| Title: | Meower Power - Where Differing Opinions are Respected |
| Notice: | purrrrr... |
| Moderator: | JULIET::CORDES_JA |
| Created: | Wed Nov 13 1991 |
| Last Modified: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1079 |
| Total number of notes: | 28858 |
I need some help/advise on bottle feeding kittens. I have a litter of (3) Himalayan kittens that are 2.5 weeks old. At first all were doing well. I was weighing them daily. But now the one that was the biggest and who was at first growing the most rapidly has not been gaining and has even lost weight. I have bottle fed kittens in the past and the kittens have taken to it readily. What is so upsetting/frustrating is that this little guy will not suck from the bottle. He chews it, licks it, gages on it but for some reason I can't get him to latch on and suck on it. As a result he takes in very little formula (KMR). I am just afraid he will continue to go down hill, and may get too weak to eat at all. Working during the day I'm not sure if he's nursing on mom, I assume some, but probably not much given his weight loss. I also find that although his eyes opened about a week ago he now keeps them closed most of the time. His little belly is very bulged out at the sides, much more so then the others. At first I thought it might be a bowel obstruction? But he did mess on himself a couple of times so I kinda ruled that out. His belly is not soft but very bulged and tight. Any suggestions? Valerie
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 764.1 | my 2 cents. | STOWOA::FALLON | Moonsta Cattery | Thu May 26 1994 10:19 | 8 |
Three things I would ask or check out:
1. do you make him void several times a day?
2. have you talked to your vet?
3. tube feed, tube feed, tube feed! If you wait for the little guy to
take in the proper amount of food on his own you could lose him. It is
really critical at this age. Weight loss is not good. Even a
maintained weight is bad.
Karen
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| 764.2 | VLNVAX::PGLADDING | Noters do it with a 8-) | Thu May 26 1994 14:27 | 11 | |
I had a set of orphaned kittens that were "bulged" at the sides
as you describe. They also had very bad diarrea - how is the
little guy's stools? Are they very loose and runny and bad
smelling?
Mine turned out to have coccidia (a parasite) and we had to
finally treat one with Tylan, because the diarrea was so bad.
Good luck with yours - hope everything turns out OK!
Pam
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| 764.3 | Good News | MRKTNG::ROSSI | VALIQUE HIMALAYANS | Fri Jun 03 1994 09:15 | 12 |
Good news. The little guy is doing much better. Since I first wrote this note his weight has gone from 5.75 - 9.75. I was able to squirt the KMR into his mouth and he laped at it. I think it was enough to keep him going till he recovered his strength. Who knows what was wrong, he maybe had a virus of something. Last night he goobled down some chicken baby food (a great sign of recovery). r- Valerie | |||||
| 764.4 | VLNVAX::PGLADDING | Noters do it with a 8-) | Fri Jun 03 1994 09:35 | 5 | |
Glad to hear the little guy is feeling better - wow - he almost
doubled his body weight!
Good job!
Pam
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