs.So can you please tell me is it possible that the milk can go away again after me massaging her?Also how much is a newborn kitten supposed to gain in a day?Thank you so much i really very much appreciate this i love this little guy already.Thanks again and god bless you.

ANSWER: Hello again!  Milk can actually stop flowing again, so you should keep trying to check on this periodically.  The lowest two teats, toward the hind legs, tend to produce the most milk.  If there is ever any fear that the baby is not receiving enough natural milk, always err on the side of caution and try to supplement him with some formula.

A good way to see if your baby is getting enough to eat is to weigh him each day.  An ounce scale, sold to weigh mail, is the best way to do this.  Newborns typically will gain about 1/8 oz. (0.125 oz.) daily.  As they get a little older, they will gain 1/4 oz. and even 1/2 oz. on some days when they reach a couple weeks old.  There may be an odd day when the baby doesn't gain any weight, but the general rule is that he should be putting on weight just about every day and never losing it.

Good luck!  Let me know if there are any other concerns that come up.

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QUESTION: Thanks again i will keep checking her milk flow daily and massaging her there.As of right now it seems like the kitten is getting milk pretty well from her his little stomach is round and big.I thought it maybe becouse he had to use the bathroom so i tried making him go by wetting a cotton ball with warm water.But he urined only a little bit i guess hes just got a round stomach.I wanted to ask you ?If hes stomach is round and fat does this mean he is eating well?I already went out and bought some kmr milk replacer formula today.But he looks as if he is eating good from mom cat now.So can you please tell me if he has a big round fat stomach if you think he is eating well.Or should i try the kmr just incase?Thanks again so so much

Answer
If he has a big, round belly, that's a sign of a well fed kitten, so I probably wouldn't bother with the KMR.  Especially if the kitten is napping and not crying all the time, you can rest assured that his belly is pleasantly full.  Overfeeding can cause digestive problems like diarrhea, so you don't want to introduce formula if he's getting enough breast milk.  

However, if you begin to notice that his belly seems small and the kitten is fussy, then you may want to give the formula a try.  If he takes the formula greedily, you know he's not getting enough milk for sure.  I would continue to allow him to nurse first, but supplement with formula.