Advice Needed on Newborn Kitten Care

Hello, sort-of newbie here... I have a newborn kitten which we found
abandoned in our yard about a week ago... we estimate his age to be
about 8 days at most. I have been feeding him KMR using an eyedropper;
I keep him in a cat carrier with a heating pad on low, a baby blanket,
a stuffed cat for 'company'. I got advice from a friend at an animal
shelter and from readings online. But I'm worrying about a few things,
hoping someone can further advise:

1) He sleeps virtually all the time. I wake him up to feed him then he
goes right back to sleep. If I let him he'll sleep 10-12 hrs, easily.
I'm worried that he is sleeping TOO much, is that possible? Could
there be something wrong with him? He seems alert, well, as alert as
he can without his eyes open, LOL.

2) He eats plenty, much more than I'd have thought possible -- am I
maybe overfeeding him? If he wants to eat, though, I'd think he's
hungry and needs it. He is peeing and pooping, with my help... which
leads to another worry:

3) The poop is just soft, almost liquidy and yellow-orange in color.
Not actual stools. Is this a sign of a problem too?

4) I've been told by this friend to NOT bother taking him to a vet just
yet, that there's nothing they can really do at this point, I should
wait until he's about 4 wks old at least. That seems odd to me but can
someone confirm?

He seems healthy overall. He is quite active, crawls/pulls himself
around very well, which amazes me. I thought he wouldn't be able to
walk for a few more weeks. He doesn't 'walk' per se, of course. But
definitely more active than I'd expect.

Any advice anyone can provide would be great. Thanks!!

1) He sleeps virtually all the time. I wake him up to feed him then he
goes right back to sleep. If I let him he'll sleep 10-12 hrs, easily.
I'm worried that he is sleeping TOO much, is that possible? Could
there be something wrong with him? He seems alert, well, as alert as
he can without his eyes open, LOL.

What is his feeding schedule? Make sure you feed him every 5-6 hours at
least. Be very careful if you're using an eyedropper; it is easy to for the
milk to go into it's trachea and lungs and cause aspiration pneumonia. An
eyedropper is very time-consuming too; you can only give one drop at a time,
wait for him to swallow, then do another. A bottle is a much better choice.
He won't be able to hear until he's 2-3 weeks old so if you're talking to him
to wake him that's why he doesn't respond.

2) He eats plenty, much more than I'd have thought possible -- am I
maybe overfeeding him? If he wants to eat, though, I'd think he's
hungry and needs it. He is peeing and pooping, with my help... which
leads to another worry:

How much does he weigh? He needs about 3-4 ml for 4 ounces of body weight.

3) The poop is just soft, almost liquidy and yellow-orange in color.
Not actual stools. Is this a sign of a problem too?

The colour of the poop is not as important as the texture. Using the formula
full strength is fine if he is 8 days old but since his stool is so soft, I
would dilute it with about 1/3 water until he forms a firmer stool. His
intestines may not be well developed enough yet to handle the formula full-
strength. It may also be a case of him getting too much food or he may have
coccidia or parasites that may be causing his soft stool. After he eats, are
you rubbing his behind gently with moistened cotten pad?

4) I've been told by this friend to NOT bother taking him to a vet just
yet, that there's nothing they can really do at this point, I should
wait until he's about 4 wks old at least. That seems odd to me but can

You will need to bring a stool sample to your vet for diagnosis of coccidea,
etc. Have you called shelters to enquire about bringing her to a mother cat
who has a small litter right now? It is spring, so there may be some with
babies just born. Sometimes shelters will let you bring the kitten to her.
A mother cat is the best mom for him; she can feed him, clean him, etc. He
would also have siblings so that he can be properly socialized to other cats.
He will have a much better chance at surviving this way.

--
Message posted via http://www.catkb.com

"Anna via CatKB.com" u18214@uwe wrote in message news:6059a860b1a6b@uwe...
1) He sleeps virtually all the time. I wake him up to feed him then he
goes right back to sleep. If I let him he'll sleep 10-12 hrs, easily.
I'm worried that he is sleeping TOO much, is that possible? Could
there be something wrong with him? He seems alert, well, as alert as
he can without his eyes open, LOL.

What is his feeding schedule? Make sure you feed him every 5-6 hours at
least.

When I had a newborn the vet fed him every four hours during the day and
I fed him every four hours at night.



Inviato da X-Privat.Org - Registrazione gratuita http://www.x-privat.org/join.php

"Cindi" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello, sort-of newbie here... I have a newborn kitten which we found
abandoned in our yard about a week ago... we estimate his age to be
about 8 days at most. I have been feeding him KMR using an eyedropper;
I keep him in a cat carrier with a heating pad on low, a baby blanket,
a stuffed cat for 'company'. I got advice from a friend at an animal
shelter and from readings online. But I'm worrying about a few things,
hoping someone can further advise:

1) He sleeps virtually all the time. I wake him up to feed him then he
goes right back to sleep. If I let him he'll sleep 10-12 hrs, easily.
I'm worried that he is sleeping TOO much, is that possible? Could
there be something wrong with him? He seems alert, well, as alert as
he can without his eyes open, LOL.

2) He eats plenty, much more than I'd have thought possible -- am I
maybe overfeeding him? If he wants to eat, though, I'd think he's
hungry and needs it. He is peeing and pooping, with my help... which
leads to another worry:

3) The poop is just soft, almost liquidy and yellow-orange in color.
Not actual stools. Is this a sign of a problem too?

4) I've been told by this friend to NOT bother taking him to a vet just
yet, that there's nothing they can really do at this point, I should
wait until he's about 4 wks old at least. That seems odd to me but can
someone confirm?

He seems healthy overall. He is quite active, crawls/pulls himself
around very well, which amazes me. I thought he wouldn't be able to
walk for a few more weeks. He doesn't 'walk' per se, of course. But
definitely more active than I'd expect.

Any advice anyone can provide would be great. Thanks!!

It's pretty normal for kittens to sleep just about all the time at that age.
He'll start spending more time awake after his eyes are open.

Like was already said the soft stool might indicate he isn't able to handle
the formula at full strength. Add water if you're getting pre-mixed formula
and don't mix any stronger than 1 scoop formula to 2 of water if you're
using the powdered KMR.

Kitty might be too young to treat for parasites at this point. If mixing the
formula weaker doesn't help firm up the poop you might want to check with
the vet anyway. Mine gave me some probiotic to add to the formula to help
maintain a healthy bacterial balance in the bowel.

The kitten should be old enough to start using the bottle instead of a
dropper. Some bottle kits come with a very long nipple. That is a good
starter nipple if you can keep kitty from swallowing it. It's got a smaller
end and the little ones seem to find that easier to handle at first. After
he gets used to the nipple then you can switch to one of the shorter ones.
When you make a hole in the long one you can take a razor blade and cut as
close to the tip as possible to get a hole in the end. I don't know if
anyone here has ever had any luck getting a hole in the nipple using the hot
needle trick but I haven't. I usually take a small, very sharp pair of
scissors and make a cross cut in the end and then cut off slivers from one
of the quarters until I get a hole big enough to let the formula flow but
not so big as to drown the poor kitty.

I usually feed every four hours until the kittens eyes open and then start
backing off to a breakfast, lunch, dinner, bedtime schedule as the kitten
starts taking more at a feeding.

Good luck with your kittens.

W

"Cindi" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello, sort-of newbie here... I have a newborn kitten which we found
abandoned in our yard about a week ago... we estimate his age to be
about 8 days at most. I have been feeding him KMR using an eyedropper;
I keep him in a cat carrier with a heating pad on low, a baby blanket,
a stuffed cat for 'company'.

Heating pads with kittens make me very nervous. Make absolutely sure the
heating pad doesn't exceed 100*.


I got advice from a friend at an animal
shelter and from readings online. But I'm worrying about a few things,
hoping someone can further advise:

1) He sleeps virtually all the time. I wake him up to feed him then he
goes right back to sleep. If I let him he'll sleep 10-12 hrs, easily.
I'm worried that he is sleeping TOO much, is that possible? Could
there be something wrong with him? He seems alert, well, as alert as
he can without his eyes open, LOL.

2) He eats plenty, much more than I'd have thought possible -- am I
maybe overfeeding him?

Intake is limited by the size of the stomach- At 8 days-old, you shouldn't
feed him more than 5 ml of KMR per feeding every 4 hours for the next few
days. Any more KMR or any more frequent feeding might overload his digestive
system and kidneys- which are still functionally immature. Then gradually
increase the amount per feeding and intervals between feeding. Feed him in
an upright position so he doesn't aspirate any fluid into his lungs.



If he wants to eat, though, I'd think he's
hungry and needs it. He is peeing and pooping, with my help... which
leads to another worry:

3) The poop is just soft, almost liquidy and yellow-orange in color.
Not actual stools. Is this a sign of a problem too?


At that age, feeding KMR, his stools should be firm and yellowish. It
sounds like you might be overfeeding him a bit. If the stools remain runny
and/or start turning grayish- take him to a vet immediately because he could
be becoming dehydrated. Kittens can dehydrate *very* quickly* - so don't
hesitate to take him to a vet.



4) I've been told by this friend to NOT bother taking him to a vet just
yet, that there's nothing they can really do at this point, I should
wait until he's about 4 wks old at least. That seems odd to me but can
someone confirm?

I always err on the side of caution- since you have no family history, I
would have him checked- at least to check for worms, his temp and hydration
status. Bring a fresh stool sample to save time.



He seems healthy overall. He is quite active, crawls/pulls himself
around very well, which amazes me. I thought he wouldn't be able to
walk for a few more weeks. He doesn't 'walk' per se, of course. But
definitely more active than I'd expect.

Any advice anyone can provide would be great. Thanks!!


Keep a close watch on him- kittens can deterioate very quickly.

Best of luck,

Phil