Kittens not taking to bottle?

Question

Alright, on Monday I took home a mother cat and her 3, four day old kittens to foster. The mother is very young, we think about 8 months and she lost 2 kittens during birth.

When I got her home I noticed she seemed off, but thought that was from the move. The next day she wasn't eating and by 8pm tuesday she started vomiting. She went to the vet this morning and is having surgery to remove her uterus that they think is infected.

Okay so now to my question. Because the mother is at the vet the kittens need to be bottle fed. I've bottle fed kittens before and never really had any issues especially when the kittenz were healthy. One of the kittens, the boy, is doing great eating like a champ. His tortie sister is doing okay but only taking in about 1-1.5ml a feeding if that. The tabby sister fights me the whole time. I have been able to at least get .5ml in each feeding.

Now I know they won't be getting a full 4ish ml per feeding (what they should get accourding to weight), because they weren't getting that much from mom. The two girls had lost weight, about .2-.3oz each and the boy stayed at 5.4. So I know they need to get used to being able to eat more which is fine, but how can I get the tabby to accept the bottle.

Now I know she is hungry because when I pit her back in the nest she goes up to the stuffed animal and tries to nurse. I've tried feeding her that way to vut she won't take it . Any suggestions would be great. 
Thanks!

? · Accepted Answer

Bottle Feeding - http://www.2ndchance.info/orphankitten.htm

meg · Answer

It takes time for them to catch on. You smell nothing like there mom, so they have no idea whats going on. I had to bottle feed rabbit kits, it took them atleast 3 days to catch on and then i could hardly get the bottle in there mouths and it was empty! Its only been a day, at least its still wednesday where i live. A day isnt long enough for them to have caught on. Theres nothing you can do but wait and hope thy they catch on to being bottle fed.

Please keep trying, as i said its only been a day. Dont turn to tube feeding. Give them a few days.

And being as she's not eating as much as she should, she should be fed more frequently.

Add- i didnt use a bottle. I attached a nipple onto the end of a syringe. You can slowly press the plunger down so she gets a taste of the milk. Not to much though. As she sucks slowly push it. In no time they'll suck the plunger down themselves.

? · Answer

No, please don't go to tube feeding.  I never have much luck with tiny ones with the bottle.  The nipple is too hard, too open, not open enough, kittens don't like.  I have had GREAT success with dropper or syringe feeding them.  They actually latch on and will suck the dropper/syringe.  At one week the kittens need about 32 cc per day, divided by feeding every 2 to 3 hours means about 2 to 3 ml/cc per feeding.  Be sure to burp them after and rub their genitals so they can pee and poo.  Also, keep them warm with a wrapped heating pad and add a stuffed toy for them to curl up to.
Thank you so much for caring.

Universal Whisperer · Answer

Ask the vet to show you how to tube feed kittens and get a feeding tube from the vet.  Tube feeding is really quite simple and a life saver when dealing with kittens who won't take a bottle.  If you can get ahold of a copy of the book The Cat Owners Veterinary Handbook by Carlson and Giffin, it has an excellent pediatric section in  it, including an illustrated explanation of how to tube feed kittens.

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Kittens not taking to bottle?

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