Birth- buy exotic shorthair kittens normally weigh in between 3.0 and 3.5 oz. Smaller kittens have lower chances at survival. And I have found larger Persian kittens tend to also have difficult surviving. I believe it is related to the moms have more difficult birthing a larger kitten with a larger head, and that cuts off oxygen level to the brain- making them loss some of their natural sucking instincts.
Newborn kittens normally can manage on their own with the help of mom cat once they are warm and clean after being birthed. Warming a kitten should be done naturally if possibly or under a monitored watch if a heating pad is used. Heating pads tend to dehydrate newborns quickly so only use one during the warming stage if possible.
Newborns normally began nursing as soon as they are warm. If you see a newborn kitten not nursing within a few hours of birth- it may need your assistant. If you decide to give the kitten a booster meal- be very careful not to drown the kitten by feeding him/her too much too fast. A few drops is usually adequate- approx. 1 cc is a full meal.
My best advice to you would be to keep working with the kitten, placing the mouth on the nipple and trying to teach the kitten to feed off mom. Perhaps even express a little milk if possible.
1 week of age-still try not to handle the baby too much- most kittens eat and sleep at this stage around the clock. A crying kitten means he is either hunger or something is wrong.
The development of the kitten over the next 30 days will depend on how well and how fast the baby nurses on the first day of life. Usually- a healthy viable kitten will be seen either nursing or suckling around the clock the first 36 hours with brief naps time in between. The following 7 days – you may notice, kittens don’t seem to be nursing as much- but yet, the meal time is longer. As the kitten develops and grows- meals increase in amount required and time between them lengthens.
Sometimes mom cats forget to eat while newborns are in the nest- afraid to leave them long enough to get a good meal in herself. If this happens- she will begin to loose weight- and the babies will not gain properly. If this starts to occur- add wet food to moms diet- A/D is a good choice. The opposite tends to happen at the weaning stage- mom tend to over eat and then has a very loose stool.
About 10-14 days after birth- eyes will open. If they are pus filled- express the puss- clean the area and treat it with an antibiotic ointment- you can get this from your vet. Do keep a close eye on kitten eyes- even before they are open to avoid infection.
About 3 weeks of age- kittens learn to sit up ad some are even ready to tackle climbing gin and out of bed and the litter box.. Watch your kitten at this age to insure he doesn’t eat litter. Litter is normally registered about this timeframe.
