I took in 4 newborn kittens (2 more than I’m use to)from a friend who’s dad was going to kill them if they stayed in his barn. I’ve raised newborns before and have never in my entire life come across the problems I have in this litter. I’ve had them since they were 2 days old for one. For the first 3-4 days they pooped every time I stimulated them. Then I put them on powdered KMR that you can get from tractor supply because I put 2+2 together and decided after the hartz flea medication and collars I didn’t want them on the liquid formula. So now, my black calico will not poop, at all, at first she was to the point she wouldn’t even move but I started feeding her with a syringe and she’s slowly gotten back onto suckling the nipple. Then there is the runt, she can’t be eating more than 1-2ml of forumla. Which is nothing, at all. Both are half the size of their brothers. And I understand males are usually bigger but they don’t even have round bellies. So here is the deal with all of their poops.
-Calico: When I stimulate her before she eats she starts to poop, nothing comes out but it looks like a firm poop. like a plug and no matter what direction or length of time It will not come out or she eventually decides she doesn’t want to and puckers up. I have thought that maybe she was just trying to poop so I keep rubbing for 30 seconds or more until I give up. Then I do it after she eats, same result.
-Runt tabby: same deal. A kitty butt plug and not even a bit of poopie.
-White male: eats a tablespoon(bottle marked) or half each feeding. He hasn’t been pooping either but finally did yesterday. When he did, it was a mustard color and very runny. Before they all had mostly firm orange yellow.
-Orange male: The fattest one of all eats like a cow and has always been my best pooper. He’s still doing ok but he also didn’t poop until yesterday. But this is also a weird runny consistency.
I’ve been putting 8 drops of vegetable oil in 3-4 tablespoons of formula,(as marked on bottle not spoon measured) and if you don’t know about how large that is the bottle is about 4 inches tall. I’ve done 2 teaspoon of powder per 2 table spoons. (it normally calls for 1 tablespoon of powder for every 2.) I don’t know what else to do. They were born on Friday the 13th. I don’t know what else to do. None of their tummies are firm although I’m not getting any, to barely enough to make my washcloth look icky. It’s been 3 days. The girls aren’t firm because they are skinny. The runt has gone downhill and the calico I call pumpkin has gotten worse , then better. I believe if I can find out how to get this stubborn poop out of her she’ll live.
-would the pumpkin theory work for fiber?
-Kitten laxatives?
-pedialyte, is there a certain kind to use?
-What about the thermometer and lube to make passing waste easier?
I need any and all proven ways to make a kitten poop. I’m at loss for what to do, I’ve never had this happen before is such severity.