Newborn baby kitten; mom died

Question
QUESTION: Hello, I had a young cat that I took in and was told she was fixed. About two months ago I discovered she was pregnant. I started doing research as we have housed many cats and dogs, but never had the experience of our animals being pregnant. I found that cats under 1 years old have a harder pregnancy, higher risk of complications during delivery, and a higher rate of rejecting the kittens. SO I started reading. Bella (mother cat) went into labor and was having a very hard time. The first sac started to come out at midnight, but did not actually deliver the first baby until 2 am. The 4 other cats and all 5 placentas were delivered by 9 am. Bella was so weak and was not able to do anything but push the kittens out. I tied the umbilical cords, cut the umbilical cords, removed the sacs, cleared the airways, cleaned/dried them off, and put them in a warm boxed lined with blankets. After the delivery was complete, mom allowed them to suckle, but she was not producing milk and did not have the energy to move. I was on the phone with the vet off and on. We were scheduled to leave for family for Christmas in the next state. I was afraid to leave mamma cat with kittens in fear that she would not be able to care for them since her labor was so hard. So we took all the kittens and mamma cat with us. I immediately went to the store and got kitten milk to feed them until mamma recovered and her milk dropped. I knew about stimulating them to use the bathroom and with the advice of the vet was hoping that Bella would be able to step back in in a couple of days (which is why we took kittens and mamma with us so she would not turn them away if we took them away for 4 days). Unfortunately, Bella was not getting better but continued to deteriorate. We took he into a Emergency Vet Hospital where they delivered the horrible news. Bella had became hypothermic (temp at 95 instead of 102), was having seizures (just in the head area, not the whole body); started to bleed out of her nose, was septic, glucose levels and electrolytes were bottomed out, and she was severely dehydrated and she refused to eat from Friday when labor began till Sunday. I tried to feed her the formula (like the vet said) and water and she vomitted both up. The vet explained that even if they did everything they could he was positive she would not survive and that she was in severe pain, so the most humane thing to do was to put her to sleep. That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. We have had lots of pets and some have died, but I have never had to put one to sleep before. The pregnancy and delivery literally took everything she had. I made a promise to her, my kids, and myself to make sure her babies live. I have been feeding them, stimulating them (even though they have been pooping without me somehow), washing them, keeping them warm and snuggling with them. I wanted to know if there was anything else I needed to do. The formula box tells how much they should eat at each feeding depending on their weight, but that did not seem to satisfy them and were meowing like crazy within 30 minutes...and as soon as I would give them more they were content. Can you overfeed them and if you do will it hurt them? One of the 5 kittens is having problems at feeding time. Every time I feed him, he will make a mess, but then look like he is gasping for air and then starts to sneezing formula out of his nose. I have tried holding him in different positions, holding the eye dropper in different positions, getting squeezing the eyedropper ( I tried using the kitten bottle and nipples, but none of the kittens would use it), but can not seem to have a single feeding without it. It is really freaking me out and I am so scared one of these times he will not be able to get it out and will die or that he will get pneumonia from it. What do you suggest? I use an eyedropper for the feedings and generally all I have to do is squeeze it a tad to get a drop or two of milk on the tip and the kittens will form a suction on it and do all the work themselves. I have one eyedropper with a bent tip and one eyedropper that is a straight tip. All the cats seem to like to bent tip, but the one having trouble I have tried both tips in various positions. I am really not wanting to lose any of the kittens...it was so hard for me loosing the mamma. Do you know what I can do? What about overfeeding as well?

ANSWER: Hi Melissa,

First off. I am really sorry about what happened with Bella. It's tough to lose a pet under those circumstances. You have 5 little ones to take care of and this is a lot. It sounds like you have researched a bit about taking care of them. I am going to give you a bunch of links that contain some very good info on raising them. I will give you fair warning. Raising 5 orphans is going to be very tough. Get what help you can. And keep in mind, that sometimes no matter what you do, one may die. This is one of the rotten facts of raising orphan kittens that nobody says. I hope you don't have that heartache.

Okay, now onto the things that you can do. I am attaching my recipe for something called Kitty Glop. I have raised lots of orphans on this stuff. It is cheaper than the formula you are using. And with 5 babies you will use a lot of formula. You need to try to get them off the dropper. See if you get this.

http://www.amazon.com/Catac-Standard-Feeding-Kit-Valve/dp/B000EMYNZW

This is the best bottle you can get for feeding them. The eye dropper doesn't allow them to really suckle. This is part of the problem for the one that has the milk coming out. The other problem sounds like he is getting too much milk too fast. Try to restrict the amount he gets at one feeding. You may have to feed him less milk but more often.

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/kitten_feeding_schedule.html

This is a good link for how much to feed them and when. This link is chock full of great info.

http://www.hdw-inc.com/tinykitten.htm

I personally don't recommend weaning them until 8-10 weeks old. I feel if you wean them earlier it causes problems with them. I know it is a lot of work and the temptation will be there to wean them at 4 weeks but try to go to at least 8 weeks if you can.

Keep up with the stimulation for the elimination of the kittens. It may seem that they are eliminating by themselves but you need to keep an eye on them to see how their stool and urine is. You also need to keep them clean when they go.

Make sure they are warm. Being chilled is the number one thing that will cause a kitten to die. Make sure the nest box is in an area away from drafts.

This a lot of work with 5 kittens. I raised 4 at once so I know. I have one left from that group. His attachment to me and my partner is amazing. You will not find a stronger attachment between you and any other pets than the ones you will have with these kittens. It is worth all the work. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen


KITTY GLOP

INGREDIENTS:
1 can evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)
2 tbsp. plain yogurt (not low or non fat)
2 tbsp. mayonnaise (real not light or No-Fat)
1 tbs. Karo Syrup (light)
1 pkg. Knox gelatin
1 egg yolk (beaten, )
1 cup Pedialyte (unflavored)
1- 2 jars Stage One Baby food (chicken or turkey)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix milk, yogurt, mayonnaise, baby food, and syrup together well. Bring 1 cup pedialyte to boil and mix in Knox gelatin. Set aside. Mix egg yolk with small amount of milk mixture and beat well.

Add gelatin and pedialyte to milk mixture and beat well. Add in egg yolk mixture and beat well. Remember to not use egg substitute and keep egg white to a minimum.

Pour into bowl (with cover) and set in refrigerator. Glop will last for two weeks covered in refrigerator. Try freezing the mixture in ice cube trays and store the cubes in the freezer, thaw as many as needed.
Always warm glop to room temperature ,(milk form), or a little warmer, before feeding.  



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

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your help and advice. This past week has been very demanding, but very rewarding (even though I wish Bella could be doing it). On the bottle of the kitten formula it said I should feed them until they are not hungry anymore...is this right? Also it says that I should burp the kitten...is that true? If so how do I do that? Thank you for your help, guidance and insight!

Answer
Hi Mellissa,

Try to follow the feeding guide for the kittens. It would be good to get a food scale so that you can weigh them and keep track of their weights. This will help you to track if they are growing right. If they still are hungry feed them a little more. Most times they will stop when full.

http://kittenrescue.org/meow/handbook.htm

This site has info about burping kittens. Do it just like you would a human baby, just use light pats. Also it has good info about taking care of multiple kits like you have. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen