I am hoping you can all give me some advice. I am currently hand rearing a 3 day old kitten, her mum unfortunatly rejected her at birth. I am feeding her Royal Canin Kitten milk, every 3 hours {day and night} I stimulate her before and after each feed. She is weeing really well, but seem's to be constipated. when she does finally pass poo its very hard, and has even caused slight bleeding. should i water her milk down? or is there something i can give her to sofen her poo?? any advice greatfully recieved, she is such a little fighter and i am desperate to do everything possible to help her make it.

Is RC kitten milk just like other kitten milks (like felix or whiskers) or is it specially formulated for hand rearing kittens?

You should really go to your vets and get some proper formula milk for her (I don’t think it will be expensive) failing that, you can make up a mixture, with I think 4 parts water to 1 part condensed milk and a drop of honey. (don’t quote me on the recipe though, hopefully someone will be along soon to confirm or correct it).

You also need to stimulate her going to the loo, you can do this by licking her bum like her mum would do… only joking, get a moist piece of cotton wool and wipe her bottom with it.

Cimicat and Royal Canin Babycat/Kitten milk should be sufficient. you could add a bit more water but to be honest would be best to have the vets have a peek at the kitten. sometimes the mum's reject them for a reason. may be something physically wrong with the kitten which might be causing the bowel problems. also the vet would be able to advise you more of alternatives to get the bowels going a bit more. hope this helps.

Mix some pedialyte with the formula. 1/3 pedialyte and 2/3 formula (normally mixed formula). This will loosen the stool and make sure the kitten gets enough fluids. When the stool is normal you can try only formula again (but the kitten formula from RC at least in Sweden has a bit of a reputation to cause constipation).

You can also put a few drops of paraffin oil in the forumla and on the anus. This lubricates the intestines and anus and makes it easier to pass on the stool. Paraffin oil shouldn't be given more than just a short period since it also affects the nutritional uptake negatively.

thanks for all the advice will take it all on board and give them a try. just gave her a warm bath, {with heating full on!!lol} which seemed to help a little. will keep you updated !!!!

yeah we use Cimicat instead of the RC. the electrolytes in pedialyte will help but wasn't sure of the dose so didn't mention it figured would be best coming from a vet. paraffin or a tiny drop of lactulose in the formula. but still if the kitten was rejected? maybe the kitten may need some medical care as well to be sure.

poor lil thing!! good luck!

Mum had a tough time in labour, and unfortunatly lost one kitten at birth. she showed no interest in the remaining two, not even cleaning them. so i of course kept a very close eye on them. she seemed to settle down with them, feeding. The boy kitten died within an hour, so i took all of them to the vets. On his advice i didnt let mum have the little girl back, she was trying at every chance to bite her. not a bite to take her back, but a bite to hurt. mum will of course be spayed as soon as possible. Thank you for all your advice and help, i will try all the suggestions. and of course please all keep your fingers crossed little Lucy makes it

Oh Sorry things went this way Wrinkles,but will keep everything crossed for Lucy

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thank you x

oh hunny i'm sorry you had to go though that it's no fun finger crossed keep us posted!!!