1-week old kitten

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I'm a new mummy to a 1-week old kitten (approx age). I have taken him to the vet twice and both times he seems to be healthy. However, I'm worried that I've recently been feeding him too much - he prefers a dropper than a bottle, so I'm concerned that he's bloated from possible air in dropper. His tummy is a bit round; I've read on most websites that this is normal - however I've been massaging him to make him more comfortable. The past 2 days he's been having diarrhea and also farts a little after I've massaged his tummy. Tonight he's been having a hard time, meowing pretty much non-stop for about 15-20mins and refuses to sleep. I have been massaging him non-stop, and only just got him to sleep (the past day or so he's also been more fussy in getting to sleep and insists on sleeping on my palm or on my hand). Is this normal?. Could I have overfed him? (he drinks about approx 3ml per feed, and feeds about 6-8 times a day. he 'gulps' down his milk - takes about 3 droppers worth then falls into a light sleep for a few minutes before waking up and asking for more). Is his tummy round because of over-feeding? What other problems can arise due to over-feeding? Please help I'm so worried; I really love the lil' guy. What can I do to make him comfortable? Thank you so much.

ANSWER: Hi Niena.  This is going to come as a shock - I believe the problem is that the kitten is not being fed frequently enough.  The background that you have just given me is exactly the path that my kittens would start down when I was losing them, back when I was feeding them every four hours.  I fed them every four hours because that's how often the formula said to feed them!  But my success rate was pretty poor.  Only about 50% of my kittens survived...sometimes less.

Then a lady who volunteers with my organization and raises dozens and dozens of orphans each year gave me her guidelines for bottle feeding.  I was astounded to see she fed her 1 and 2-week-old babies every two hours!  However, it makes sense.  Natural mothers nurse their newborns every two hours.  Perhaps this was my problem all along.  So I gave it a shot.  I haven't lost a baby since!

Kittens under two weeks who are fed less often than every two hours have a tendency to overeat at one meal.  But their immature digestive systems can't handle all that milk.  The kittens end up developing gas and diarrhea or constipation.  This causes fussiness and soon, a loss of appetite.  It's not long before the kitten is fading fast.

To address diarrhea, your best bet is to feed the kitten more often.  Feed the kitten what he is eager to eat, never more.  Most kittens of this age will eat around 3 mls every 2 hours.  Don't forget to burp the baby after each meal to help avoid gas (place him on your shoulder and gently tap his back with your fingers).  If diarrhea continues, you should talk to your vet about an antibiotic.  Some diarrhea can be caused by bacterial overgrowth in kittens.

The kitten can go down to having meals every 3 hours once he is two full weeks old and every 4 hours between 3 and 4 weeks old.

Best of luck!

Jessica



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Jessica,

Thank you very much for your response. After a long night, my baby is now sleeping soundly. He was up from 1130pm till almost 2am, slept for an hour, woke up around 330am, slept again at 4am all the way to 7am. He does seem to want milk more often - his pattern goes like this: wake up, drink about 1.6ml milk, doze off for a few minutes, wake up, drink a bit more (maybe another 1.6ml - sometimes more, depending on how much he wants / hungry he is although it's usually about 3ml), then after going 'potty', he finally settles down to sleep. I guess he was already telling me how much and how frequent he wants to drink! So every 2 hours x 3ml per feed ~ approx 36ml per day then (you're right, on the formula tub it says to give him 20ml per day, I guess this wasn't enough).

How long can I expect the diarrhea to last? And I have been trying to burp him but he won't sit still so it's pretty hard to do. I can't put him on my shoulder, so I hold him up in my palm and try to burp him that way - but I don't know if it's working. I do massage his tummy though, I hope that helps somewhat.

Also, this morning I was out for about 2 hours, but fed him before I left. However he did not settle down very well, and when my maid checked on him a few minutes later, he was already out of his box (yes, he's pretty active and big for a 1 week old). So unknown to me, and I'm sure with best intentions, she gave him some milk. Only thing is, she gave him the wrong milk to water ratio - I normally give him 1 spoon milk + 3 spoon water (4 spoons if he has diarrhea) - but she misunderstood the instructions on the lid and gave him 1 1/2 milk + 3 water, which I feel is too thick for him. Soon as I heard about this, I asked my mother to give him some water. Was this the right thing to do? I was so afraid the milk would upset his tummy further and turn his diarrhea into constipation! I rushed home and he was sleeping but woke up and drank about 1.6ml more (correct milk to water ratio this time) and has been sleeping ever since. I'm so afraid the wrong dosage will make things worse for him; are there any signs I should look out for? He's still very active and noisy when he wakes up; he likes to crawl around looking for me, and appears quite strong for now. I don't want him to lose appetite and have him deteriorate!

Also, he does not seem to want to sleep in his box - I made a comfy one for him using lots of towels and also put in a hot water bottle (which I wrap in towel so its not so hot for him). The last 2 days he's been climbing out of his box and prefers to sleep outside, so I created a small space for him with his own 'mummy', a small pillow and a hot water bottle, and he seems to like that. It seems that he gets too hot in the box and prefers the open air; sometimes he does want his box but only when the hot water bottle has been in there for a few hours, ie not hot at all anymore! I have not been sleeping with the air-con on since I got him (I use the stand fan instead), but I do switch the air-con for a few minutes a few times during the day as otherwise it gets too hot (I do this because some website have said not to keep the kitten in a drafty room and to make sure he's warm). Is it ok that I cool the room down a little? He seems more comfortable that way. I'm just going by instinct and by what he seems to be telling me.

Sorry this has been quite long - I'm such an anxious first-time mummy, and I just want him to be OK. My partner (who has been through all this with me) has one question for you - any de-stressing methods for the first-time mummy? :)

Thanks again Jessica, hoping to hear from you.

ps - i'll send you some pics of the lil' guy soon!

Extremely grateful,
Niena + partner + lil' baby

Answer
Bottle raising a baby can be quite stressful!  We never get more than a couple hours' sleep, any little peep can wake us out of the sleep we DO get, and we spend every waking moment worrying that something is wrong with the little one.  The good news is that this insanely stressful time is relatively short-lived.  In about 4 weeks, you'll have so much free time on your hands, you'll be reminiscing about the midnight feedings as he's off conquering the world.  My best de-stressing advice would be, nuzzle him.  Cats and humans alike grow and thrive off the hormone oxytocin.  A newborn kitten needs it to grow strong and healthy, and we need it to feel good.  Recent research suggests that not only do we release oxytocin when we cuddle cats, which is good for us, but cats release oxytocin when we cuddle them, which is good for them.  Give him lots of kisses on the belly, rest him on your chest when he's sleepy, hold his tiny paws in your fingers - these are the rewards you receive for all your hard work!

You are correct that you should generally make formula thinner when a kitten has diarrhea, and feed him more often.  And it's also correct that changing his formula too much very suddenly can cause further stomach upset, so it's always best to avoid this.  And further, giving him a few drops of water won't hurt the baby, especially if he may be a little dehydrated because of the diarrhea.  I don't think the little mishap with the formula should be too terrible for him.  Hopefully it won't happen again.  If anything like this does happen in the future, I wouldn't give him more than a few drops of water to correct it, because you won't want to fill him up too much before his next meal.

I think you're right that it sounds like he's getting too hot with the hot water bottle.  Kittens can certainly overheat.  Because hot water bottles don't provide consistent heat, I use heating pads with my babies, but I always leave an area for the kittens to move off the pad if they get hot.  And frequently, they do take a little break.  Just in case, always be sure that the kitty feels warm and active before feeding him.  If his body temperature is too low, his digestive system will be sluggish and won't be able to process what he ingests.  This can cause anything from diarrhea to a complete shut-down of the digestive system.  I know, just one more thing to worry about!

I'm not sure how warm it is in your home, but within the first week of life, kittens can stay in a room with no extra heat source if it's 90 degrees F.  In the second week, 85 degrees F.  And week three, 80 degrees.  After that, the kitten can maintain his own body temperature.  If you're cooling your home to cooler temperatures than this, giving him access to the hot water bottle or a heating pad and keeping him out of the direct path of the air conditioner should provide enough protection for him, although I would avoid bringing the temperature in the home any lower than 75 degrees for now.

He sure sounds like he's active!  I hope his belly troubles get better soon!

Jessica