Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Purrs

1. 

   Hi all!

   I'm a foster mom on my 5th litter. I had 4 successful litters but the ones I have now are troubled. They are sick with a URI, they won't eat or drink, and now I've been tasked by the shelter to medicate daily with antibiotics and to force-feed them. So far they have survived the week just on my force-feeding them Nutri-Cal mixed with water. But I'm not sure they are getting enough? They are about 1 pound and the Nutri-Cal instructions say to feed a 10 pound animal 3 Tsp per day? So I divided that by 10 since they are only 1 pound and it hardly seems like enough. They seem to be getting pretty skinny. But I don't want to over-feed them either. Is there a chart that shows how many calories a 1 pound kitten should get per day? And what about water?

   I have searched on the internet but I can't seem to find any charts for kittens this small.

   Any help would be welcomed. Thankfully I do have one who is well out of the litter of four but I did lose one already within a week of getting them and two seem to be just lingering.

   The shelter tells me to just keep doing what I'm doing...

   Any help? Or am I facing my first failure?

   Thanks!

   Posted 2 years ago by Rita #

2. 

   Not an easy topic to search. I don't know if this will help but there is a math formula on the page. You may have to ask a high school Calculus teacher to help you out.

   http://books.google.com/books?id=UTArAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=KITTEN+CALORIE+REQUIREMENTS&source=bl&ots=e7JCj8-kvN&sig=N4qRcNPId6AWvSbnrMBzanblv_0&hl=en&ei=poE6SrmFIIOGswPq4vH9Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6

   Posted 2 years ago by ailuromaniac #

3. 

   http://dels.nas.edu/dels/rpt_briefs/cat_nutrition_final.pdf

   Is a nutritional guide line for cats. The chart for daily energy needs has a 5 pound adult cat at 170 calories per day and a 5 pound kitten at 200 calories per day. So it looks like a kitten should get more calories per pound than an adult cat. I would guess to support all that growing they should be doing.

   Posted 2 years ago by TrufflesMom #

4. 

   Thanks! So 40 calories for a 1 pound Kitten then? Does that sound right? They are only 1 pound so that's 1/5 of what a 5 pound kitten needs. Seems like an awful small amount but it's still more than I've been giving them. I'll get more Nutri-Cal and up the amount then. Hopefully they are getting enough water out of the mixure.

   I really don't have a clue. I have had sick kittens before but I have never had kittens who simply will not eat or drink ANYTHING. But the shelter has their hands full so they keep telling me they can't do any better than I can, so just keep it up.

   *Sigh*

   R

   Posted 2 years ago by Rita #

5. 

   Rita, welcome to TDK. I can't offer any helpful advice, but want to thank you for all you fosterers do. This is a daunting task, but there are several TDKers who have raised very young, sick kittens, so keep this thread bumped up so others can see it.

   Please keep posting here and let us know how you get on. And just remember - you're doing your best! :o)

   Posted 2 years ago by MadcatwomanintheUK #

6. 

   Well, the update is that I turned the two sick kittens back in to the shelter yesterday. I told them that I didn't think we were capable of helping them anymore and that I thought they were dying. The shelter then checked them in to the hospital, which (I thought) confirmed that we were out of our league here. They said they were going to hook them up to IV drips but the immediate report was that they fed them and they ate! (Humph!) Maybe they were on the road to recovery after all. I don't know. But I asked them to keep us posted and we'll come back for them if and when they get out of the hospital. Meanwhile we are keeping their sister, who is also sick but not that sick. (She eats.)

   The shelter was bursting at the seams with kittens so we took a litter of four little hissers off their hands who are about the same age as the one we are already fostering. (Seriously, it says "hissers" on their paperwork.) This new litter is more our speed. We are quite capable of taming little hissers but we are NOT doctors!

   Thanks again all!

   R

   Posted 2 years ago by Rita #

7. 

   That is such great work that you are doing, Rita! "Hissers" - I can't wait to see if they live up to their name!

   Posted 2 years ago by WillowandWindismom #

8. 

   Rita, there is a special place in heaven for you - you're an angel!! Can't wait to hear more about all of your 'fosters' - including the little Hissers - how precious they must be!

   Posted 2 years ago by kittymom #

9. 

   OMG yeah, hissers is right! We only have to walk into the room and they start. They got their first round of shots before the shelter released them to us and a woman with bloodied arms came out and handed them to us in the carrier box and said, "Be careful with these!" I didn't actually SEE the kittens until I got home and opened the box but sure I wondered what kind of monsters I'd find in there! They are only about 6-8 weeks old so I don't know what could have happened in their short little lives to make them this way. We've had them for two days and I've already been bitten once.

   Still, a kitten is a kitten. It has only been a couple of days and we get to keep them for a whole month. I'm sure we'll get them tamed somewhat by then. I've already gotten them to play, chasing a string or laser beam, to distract them from hissing. And I'm trying to think of other things that would interest them.

   Honestly, most of the time I think we should be paying the shelter to rent all of these kitten litters because they are a great source of entertainment for us (as long as they aren't sick). It's been mostly good times and pass the kitty treats!

   R

   Posted 2 years ago by Rita #

10. 

    Well i dont know but use GOOGLE when this is the issue GOOGLE is your friend!

    Posted 2 years ago by MOMMAOFABBY!=) #

11. 

    MOA please as you have been told before you can not trust every site that you Google. Anyone can make websites and claim to be an authority and this is just not the case.

    Posted 2 years ago by SoxsMom #

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