Kitten not gaining weight

[nancyjac]

I am fostering some abandoned kittens for a local shelter. One of them has not gained any weight but otherwise appears normal both physically and behaviorally. She was estimated to be 5 weeks old (by the shelter vet tech) when she was first found and now is 7 weeks old and still has not gained any weight. I have 2 of her siblings from the same litter and they weigh about 21 ounces, while the runt only weighs 13 ounces. She has not gained any weight in the 2 weeks I have been fostering her. She eats well and is active.  They have now all been weened and dewormed and their stools are normal (firm and brown).  Anything I can do to help gain weight or find out why she isn't?

[opus88]

Its the care and compassion of good people like yourself that make these shelters able to run and do such wonderful work....I for one am so grateful to you for doing what you do and to all the others who volunteer their time to these poor unfortunate little ones that are born and discarded/abandoned...if only more of us could do what you are doing to make their lives more comfortable and with such a passion, it would make such a huge difference
sooo glad baby boy is eating and gaining, how proud you must be to perhaps saved him, I just pray now he will find a loving home to go to and not a cage.

[nancyjac]

Thank you both.  She gained again from yesterday to today,.  After gaining nothing for almost 3 weeks she has gained over 2 ounces in the last 2 days,  She is at 440 grams today which is about 15.5 ounces, a 2 1/2 ounce gain in 2 days!  She is also eating from the bowl more normally with less sucking.  She still manages to get it all over her face but at least she isn't putting her whole head and front paws in the bowl like she use to.  

Their initial diarrhea wasn't from switching from dry food to canned food, it was from switching from formula to formula with canned food added when they were still too young to chew dry food.  What I am feeding her now is mostly dry food that I have made into wet food by soaking it in formula and then mashing it. I add just a tablespoon or so of canned food to a bowl full of this mix and diarrhea hasn't been a problem.  I am also trying to be careful not to get them away from the dry food too much, since that will be their diet at the shelter.

Working as a volunteer for the last several months at 2 different shelters, I have really gotten an education and appreciation of public shelter operations.  The staff are wonderful caring people who work extremely hard and long hours for not a lot of pay.  The shelters are funded by taxpayer dollars from city or county jurisdictions.  Their budgets are pretty much limited to day to day operations (payroll (and they are chronically understaffed), and routine housing and feeding of the animals.  There really is no budget for medical care other than basic vaccinations and tests.  Volunteers who do fundraising, work along side shelter staff cleaning the facilities and caring for the animals, and fostering animals who are too young or sick, or have behavioral problems are essential.  The shelters could not function with out them.  There is no overnight staff, so animals that need a special diet and need to be fed every few hours just can't make it at the shelter and need to be fostered. The county shelter I volunteer with has over 400 animals on average and a total staff of maybe 2 dozen people, no more than 12 of which are working at any given time and that includes administrative and supervisory staff, so only 4 or 5 whose primary duties are working directly with the animals.  I am constantly in awe of how much they do with so little to work with.  I feel fortunate that I am retired and now have the time to do my part to help.  In addition to fostering, I spend a couple days during the week working at the shelter and most Saturdays or Sundays I take dogs to off site events to promote adoptions, donations and and talking to people about being a shelter volunteer or foster parent.  Even those who can only spare a couple hours per week are desperately needed by local shelters.

I didn't really intend to get off on this tangent.  It is just something I'm into and can get rather passionate about....LOL    

[PrettyKitty1]

heheh---- That's great that she's gained weight! whoohhoo!!!

[opus88]

the slight weigh gain can be attributed to the extra calories you've been giving, and that is a good start.
Don't switch their food right over from dry to cans, that will cause diarrhea as you saw, the switch has to be gradual...try 25% canned to 75% dry than gradually decrease the dry it will be easier for her to eat and MUCH better for all the kitties!!
she IS hungry thats why all the meowing...so getting her started for now on some cooked meat is good, will also encourage the 'chewing' action.

I'm glad she will be seen by a Vet soon, even their standard blood panel would rule out many of the problems she could be having, I would think if something more serious is occurring they would be against spending the money to treat kitty???
lets hope they are able to get sufficient amount of blood from her.

[nancyjac]

Well this just baffles me.  No weight gain for almost 4 weeks and then suddenly she went 375 to 410 grams in one day.  I checked my scale with a couple of known weights and it is accurate.  She also seems to be eating a little better in terms of biting her food instead of sucking it.  It kind of looks llike a sucking motion until she gets it to her mouth and then she actually bites and chews.  I gave her a little bit of left overs from a beef roast last night and she really liked that. I minced it real fine.  Sure hope this weight gain holds and continues.

[nancyjac]

I emailed the shelter kennel manager about having the vet take a look at her.  They have one that comes in a couple times a week to do spay/neuters and an exams beyond what the resident vet techs can do.  She seems a little perkier again today as compared to yesterday.  Thing is, I would guess that even for the vet to determine if there is an underlying physical problem would require a complete blood panel and as little as she is, they were barely able to get the 3 drops needed for a feline leukemia test.  Plus, that's pretty expensive and the shelter has no budget for diagnostic medical testing beyond the standard heart worm, and feline HIV and leukemia.  So unless they can pay for it from a donation fund, that isn't likely to happen.