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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
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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
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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
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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
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