new foster mama cat and her babies...now just the babies:-(

[chickenlisa]

short intro for now- have to make dinner...for everyone!
We picked up a mama cat on Saturday with 2 of her own babies and 5 surrogates (all 3-4 weeks old)...well yesterday she had some bad sounding coughs (like hairballs trying to come up, or croup in kids...) and that didn't resolve with olive oil added to her food (she didn't eat any of it) and s dab of hairball remedy that she licked off of her foot. I called the shelter then and again today, and brought her up so they could check her. She had labored breathing and was dehydrated from not eating or drinking yesterday into today.
The 7 babies were nursed last at 1 pm, and then we fed them at 4 pm with droppers of KMR/canned wet kitten food glop and will again tonight. 1 of the bit younger surrogates ate/drank/slurped from the bowl and had a nice big tummy afterwards. Only that one did that tho. One of her own slurped from a big spoon I held...so hopefully they learn from watching. her 2 oldest ones went into the litterbox by themselves too after eating. I hope the rest learn that too from them. My 15 yr old DD crawled into their HUGE (Gr. Dane size?)crate and fell asleep with them afterwards. That helped them immensely I think. I"ll load pics next but any experience and happy endings will help me a lot right now. I am so sad about their Mama. She was X-rayed and they said not typical Pneumonia from that...some nodes were seen in her lungs and something looked like it was clogging her esophagus...
:-(
Lisa

 

[Chicks Galore3]

That's too bad! I recently got 2 8 week old kittens and momma. I hope they all learn to eat soon!

 

[chickenlisa]

 

[Chicks Galore3]

Here's mine -

 

[chickenlisa]

wow, your 8 week olds sure look older than that to me...more like 10-12...but every cat is different too. These are anywhere from 3-almost 5 weeks we were told. I'm thinking 3 for the smallest all black smokey (Shadow) one to 4 for the others....

 

[Chicks Galore3]

The last one is a couple years old - not completely sure, but still pretty kittenish. Yes - they are nice and big and healthy! A little on the plump side.

 

[chickenlisa]

well, I certainly hope our wee ones get that way in the next few weeks. I was sure sad when they said their Mama was too sick to come home with me and be with the babies.

 

[Chicks Galore3]

well, I certainly hope our wee ones get that way in the next few weeks. I was sure sad when they said their Mama was too sick to come home with me and be with the babies.

It sounds like you are taking good care of them - have you thought about maybe getting kitten milk replacer? they should be old enough to learn to drink out of a pan.

 

[chickenlisa]

I have KMR and mix it with wet kitten food to make a soupy glop.. 1 is only eating it out of the bowl, 1 laps it out of a hand held spoon... the others eat it out of the droppers we fill and hold to their mouths like a bottle...but we're in hopes that the 1 little piggy will show the others they can eat out of the bowl when ever they're hungry...the runt scares me tho in how small he is- he's bug eyed, and his bottom is a little distended...we've fostered an identical older kitten over the summer and she was exactly like this one only older and self sufficient. She just needed socialization and fattening up. Well, we socialized her- she was still built like toothpicks when she went back...we were told today it is malnutrition right after birth that causes that look and sound...weird mewing sound. Not normal little kitty mews.

 

[chickenlisa]

that one little piggy who ate out of hte bowl died yesterday...he was limp and barely breathing in the afternoon. He was eating out of hte bowl still and not trying to clammer out of the crate when we would gather the others up for their feedings, so we didn't try to feed him with a spoon or syringe like the others...Now I' wondering if he just didn't eat enough to keep himself alive... He was active though and always looked just as full as the others....his sister was almost like that when we came down to feed them this am at 6. My hubby brought her right up to the vet and she 'woke up' in the car...they said sometimes the little 3-4 week old kittens bottom out blood sugar wise if not fed every 4 hrs...the person at the shelter/vets office a few days ago told me every 6 hrs so I would wake them up to feed them sooner..Now I think I should do that during the night even if they're not awake...She's acting fine now, she ate 8 ml of food/milk at 11 am, and 20 ml more at 2:30. Making up for lost time I think (and hope!)
Anyone know from past experience?