Niketana, you and your mom are angels for taking our teeny foster kittens while were away. It takes nerve! They are so helpless and depend on us to get it right! And facilitator Srini ... way to go! Havent been out of town for a year cause of such responsibilities. So here are some photos re how to bottle-feed minis. First, using powdered milk replacer made for cats and available locally, be sure you shake it just a bit because it can settle. It should not be used for more than a day before making new batch. It never should be fed other than at same temp as your finger. Too cold or too warm can give upset. You can warm up leftover milk just once before it has to be thrown. The big trick in feeding babies is to (1) slip the nipple along their smile line until the mouth opens for it. Dont poke the mouth aggressively to get nipple in. (2) Let kitty adjust the nipple in its mouth until it is comfortable. This may feel like rejection but is just experimentation. (3) Nipple must always be on a slant into mouth. If it is level or below, kitty will seem to reject it. (4) Put slight to moderate pressure on bottle to increase ease of sucking. (5) Hold kitten firmly in left hand. Thumb and index fingers are very useful to extend as braces for kittys front paws. Some kits so much need this brace that they wont suck unless bracing is possible. (6) When kitten is in the groove, sucking-wise, it will be perfectly still and staring ahead. Let it continue that way until it breaks the spell itself. Then you can put it back in its carrier or feed rest of kits, giving it a second chance at a top off when the rest are finished. The size of the tummy determines if it has had enough. It should be really round and bulging but not look like its going to burst! Dont force a kit to drink too much and dont think a kit that is rejecting the nipple at first doesnt want to drink. Each has a different style and some take longer to get the nipple just right for long-term sucking. Sometimes if a kitty is having trouble sucking the nipple hole may be clogged, so check it. Kittties about 2 weeks old will be sucking over an inch of milk a session if measured on the side of the bottle...maybe considerably more, and it varies at times and with individual kittens. Watching a kit well positioned and satisfied with its bottle is a lovely activity. Happy sucking!!!! (Note in these pix that our feeding person has not given bracing fingers nicely, but in one photo you can see the need as the kitten reaches out for the bottle/mommy.)
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 18:39:10 +0000