10 Tips for Tricky Bottle Baby Kittens

[Music] hi guys hello if you're caring for a motherless kitten you already know you're going to have to bottle-feed and if you're a first-time bottle feeder I recommend checking out my videos on how to properly bottle feed but for this video we're gonna dive a little bit deeper and talk about what to do when you have a bottle baby who isn't good at eating on a bottle for this video I'm going to share my top ten tips for feeding tricky bowel disease before we begin a precaution never feed a kitten who is lethargic unresponsive unable to swallow or cold when a kitten is cold she can't properly latch swallow or digest her food so you want to keep a gentle heat source in your kitten area at all times and if you've just taken as kitten in make sure they're in their heated area for at least 30 minutes before trying to feed them it's really dangerous to feed a kitten who is cold and of course if the kitten is lethargic unresponsive or unable to swallow it is dangerous to put food in their mouth never bottle feed a kitten unless she is warm responsive and able to swallow if you have a bottle baby who's just not a great leader it can be risky if you have a kitten who isn't latching properly there's an increased risk of aspiration which is where formula accidentally goes down the trachea and into the lungs this can cause pneumonia or even death if you're bottle feeding a kitten who's having a hard time latching and stop what you're doing and try some of the tips in this video okay so here are my 10 tips for feeding tricky bowel babies first be patient I know it can be frustrating when a kitten is struggling to eat but never rush the situation if you've just rescued the kitten keep in mind that she'll have no experience on a bottle and Bob feeding doesn't come naturally at first in this video you can see my new kitten dollop trying to bottle feed for the first time she's awkward and unsure of what to do and that's okay and normal after a few feedings she's a pro licker so if you're having a hard time getting her to latch it doesn't hurt to stop what you're doing take a deep breath and try again you might even leave the kitten for five minutes give you both a chance to reset and then dry em my second tip is to comfort them and feed them upon waking research shows that the suckling reflex is strongest the moment that kittens wake up so if you've got a tricky baby try mimicking the way they would eat from their mama they would be asleep the mama would wake them up by licking and then they would instantly start to root around find a nipple and suckle so you can mimic this by waking them up with a gentle tooth brushing and then instantly show them that nice warm bottle third piece of advice is to feed them in their warm bed in the wild a mama cat will hide her babies in a nice cozy warm nesting area and that's where they'll stay for the first weeks of life but when we foster kittens we might take them out of their nesting area and plop them onto a cold table or into our lap and that's not natural for them so something that might help is feeding them in their warm cozy nesting box where they feel most comfortable and at ease my next piece of advice is to partially cover their eyes think of the experience of Nursing from mum they're not in a brightly lit area walking up and sucking out of a straw there's novel din her fur their eyes are going to be covered or partially covered and it's kind of a dark and comforting place covering an eye with your hand not only gives kittens a little bit of that comfort and darkness but it also might induce those natural routing and suckling instincts my next piece of advice is to give them a cuddly companion to mimic the comfort of being with mom you can actually give them a stuffed animal who's with them at all times this is Kabu stuffed animal and it even has a battery-operated her feet inside which is so comforting for her so she's with this thing all the time and she's used to how it feels and how it smells it's really cozy where it's easy to see that Kabu loves her stuffed animal mama and so it can be nice to give her this while she's actually nursing you can take the kitten and plop them right on top of their stuffed animal companion while they have their bottle top who's already rooting around looking for food now you have another one or if you really want to get creative you can get yourself some plush gloves these also mimic the comfort of a mama [Music] next up you might want to try to swaddle the kitchen sometimes kittens have limbs flying all over the place while they're trying to feed their super frantic and energetic and they can't quite focus on the bottle if you have one of these little Tasmanian Devil kittens I recommend swaddling you can take a small baby blanket and you can either purrito them or barbershop them a perrito is just a gentle wrap around the Cape and a barbershop wrap is just gently wrapping a blanket around the throat as if they were getting their hair done at a barber shop gently containing the arms and this way it can help the kitten feel a little bit more focused and directed towards the bottle barber shop never choke or wrap the kitten too tightly thank you think that's kinda cozy huh [Music] it may sound strange but some kittens are more incentivized to latch when they're competing against other litter mates for a nipple so with kittens who are having a really hard time latching on I will feed them in the presence of all of the other kittens which makes them more competitive and makes them latch better this technique really works wonders here you can see that the kittens are leaping over each other competing for that nipple some kittens are just competitive eaters [Music] tip number eight is to check for user error make sure that the problem isn't something on your end maybe the nipple on the bottle has a hole that's been cut too small or too big maybe the formula is clumpy and it's clogging up the end of the bottle when a kitten is drinking breast milk from their mom it's going to be nice and warm because it's coming from her warm body so you never want to try to feed a kitten formula that's really chilly or even room-temperature you do want it to be warm but not too hot either check it on your wrist make sure it's not too cold and not too hot if a kitten is not taking to the bottle you might try syringe feeding this can be really good especially for very little kittens whose eyes are still closed it's a smaller amount and it's easier to measure just be careful while syringe feeding because it does increase the risk of aspiration since you are the one controlling the flow go very slowly just one drop at a time and ensure that she is truly swallowing these oral syringes should be washed after use but also replaced frequently an overused oral syringe can get very tacky and it can skip dangerously flooding the kittens mouth with formula so if you have a really little one who's having a hard time on a bottle don't be scared to try a syringe just go nice and slow keep it clean and make sure that they are swallowing every single drop I think she fell asleep did you fall asleep she's asleep my last piece of advice is to check the kittens teeth you want to make sure the kitten is at an age where she actually needs a bottle which is going to be five weeks and younger to check if your kitten is five weeks old you can gently open up the mouth and look at the teeth you want to be looking for premolars on the side of the mouth if premolars are present that kitten is at least five weeks old and she might not be bottle feeding because she doesn't need to be bottle feeding she can wean onto wet food so try giving that kitten some meaty wet food and see if she likes that but a kitten who's three weeks old like Pabu is not going to have those tell-tale teeth on the side of the mouth that say they're ready for weaning so if you have a kid who's under five weeks old you will have to find a way to get this formula into their mouth safely but you're not ready for wet fluids you're just a little baby you like your bottle so those are 10 things to try if you have a tricky bottle baby remember to always feed your kitten with one finger on the throat to deal for swallowing if she isn't swallowing properly she could be at risk for aspiration so be very very careful finally I do want to mention that there are situations where a kitten cannot swallow on their own or can't really safely handle being bottle fed watch this video of my very thick kitten ray being syringe bed you can clearly see that he's not in a good position to be fed on his own he's lethargic emaciated and in clear pain he swallows drop by drop but just barely with a kitten in this rough of shape I will resort to tube feeding which is a skill that can only be taught in person from an experienced tube feeder tube feeding can not be learned online so please do not try this without being taught by a professional in person tube feeding is something that requires specialized knowledge and supplies but it's something I highly recommend learning if you plan on fostering credible kittens in an ongoing so if you want to learn this more advanced skill talk to a veterinarian a vet tech or an experienced neonatal kitten caregiver for a kitten like Ray a few meals of tube feeding can be all it takes to get him over the hump until they could recover enough to eat independently I'm a big fan of tube feeding when it comes to critical kittens who can't swallow on their own because for a kitten like Ray I've seen it totally transformed their life but in a perfect world you don't have to do that ideally you'll be able to use the tips in this video to get your kitten to latch beautifully and swallow that formula don't forget to weigh the kitten at every feeding to monitor her progress and hopefully before you know it that kitten will be chunky and growing beautifully look at that chunky Betty best of luck and thanks for watching [Music]

Channel: Kitten Lady

Views: 619,045

Keywords: kitten, kitten lady, cat, orphan, orphaned, baby, neonatal, infant, newborn, found, find, kittens, rescue, adopt, rescued, foster, fostering, help, how to, what do i do, how do i, cats, animal, hannah shaw, animal planet, feed, pee, poop, babies, shelter, cute, tricky, hard, won't, eat, not, will, cannot, suckle, latch, bottle, how to feed a kitten, kitten won't eat

Id: YQZ1IB5vth8

Length: 10min 43sec (643 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 17 2019