# very underweight kittens 8 weeks



## FizMillion (May 23, 2013)

My friend who breeds bsh has a litter of three kittens. 1 of the kittens is fine and eating/drinking normally and is a good weight. The other two are so so skinny and will not eat at all unless forced. They are 8 weeks tomorrow and one will drink from a bowl but not the eat, the smaller will not eat or drink and has to be tube fed since the mother stoped feeding. They have no will to live at all. The vet has found nothing wrong, blood, fecal panels have came back fine. They have had antibiotics and it stil hasn't helped. When I went round it looked like they had different size pupils but she said the vet had looked and didn't remark on them so must be fine. They are literally 8 week old kittens with the mentality of 3-4 week old unweaned kittens. Any suggestion? She is out of her mind.


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

So sorry for your friend, what a worry, has the vet suggested anything to help them get an appetite for food, I believe nutridrops helps, although I have never used them, 
If any of mine were slow in eating solids I would grate some cooked chicken up, from the legs, more than the breast as they are a bit more moist, and just put a tiny bit on my finger and into the kittens mouth, it usually worked, 
I wonder if they just miss mum feeding them, as its as much for comfort as milk,poor little things
Hopefully someone else will be here soon with more suggestions, 
Have the kittens been wormed, with panacur, I use the paste, never pet shop stuff, it might help if not


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## FizMillion (May 23, 2013)

Edit: kittens eyes are not odd,


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## FizMillion (May 23, 2013)

Hi thanks for your advice. I will tell her to try the grated chicken. Never heard of a kitten this age refusing all food and water. She's talking about pts. Yes they've been weighed
Wormed with panacur


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## FizMillion (May 23, 2013)

Wormed not weighed


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## dancemagicdance (Sep 27, 2012)

Sorry to hear this, has she tried different types of food/ smearing it on paws etc? Has she tried any kind of kitten glop?(liquidised cat food/milk/mayonnaise and a load of other things, loads of recipes on Google and it really helped one of my kittens who was reluctant to wean) 

Were both parents health tested? Did you test both parents' blood groups? The reason I ask this(I don't know much about this so I could be really off, but it's worth a google) but I seem to remember that bsh's in particular have to have complementary blood groups as some blood group combinations can cause problems for the kitts. 

I hope they get well soon


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

Oh dear ,I hope she doesn't have them pts, there is still hope, after all they have got to 8 weeks old, please tell her to persevere, and try with the chicken, and get some nutridrops ,were they wormed with panacur from the vet, pet shop stiff isn't very effective
A few months ago I took over some kittens from a woman who didn't want them, thete were 8, of various ages, but all kittens, 2 of them were so tiny I thought they would not survive, 
All they had before was their mothers milk, the woman had no cat food in the house, the 2 tiniest didn't look to have the will to live, and basically when I picked them up they just sort of dangled limply in my hands
I fed them by syringe and eye dropper with cimicat[dried kitten milk]and once they had come round a bit tried them with the minced chicken, once they got going they could eat for England, so I hope she perseveres, 
She could try them with kitten milk too to just get their appetites stimulated, 
[Please update as to how the kittens are getting on


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

Sorry, you did say wormed with panacur, didn't read it right


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

It's not blood groups if they've made it to 8 weeks and it sounds like a lot of the obvious things have been covered. 

I feel they need syringe feeding for a while to see if they start putting weight on. I mean with something like A/D or equivalent and I mean feeding them enough for a complete diet for whatever they weigh. I found to syringe it I had to mix it with warm water, and gently squirt it in across their mouths.

My hope is that they feel poorly because they aren't feeding well, and a week or two of enough to eat will help them to pick up.

However it is an age at which underlying problems can come to light as they fail to wean on, and if 2-3 weeks of intensive feeding doesn't produce an improvement then pts may well be kindest.


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

OrientalSlave said:


> It's not blood groups if they've made it to 8 weeks and it sounds like a lot of the obvious things have been covered.
> 
> I feel they need syringe feeding for a while to see if they start putting weight on. I mean with something like A/D or equivalent and I mean feeding them enough for a complete diet for whatever they weigh. I found to syringe it I had to mix it with warm water, and gently squirt it in across their mouths.
> 
> ...


I didn't think it could be anything to do with blood groups if they had got to 8 weeks, I had to syringe those tiny kittens several times a day , and was convinced they were not going to survive, but with plenty of liquid food and cimicat they did, I hope these little ones do too,at least give them a chance


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## we love bsh's (Mar 28, 2011)

What foods is she trying with them? Iv had to tube feed a older ill kitten before about 8 week old its pretty dangerous at this age cause they struggle alot and mine bit right the tube in one clean bite i was very lucky as i just managed to grab hold of the tube that was inside the kitten and pull it back out.

Defo advise her to use thickish tube.

My bet is that the are feeling rubbish and really weak id recommend the tube feeding every 3hour or so with cimi cat milk,i would also try them with some raw feed once there upto it and the nutri drops are also a very good idea.

If feeding some water/fluids id add sugar to it.


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## FizMillion (May 23, 2013)

Thanks everyone some excellent suggestions there, she's going to try them all. One kitten is very poorly, the other not quite so bad. The vet was very against raw but I've managed to perswade her to at least raw. Only one needs tube feeding as he is not swallowing just spitting it out. They are so nice, will get some pics.


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## FizMillion (May 23, 2013)




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## moggiemum (Mar 28, 2013)

best best wishes for these littleuns, has vet checked mouth throat of the one who wont swallow?, keep a very close eye id have them in vet s on a drip , iv if neded , bless them all and hope they start to thrive soon , got to be getting something down them at least every day if not every four 4hrs otherwise you can do damage to their organs , 

could they not be put back on mum ??? or another nursing mum ?


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

Think I would try the cimicat first with a syringe or eye dropper, good luck hope they all get better soon


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## we love bsh's (Mar 28, 2011)

FizMillion said:


> Thanks everyone some excellent suggestions there, she's going to try them all. One kitten is very poorly, the other not quite so bad. The vet was very against raw but I've managed to perswade her to at least raw. Only one needs tube feeding as he is not swallowing just spitting it out. They are so nice, will get some pics.


Vets are just sooo ignorant.


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## catcoonz (Aug 4, 2012)

A/D food syringed is great, also in the past I have used Liquivite, I do have some cans here if you needed me to post some for you to try.


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## Kotanushka (Oct 25, 2013)

Here is what they advise in "The complete book of cat breeding" by Dan Rice.
Mix a teaspoonful of the canned food and a like quantity of dry food with enough canned milk formula to reach a consistency of gravy. Warm it to about 85 degrees F (29.4 degrees C) in a saucer. Put the saucer on a layer of newspaper, and set a kitten on the paper facing the food dish. Gently push the kitten's muzzle into the gruel: it will usually begin licking the mixture from its whiskers. Repeat the dunking procedure a few times with each kitten in turn, until all have tasted the food. Within 3 or 4 days, the litter should be looking forward to their next meal.
As the kittens consume more and more of the solid food, you can begin to gradually change its composition and consistency. First, decrease the amount of formula, allowing the mixture to become less liquid each day. Then, when the kittens are eating softened dry kitten food and canned food, stop mixing the two ingredients, and allow free-choice acccess to the moistened dry food, supplemented with three meals of canned food each day. When the routine is established, stop moistening the dry food."
I know, this is recommended for weaning of a healthy litter, but maybe it could help your friend too?


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

I've never done anything specific to wean a healthy litter. I've found the kittens start eating mum's food when they are ready. The age at which this happens varies, I think with how much milk the mother has and how generous with it she is. I've seen kittens (friend's litter of 8 bsh) starting on her food at 3-4 weeks, and my last foster litter (5) were mostly eating quite well by 6 weeks.

The underweight kittens clearly don't fall in that category, and my view is unless they are intensively fed they will gradually fade away to nothing.


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## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

FizMillion said:


> <snip>
> Only one needs tube feeding as he is not swallowing just spitting it out.
> <snip>


The kitten needs to associate swallowing with a full tummy, and tube feeding doesn't do that. Has your friend tried syringe feeding?


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## Tigermoon (Apr 2, 2013)

Goodness what a nightmare! Alongside the excellent advice already given here I highly recommend Nutri-Plus Gel which can be bought online or from the vet (online will be cheaper). Whenever I have any cats, young or old, who are reluctant to eat I give them a good mouthful three or four times a day. It has a calorific value and stimulates the appetite. I've seen it work wonders.

I wish your friend the very best of luck.


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

Any update as to how these kittens are getting on? hope they are feeding better now


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## FizMillion (May 23, 2013)

Hi everyone, thankyou so much for all your suggestions. I took some raw chicken mince over and you wouldn't believe it but both tried it. She has stopped tube feeding and is syringe feeding a/D still. They seem a lot better ans more energetic! Thanks Catcoonz for that kind offer gladly I don't think it's needed now


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

Great news, hope this carries on ,your friend must be so relieved


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## we love bsh's (Mar 28, 2011)

Glad they dont need tube feeding as its not ideal at that age really.


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

Any update on the kittens, hope they are now doing well and thriving


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