One of the Furballs is struggling a little.
It's the littlest one, the tiny loud female. The others are slowly gaining weight or at least maintaining, except for the larger male, the Bruiser. He's gaining weight paw over claw.
The problem seems to be at least partly that Audrey was starving too long and isn't producing enough milk. Looking at her belly, only three nipples are being used, and there are four Furballs. The Bruiser is bogarting the milk supply whenever he can. The little one is nursing some of the time, but mostly when the others are asleep.
She lost 10 grams between Sunday morning and Monday night. 219g down to 209g. That's the wrong direction. So, not being able to get kitten milk replacer out of thin air, I made an old recipe that dates back before KMR was invented. Simply put, it's a can of sweetened condensed milk, a can of hot water and, if the kitten is old enough, an egg yolk. There are problems with this - the biggest one being that it's cow's milk. However, it's also calories, protein, and hydration, and I didn't want to wait. Sometimes you just have to go for the least worst.
She took it like a champ. She's hungry, which is the best sign; a kitten who just lies around and doesn't want to eat is bad news. I used a tiny syringe to put it in her mouth and gave her plenty of time to swallow it down and not breathe it in. She let me know I was taking too long, in her opinion. When drops fell onto my fingers, she licked them clean and got a couple chomps in. Wow, those little teeth are sharp!
She has a temporary name of Tepinita, after a particular tiny chile that is mega spicy. She's active and has picked up her mother's habit of yelling for food. "Feed me!" She's back to 219g, some of which is probably just hydration, and we'll see what tomorrow brings. She's the only kitten with a prominent spine, so she's definitely underweight and not just a small build. I got the KMR today, along with a nursing bottle and the family will be going to work with me so I can get a lot of meals in. Whenever she yells for it, with an every three hours minimum. Audrey is still supplying what she can, so I don't have to measure every drop and calorie.
I've already warned DH that some babies don't make it, and we never know why. All we can do is supportive care and give her every last chance. He thanked me for the heads-up. But she's a fighter. She's lively enough to come greet me to demand food and this morning she worked up to a reasonable trot to get to me. She moves pretty fast when she wants to, and she's coordinated. If she gets through this, I think she's going to be kicking ass, taking names and letting the Bruiser know what's what.
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