emergency kitten question... need advice ASAP?

Do you have a carrier?

The older kittens don't need to be nursing now ( they SHOULD be almost weaned by now ), so place Mak and the little kitten into a carrier so that she HAS to let it eat. After the kitten has had it's fill and is asleep, open the door and let Mak out. Once she realizes that she STILL needs to feed the baby, she may accept him again.

I had to do this with one of my cats, when she was tired of nursing......and it worked out. If Mak puts up too much fuss, just do it tonight and get the KMR & nursing bottle tomorrow EARLY. Hopefully, Mak will "behave" and be the good mom that she's been.......

Don't give the kitten anything that has cow milk in it.......not good idea, could give it diarrhea. Cream is made from milk! Goat cheese has other enzymes in it and may not be good for a kitten either. Infant formula is made especially for HUMAN babies, and has milk solids in it......still not good for kittens !!

So...........Please TRY the carrier ( or some kind of confined space, where Mak can't get away from the kitten ) and hopefully all will be okay......and the baby gets to eat !!

Good luck.

Do not feed cow's milk. If you can get hold of some goat's milk then you can use that. Infant formula is normally made of cow's milk or soya, neither of which are suitable.

If the foster kitten is older than 3 weeks you can just give plain water mixed with a bit of kitten food to a runny consistency. Ideally you should syringe this into the corner of the kitten's mouth. If you don't have a syringe then use a small spoon. That will keep the kitten going until you can get the kitten milk replacer in the moring.

Good luck, and please get these cats and kittens all neutered as soon as possible.

Because you chose to be a breeder of rag-dolls and this is the first litter, I will have to choose #4. You or your husband or both should be there for the birthing to be sure everything works out OK. However given the situation someone will have to go and someone will have to remain in order to make sure everything goes smoothly during the birth of the kittens. I wouldn't want to put that kind of responsibility on someone else if something turns out to be more difficult than anticipated. Your husband can keep you posted about grandma, while at the same time you can keep him posted about the birth of the kittens. Really sorry to hear about grandma, but I'm sure your husband to handle the situation regarding grandma. You can support each other even though you're 19 hours apart. We can't make predictions on what the out come will be given most situations. The important thing is that your husband is with grandma to give his support and love. That does not disclude you. You may not be their physically, but you will be there in mind and soul and your husband knows that you support him and grandma all the way as he needs to support you it what you have to do. As predictions go, your can't predict nothing will go wrong when your kitty gives birth. Especially given this his her first birth. All may go smoothly, but on the other hand she may need your help during birth. It's a choice the two of you are going to have to make. I just don't think I would leave that responsibility up to someone else in regards to the birth of the kittens.

Cow's milk and cream is fine. Infant formula is great too. Warm it up a little. You can soak some bread with the milk so the kitten will have something to suck on if they do not know how to lick the milk up.

Well usually (at least where i live) vets will have an answering service even if they are closed. Maybe the person on the answering service is open or maybe for this situation if they are at the vet then if they sell it they could allow you to come in and buy some? I really can't think of anything else besides that except for maybe to see once again if your cat will accept her? Or maybe she is rejecting her because her kittens are almost done feeding. Best of luck!

At 6 weeks old all of the kittens should be starting the weaning process.

What to Feed Young Kittens

By now, you should most definitely be introducing your kittens to wet food. Your goal is to not only give them the extra vitamins and nutrition they need, but to also work them gently towards the weaning process.

First meals at week four can simply be moistened kitten dry kitten food or canned food (better). If you are using just dry food mix 3 parts food to 1 part water and let it sit long enough to get really soft and mushy. This could take about 30 minutes, so plan your day around about 4 of these feedings. You can also mix wet and dry food together - it must be kitten food and not adult cat food, they need the extra energy. You can add Kitten Milk Replacer, stage 2 for older kittens to the food.

Teaching Kittens to Eat Regular Cat Food

At five weeks old, you’ll only want your kitten food about ½ wet and ½ crunchy. Once you add water to the dry food, only let it sit for about 10-15 minutes until it is moistened about half way through. This will get your little kittens used to chewing. By 5 weeks old, you can begin free feeding, but do not add kitten milk replacement into the food, just water. By 6 weeks old, they can begin eating completely dry food. During all these times, make sure they have water available all day long.

Teaching Kittens to Play

By 4 weeks old, your kittens already need toys to play with and scratching posts to scratch and climb on. They already know that a mouse is the enemy and love to play with toy mice and balls. Avoid catnip toys at this early age.

Are You Working on Litter Box Training?

By 5 weeks old, your kittens should be wandering to the litter box and using it all by themselves. Remember to only use clay litter until they are about 6 months old.

It sounds like maybe Mom cat is starting the weaning process for this one kitten, is this kitten older (maybe biting) or younger? All of the kittens should be eating kitten food to give Mom a break. Try feeding all of the kittens together, Mom should be interested in helping clean them up and will hopefully let this kitten still sleep with the group if isn't nursing.

Baby formula is the best bet out of all of the choices.

It's the most mild and will not (should not) upset kitten's tummy too much. I fed this to my first cat for weeks. She wasn't extremely young though, she was 4 weeks old when we started her on baby formula. I was very inexperienced with cats then. :)

Make sure that you hold her close to you as much as you can. Little kittens love to be put in the middle of your legs when you're sitting with your legs crossed. Thighs are very warm. =)

Good luck to you! And Kitten, too.

Oh, and good luck to Baby too! :D