Sickly litter of kittens w/ former feral mom

"mjoann" wrote


...
It is now 5:00 AM and he is nearly a day and a half. With every day he
gains (and weight) I will feel a little
easier!


Bless you for caring for him. One thing--he needs to eat every four hours,
as you know. That makes it impossible when you work. I dropped a kitten a
mother cat abandoned off at the vet every day, and they did a feeding while
I was at work. they didn't charge much.

I know you are bracing yourself, as well you should be. The behavior you
describe sounds so familiar--this little pregnant calico that stole my heart
by approaching me one night as I came out of a restaurant (she did that
hoppy kind of head bump where they are on their back legs when I reached
down to her) proceeded to have seven kittens in my one bedroom apartment at
a time when I worked full time and went to school. I worried because she
only had six nipples, of course, so I watched to make sure all the babies
were eating. It seemed like overnight one was smaller than the rest and she
had turned her back to him. When I placed him back with her, she moved the
nest and left him alone. I was so upset, took him to the vet, got formula,
and gave him his own little box and a heating pad. I was feeding him one
morning and the telephone rang so I put him down in his little box and went
to get the phone. By the time I had gotten back she had placed him in the
litter box! It was as though she knew something was wrong with him.

Still, when he died at five days old I was really devastated. It is even
harder when you watched them be born. I hope your little one makes it. We'll
be rooting for him.


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"mjoann" wrote in message
...
Thank you everyone, for the ideas. I haven't had time to reply because
of the kittens. Only one is still alive, and I have expected him to die
any minute since last night. When I was little, my mom let our cat run
around and have kittens every year and I remember that they usually
died, so I am trying to accept that for this kitten.
We found the kitten that is left around 7:30 Wednesday night along with
two stillborn, so he may have been born around 7:00. He reached his one
day mark, and we were surprised he made it that long! Unfortunately,
just a little later the mom abandoned him. When we tried to move him to
her, she took him back to the original spot and left him. With repeated
attempts, she became agitated and tried to attack him. She is now
happily curled up with her 1-yr old kitten from last year and we are
taking care of the baby. I'd guess he is about half the weight of the
pictures I have seen of healthy kittens. We thought he was near dead
several times, but he keeps perking up and crying and trying desperately
to get out of the little box/bed we made him. He has been eating every
two hours, and seems to be understanding the syringe better. He is
sucking away. Plus, he has urinated afterwards when we wiped him with a
warm q-tip. I really can't expect this scrawny kitten to live, but as
long as he is alive and crying, we will keep him comfortable. I don't
know how we can take on this huge responsibility with both of us working
full time, but if I have a live kitten in my home, I can't not take care
of him. It is now 5:00 AM and he is nearly a day and a half. With every
day he gains (and weight) I will feel a little easier!

mjoann


Check with a vet and see if they recommend using Probiotic and Colostrum.
The Colostrum replaces what the kittens isn't getting from mom as she
stopped nursing and the Probiotic helps the bacteria balance in the gut. I
just got some last night from my vet for a kitten that had stopped nursing
and had diarrhea.

Good luck, hope all goes well.

Wendy

"mjoann" wrote in message
...
Thank you everyone, for the ideas. I haven't had time to reply because
of the kittens. Only one is still alive, and I have expected him to die
any minute since last night. When I was little, my mom let our cat run
around and have kittens every year and I remember that they usually
died, so I am trying to accept that for this kitten.
We found the kitten that is left around 7:30 Wednesday night along with
two stillborn, so he may have been born around 7:00. He reached his one
day mark, and we were surprised he made it that long! Unfortunately,
just a little later the mom abandoned him. When we tried to move him to
her, she took him back to the original spot and left him. With repeated
attempts, she became agitated and tried to attack him. She is now
happily curled up with her 1-yr old kitten from last year and we are
taking care of the baby. I'd guess he is about half the weight of the
pictures I have seen of healthy kittens. We thought he was near dead
several times, but he keeps perking up and crying and trying desperately
to get out of the little box/bed we made him. He has been eating every
two hours, and seems to be understanding the syringe better. He is
sucking away. Plus, he has urinated afterwards when we wiped him with a
warm q-tip. I really can't expect this scrawny kitten to live, but as
long as he is alive and crying, we will keep him comfortable. I don't
know how we can take on this huge responsibility with both of us working
full time, but if I have a live kitten in my home, I can't not take care
of him. It is now 5:00 AM and he is nearly a day and a half. With every
day he gains (and weight) I will feel a little easier!

mjoann


Check with a vet and see if they recommend using Probiotic and Colostrum.
The Colostrum replaces what the kittens isn't getting from mom as she
stopped nursing and the Probiotic helps the bacteria balance in the gut. I
just got some last night from my vet for a kitten that had stopped nursing
and had diarrhea.

Good luck, hope all goes well.

Wendy