Caring for Bottle Babies: Failure to Thrive
It’s seems like such an easy request, thrive baby kitten, thrive; just keep breathing, keep eating, and keep being happy. But “Failure to Thrive” is a real problem when it comes to taking on very young kittens. Extremely young kittens (from birth through about 3 weeks old) commonly come into rescue as orphans. For all the typical ways one could imagine the narrative, they come to shelters and rescues alone, without their mamma or siblings, and they feel this loss profoundly.
The most immediate risk is nutrition. These little souls have zero reserves. If they don’t keep up their calories, they can quickly fade away and die within hours. So, loving people hand feed them, by a bottle or dripping formula in their mouths one precious drop at a time. This routine happens literally every couple of hours, around the clock so the infant kittens can maintain their weight and proper nutrition to grow and develop.
The next most critical piece is connection. The babies have to accept this gigantic human as their new mamma. As rescuers, we cuddle, tickle, kiss, hum/sing, and pour physical and emotional affection into these little creatures. We use a soft toothbrush to simulate a mother cat’s rough tongue on the babies fur. We play cat purring apps on our phone and place heartbeat simulators in their bedding, so they feel comforted. They sleep with us in our beds and go about our day with them tucked into our clothing close to our heart. They are never alone, and we make sure the kitten knows it.
Just as critical is warmth. These little babies rely on warmth to comfort and to regulate their body temperature. But did you know that baby kittens need to be warmed in order to feed? Proper body temperature is critical for a baby to be able to comfortably eat. Young kittens are exceptionally susceptible to illness, which unfortunately is a commonplace in kitten rescue. Even with impeccable sanitization practices, kittens develop illnesses, most commonly upper respiratory and gastrointestinal sources. Even a mild insult can wipe out a kitten’s reserves leaving them vulnerable to failure to thrive and ultimate demise.
We are honored to serve as caretakers for these precious souls and appreciate all the support from our community to help us continue this mission.
