Retained kitten and milk concerns.

Question
Hi, I have a kitty named Basket who is about a year old. We knew she was pregnant and had 3 kittens shortly before 3 o'clock today (it's her first litter). I wasn't there but I found them. They were a little cold so I put a warm towel in with them and made sure she laid down with them. They're small; about the size of swiss-cake rolls. I'm not sure if Basket's milk has come in. I can get the kittens to suck, but her nipples never leaked milk and don't look full. Also, I can still feel a kitten wriggling inside of her, but she's just laying down and purring with the others. I don't know what to do. How long should it take and what should I feed the kittens if her milk doesn't come in?

Answer
Emily,

If she has not yet delivered the last kitten, I would get her to your vet immediately.  

Often, you cannot express milk from the teats.  If the kittens are quiet and not constantly mewing, and getting fatter, she is providing milk.   If not, you should go to your vet and have them teach you to tube feed or bottle feed.  I like Newborn Kitten Milk Replacer cut with unflavored Pedialyte (50/50 with the premixed Newborn).  The kittens should be fed about 8-10 ml per day for every 100 mg (4 oz) of body weight per kitten.  They can be fed at 7:00 AM, 1:00 PM, 7:00 PM, and midnight about 2-3 ml per kitten per feeding.

Track each kitten's weight (you will need a digital scale, like a postal scale). Within a week, the kittens should have doubled in weight.

After feeding, the kittens will need to be burped and pottied (stimulate the back end with a soft tissue or cloth).

At this age, it is important that they stay warm, but not hot.  Usually, the warmth from mama's body is sufficient.

Often the first kitten out should be nursing within 45 minutes to an hour, and the others a bit more quickly.

BTW, a super little book on taking care of newborns is "Hand Raising the Orphaned Kitten" by Milton Pappurt, DVM; Barons' Educational Series, Hauppage, NY; 1999.

Please let me know how things go.

Best regards.... Norm.