KMR Kitten Milk Replacer
A few weeks ago, I found myself responsible for the care and feeding of 5 one-week-old kittens. It was twilight on a Sunday evening when I realized mom wasn’t coming for dinner, and the farm is an hour from town. Years ago I’d gotten a multi-animal milk replacer (listing cows, horses, llamas, sheep, goats, dogs, and cats as the species for which it can be used) to keep on hand in case it might be needed for calves. I had a still-in-the-box never-used small animal nursing bottle in the cupboard, also on hand for some years, “just in case.” So I found a cardboard box, lined it with old newspapers and new paper towels, scooped up the kittens from their outdoor “nest”, mixed up the milk replacer, warmed it, and tried to feed kittens who were completely unfamiliar with artificial fake-milk-feeding contraptions. The nipple on the bottle was still a bit large and not quite pliable enough for such tiny youngsters. I found a small syringe, and using that was the only way I could feed the tiny white runt of the litter. Whether I used the tiny syringe or the small bottle, the kittens all fought the unfamiliar items. It was quite a struggle for us all.
A neighbor who had bottle-fed a kitten several months prior referred me to a website when I asked her how much milk one-week-old kittens needed to consume and how often. I didn’t think the kittens were getting enough milk, but they still seemed okay the next day, sleeping most of the time, and waking every few hours, mewing somewhat shrilly until fed. Thankfully, the next day was Labor Day holiday, so I was able to stay home with the kittens, and be at their beck and call.
By the end of that first 24 hours, the kittens were pooping fairly bright soft stool, squirming in it as they slept, and smearing it all over themselves and each other. Fortunately I had a liquid soap (chlorhexidine gluconate 4% solution antiseptic/antimicrobial skin cleanser) on hand that worked great as a light bubble-bath, and they were bathed in warm water in the bathroom sink after their feedings at least one or two times a day. Not being able to wash their faces with soap, I did the best I could with distilled water and clean paper towels. But eyes were gumming shut, to be treated with Oscar the cat’s left-over antibiotic eye ointment. By 48 hours of bottle feeding, the insides of the kittens’ mouths and their tongues had turned an unnatural dark red. I decided they needed an actual kitten milk replacer, if such existed. And yes, it does!
The next day (Wednesday) I stopped at Petco, found two brands of powdered milk replacer (in very similar packaging), compared ingredients, and thought I’d probably go with the one that didn’t explicitly mention soy, even though it cost several dollars more. Before making a final decision, I called my vet to find out if they might have a milk replacer on hand. They had only small quantities in their office of the canned feed-as-is version of the brand I was leaning toward, and suggested that with five kittens I stick with the powdered product. So I bought a 12 ounce can of powdered KMR kitten milk replacer at Petco for $24.99. Wow. The following day, Thursday, I ordered 6 more cans of the KMR from chewy.com for a total of $55, and it arrived by Saturday morning. I am impressed by Chewy.com!
By the time the mail-order KMR arrived, it was proving to have been a great choice. Rather than digesting as bright gold stool and some urine, as the multi-animal milk replacer had, the KMR appeared to digest almost entirely as urine. The bright gold stool necessitating frequent warm kitten baths was a thing of the past. Gradually, stool did become evident as what my sister-in-law called “turdlettes” about the mass of one or two milk-chocolate-colored M&M candies, but shaped like miniature hot dogs. These evidently were easy enough for the kittens to pass, but solid enough that they didn’t smear at all on anything. Nearly unnoticed, easily disposable, no messy cleanup or bathing required. Thank you PetAg for your KMR kitten milk replacer! I suspect a significant amount of research and trial-and-error went into producing a milk replacer with such (highly appreciated) beneficial results. (Some warm baths continued to be necessary for the urine, however.)
Shortly after beginning the KMR milk, the kittens stopped keeping me up until 2am, dropping back an hour or so each night or two, until leveling out around 10 – 11pm. Thankfully, either they sleep through the night, or I’m able to sleep through their mewing – it really appears they sleep through the night. The unnatural dark redness of mouths and tongues diminished until gone or nearly so. Tomorrow will be three weeks of bottle feeding.
