Six days ago i found an abandoned premature kitten. I believe she was a day old, as she still had her umbilical cord (still does). She was 67 grams then, and till today she only gained 2 grams. She was eating well, sleeping till feeding time, and only cried when hungry.

The problem is she hasn't had a BM since her first day. It was a rather large amount for such a tiny thing and black colour, which is ok since it was her first stool since birth. At least i read so online. She hasn't had one since. I stimulate elimination before and after every meal, but nothing. She urinates regularly. I even added a few drops of olive oil into her formula but no BM.
She ate well, wasn't bloated, and looked ok. Over the days i noticed a lot of her fur grew in. She seemed ok.

Today she gained her first 2 grams, has a little tummy and is very cranky. I have a hard time feeding her. I'm worried she might be constipated, but nothing i do will make her go.

I can't go to the vet in my town because they offer horrible service. The day after i found her i took her to the vet and he didn't even look at her. He even told me to feed her regular milk. I decided to try another vet. He atleast looked at her, said she looked ok (shiny fur, clear eyes and nose, round belly) and sent us home. They didn't weigh her or check her temperature. They didn't even tell me she was a preemie. This i found out on my own after weighing her, shocked how little she weighed and searched the web for info.

I would really appreciate any advise anyone could give me.

Julie

Zara..please visit Kumbula's website..I believe it gives information on taking care of very young kittens.

www.kitten-rescue.com

Katie

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Hi Julie-

Add more water to her formula and stimulate her before and after feeding. Also burp her or him after feeding-

Please see the website www.kitten-rescue.com for more help on how to deal with preemies-

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I have already been to her website and there really isn't much about preemies. i've been to almost every kitten site that's on the web, and there is a lot of information about newborns and older, but not about premature kittens. she is so fragile, i'm scared of hurting her every time i hold her. i've been stimulating her before and after each meal, and have tried with a moist cotton ball, paper towel, wet cloth, rubbed her belly, nothing. i burp her after every meal.
The vet at the pet pharmacy doesn't want to give her anything because she's so tiny. and now she won't eat. she probably won't eat untill she is able to go. i don't know what to do!

Julie-

Preemies are very difficult to care for. You want to be sure that you keep her warm enough- 85-90 degrees would work. You want to be sure she is in a confined space but she can move off the heat if she gets to hot. They are so weak, and delicate as preemies-

I would recommend you pouch her, and put warmed rice heaters in the pouch, keeping her close to your heart to comfort her. Her system hasn't caught up with her yet, which is why she can't move her bowels right now. They sometimes can't even swallow, depending on how early they were expelled from the mom- They get chilled so quickly, or else I would suggest you running a small trickle of warm water on her bum while stimulating her-

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Oh, God bless you for being so kind to this kitty! I pray that he makes it through this! It is very tough and will wear you out, but don't give up on him! I was in the EXACT situation earlier this year with a preemie. The outcome was not good for him, so i pray that yours will be good. God bless you! Keep us updated please!
--Lacey

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i'm doing everything by the book. she's in a makeshift incubator with a heating pad, temp. 90-93°F, a stuffed toy to cuddle with, and a clock near for the fake mommy's heart beat. she's definitely comfortable when she sleeps. over the last six days she became more active, started crawling around and ate without a problem. most of her fur grew in, except for the chest, and she was doing great, till today.

with each feeding she's getting more and more restless. can't keep her still to eat. i have to force feed her, and she hates it. it's taking up so much of her energy.
i'm worried of feeding her, if she's constipated, it could do her harm. if i feed her less, she'll lose weight. it's so heartbreaking to watch her when she doesn't want to eat.

is it normal for a preemie not have a bowel movement in six days?

Again, I would pouch her. Having her next to you, wearing her next to your skin, buttoned under a shirt will do her a world of good, allow you to keep your eye on her and comfort her at the same time.

Here are the instructions of how to make a pouch-

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/cold_kitten.html


No not moving the bowels that many days is not a good thing. There could be so many reasons why-

You can only do the best you can. I have sent a PM to Tania she is someone who cares for preemies quite often.

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Thanks, Hissy , for your help and advice. When restless, I kept her on my chest next to the heart and it calmed her down. I read that premature kittens shouldn't be handled much, so i tried not to bother her other than at feeding time and for elimination. Poor thing, she needed some comfort.

I got really worried when i saw her belly getting bigger, but the vets are all closed today since it's saturday. I phoned the vet on duty and he told me to add some sugar to her formula, which i did, but still nothing. The vet won't come to the station because it's not a real emergency. They don't know anything about preemies. Every minute counts at this stage. That's what i get for moving to Croatia. You can't get emergency vet care when you need it. not to mention pet supplies. You can't immagine what her makeshift bottle looks like.

For now I'm still waiting to see if the sugar in her formula will help. In the meantime if anyone else has some advice, i could really use it.

I would post her picture, but i can't figure out how to do it.

still no BM. i'm getting really worried, today it will be 7 days. i'm scared of feeding her now, her belly is so big and bloated. as a preemie she needs to eat every 2 hours. should i feed her less then reccomended? i don't want her to lose the 6 grams she barely gained. what do i do?

Can't you take her to the vet? That is a very long time for a preemie to go through no stool movement. I would be supremely worried and hustle the baby to a vet-

If you can't get him to a vet put a few drops of olive in the formula and see if that moves things along-

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i took her to the vet a few days ago. even then worried about her. i tried two different stations. i already wrote this in one the posts bellow. one vet told me she looks fine and that it's normal not to have bm for a few days. the other vet was insane. he told me to feed her cow's milk! i knew i won't get help from them, so i went to the vet at the pet shop where i got the kitty formula because she seemed willing to help. she told me that the formula was easily digestible and she's probably burning it all up. as long as she's eating well, and not bloated, that she's fine. that calmed me down. she know's better than me, she's a vet.

I even contacted Jeri Dopp from safehavenforcats.com, she also said not to worry, that is normal. as long as she looks ok. it's only last night where the little one started to look bloated. today the vet stations were closed and i had to phone the vet on duty, but he said he won't come to the station since it's not an emergency. just told me to add sugar to her formula.

the vet service in this country is horrible. it's not like what we're used to in the US.

about the olive oil: that's what jeri advised me also, and i've been doing that for the last two days.