New babies need help already! URGENT

[gapeach]

We picked up two kittens from the shelter to foster today. They are roughly 3 and 4weeks old.
The youngest is doing fine drinking kitten formula out of a saucer and eating some wet food.
But Penny has only eaten .7 on the bottle formula. Her eyes are runny but it's clear and she's congested, sneezing. I think she has a uri.
She has peed and pooped but won't eat, hasn't eaten sine 7 pm and it's almost 3 am now.
Should I make her take the bottle?

 

[Upendi&Mina]

She needs meds for the uri, both kittens will more than likely as it goes from kitten to kitten quite fast if that's what it is. If she won't eat I would syringe or eye dropper her small amounts at a time.

 

[*blackrose]

Yup, that URI needs to be taken care of quickly, and as has been mentioned, probably wouldn't hurt to treat the other kitten two as he'll likely contract it if it is indeed a URI.
Make sure she stays warm, and I'd be offering the bottle frequently (and force feeding small amounts throughout the day if she won't willingly drink). Weigh her (and the other kitten) daily to make sure they're gaining weight appropriately. If they aren't growing normally, or worse yet, loosing weight, something needs to be done asap. After having numerous bottle babies and having orphan kittens in at work...don't treat any sign of illness lightly. It can go from "okay" to "serious" in the blink of an eye, especially if they are very young.

So totally did not mean for my post to be scary, I'm sure they'll both be just fine.

 

[gapeach]

Thank you both VERY much for responding. Cari from rescue is sending some medicine over now. Also a syringe to forcefeed her a small bit several times as you mentioned. She has bitten the end off from two nipples. I warmed a towel in the dryer and they are cuddled up in it now. Cari also mentioned putting her in a steamy bathroom for her congestion.

 

[gapeach]

Penny ate a syringe full of milk ( under protest). Then she ate some wet food. She is still making coughing sounds, especially right after I fed her the milk. But I think she's feeling somewhat better because she tried to climb out of the babygate.

 

[Upendi&Mina]

Good! URI's can be so nasty and often lead to secondary eye issues, we just went through this when we found Dobby! After his course of meds he's been right as rain.

 

[gapeach]

Penny is doing much better now,eating wet food and meowing as we walk past their room.
However now Resa has begun to sneeze and at 3 weeks...isn't she to young to take the medicine?

 

[gapeach]

Also need help on introducing babies to our dog Gracie.
I let her smell them on us and then see and smell them in their crate.
Now they are in the laundry room with a gate acrossed it.
Gracie sticks her head over the gate to look at them even though it pushes against her throat.
I pet her over the gate when I sit in there with them and she gets extra attention when I come out.
This morning J let her smell all over the blanket they've been sleeping on.
A few times I held Penny butt first (Penny keeps trying to crawl up me to see Gracie) up to Gracie and she smells over her.......
BUT THIS MORNING WHEN I HELD PENNY UP GRACIE TRIED TO PUT HER MOUTH ON HER!

What does this mean?????

 

[ruffiangirl]

did she snap for the kitten or slowly try and put her mouth around the kitten? Could she have been trying to pick it up like she would a puppy?

 

[gapeach]

Ruffiangirl,She didn't snap but did try to put her whole mouth around the kitten.
To be honest it scared me to death so I haven't let her smell one since.
Is this a good sign? I wondered if she might be trying to put her smell on them.
How can you tell if she wants to eat them? ??!!!
I've never had dogs and cats together.

 

[*blackrose]

Penny is doing much better now,eating wet food and meowing as we walk past their room.
However now Resa has begun to sneeze and at 3 weeks...isn't she to young to take the medicine?

That would be a question to ask the vet. I'm assuming their weight is different, so she'd likely need a different dose regardless.

As for the dog with the kittens:
Honestly, if they are just fosters and won't stay permanent additions, I would just keep them seperate, at the very least until they are older and able to defend themselves/escape/not be so fragile. Reward the dog for calm behavior when she sees them, but I'd keep them 100% seperate.

When P had her kittens, we had a very strict "no touch" policy with Rose (a known cat killer). She was not allowed to go onto the porch when the kittens were there, and she respected that. Then, when the kittens were older and seemed less like prey and more like something that should be approached with caution because they have claws, we did introductions.

 

[gapeach]

Thanks Blackrose. The rescue should let me know shortly about the meds.
These kittens are temporary, but if we could get Gracie to like kittens..we would eventually like to keep 2.

 

[*blackrose]

Thanks Blackrose. The rescue should let me know shortly about the meds.
These kittens are temporary, but if we could get Gracie to like kittens..we would eventually like to keep 2.

Some dogs accept baby kittens better, but others do better when they realize they're not prey, but something else. From how you said Gracie is responding, I'd keep her seperated for now (with maybe sniffs and letting her see them from a distance while rewarding calm behavior), and then when the kittens are older let her interact physically. Since she's not intently trying to hurt them, I bet she'll do just fine when they're a bit older.

 

[gapeach]

Thank you! So far that's what we've been doing. When I go in the laundry room I keep my hand over the Yeager and pet her. I had been letting her smell the one who likes her, until Gracie put her mouth on her. That just scared me.
We do plan on keeping them seperate for quite a while yet.
I'm a planner so I like to know the next step in advance.
I guess when I let her smell Penny I should do it fairly quickly so she doesn't get the chance to put her mouth over her again?

 

[AllisonPitbullLvr]

I would wait until the kittens are older before introducing them. Obi has always been good with tiny kittens but I always held them fully in my hand and let him nuzzle and lick but that was the extent of the interaction. If we had more than two, I just kept him separate because all the mewing would get him too aroused for my comfort.

I always use a syringe to feed. I find the nursing bottles just don't work for some kittens.

 

[gapeach]

Thanks Allison, good advice. We will be keeping seperate for quite some time yet.
Penny will not drink out of the saucer but she will let me put the syringe in the side of her mouth. I squirt a tiny bit in at a time while she sits on my knee.

 

[MicksMom]

...
BUT THIS MORNING WHEN I HELD PENNY UP GRACIE TRIED TO PUT HER MOUTH ON HER!

What does this mean?????

Sounds to me like she was trying to hold the kitten or put it on the ground where she could check it out a little more.

 

[gapeach]

Thanks Mick's mom, we are only letting her smell them for a quick second.
I REALLY hope that is what she was doing but am certainly not going to take any chances.

 

[MericoX]

Is she dehydrated?

 

[gapeach]

Both kittens are eating wet food and drinking milk out of a saucer.
But now I'm worried I'm overfeeding them. Between the 2 of them they are eating one can of wet food spaced throughout the day. They won't drink any water yet. I'm giving them 45ml.s of kitten milk (between the two) about 4 times a day. Every time I go in they want more but their little bellies,especially the little one seem very round.
Am I doing okay? Do they need less or more?