3 Week Old Runt Kitten - Front Legs Working, Back Legs... Not Exactly...?

Question

Ok, this is the last time I will try to explain this.
The runt kitten named Sparky, he is 3 weeks and 1 or 2 days old.
He can use his front legs easily, but I have to help him get up his back legs. After that, he can walk for about 30 seconds, then he sits down and I have to help him get up again.
The mum cat treats him as if he were not a runt, but a normal cat. Many people would think the mum would reject the runt of the litter, but not this little mum kitty! Just then I brought them out into the lounge room so they could play/sleep or whatever but I didn't notice that little Sparky was left behind, suddenly I heard the LOUD, LOUD meowing! I looked next to me and Kitti (mum cat) had brought him out. So clearly, she is not rejecting him. I just want to know a little more on what to feed him when he is 4 weeks old, how to help him walk better and maybe a little more info on runt kittens.

Answer 1

Kittens master crawling the first week, and should be able to walk, play and interact with each other by the end of the second week. By this time he should be able to control front and back legs equally.

Now it is a great sign that his mother has not abandoned him, but if he cannot move his legs on his own or he drags them, Sparky needs to be seen by a vet. He could have a spinal problem, neurological problem, paralysis, reaction to a spider/bug bite, infection or injury. Without seeing him, getting some more information and doing an exam it is impossible to tell exactly what is wrong, but the sooner you find out what is causing the problem with the back legs the better.

You said that the kittens are 3 weeks so, the mother cat will probably start to discourage nursing in the next week or so, however, they will continue to nurse in addition to eating solid food until they are around 12 weeks old, some may continue until they are 6 months old and/or mum goes back into heat. Start feeding Mum cat wet kitten food in front of her babies a couple of times a day, she will most likely take it from there. Once they start weaning, give them WET kitten food - No dry food until they are 8½ - 9 weeks old - get the highest quality food you can afford, the top brands are Royal Canin, Eukanuba and Science Diet. If you cannot afford to keep them on higher quality / premium foods, you can go with "Purina One" kitten (not straight Purina) once they are old enough for dry food. Kitti also needs to be eating kitten formula while she is nursing she needs the extra protein, vitamins and calories, but she needs to go back to adult formula once the kittens are completely weaned. The kittens need to be on kitten formula for at least 10 months and ideally a year, since cats continue to grow until they are two years old they can safely have kitten food until then, unless they start to gain too much weight, although after a year you should mix the kitten food with adult food.

Kittens should be 90 - 110 grams (about 3-4 ounces) at birth and should gain weight at a rate of 50 - 100 grams per week. Birth weight should have doubled by week two. Kittens shouldn't be thin and bony, they should have slightly plump (but not swollen) abdomens. Your vet can tell you if he is too thin and if there is something like an intestinal parasite causing it or if he simply needs more calories or nutritional supplement.

As far as not having a lot of fur, it depends on what you mean by that. Fur loss can be anything from a medical problem to fleas to allergies. If he simply does not have as much fur as the others he might just be a different dominate breed, they could be longhaired dominate and he might be shorthaired.
Not all kittens in a litter have the same father, in fact, unless the cats are purebred and you deliberately bred them and know who the father was it is unlikely that they do.

Unless your garage is heated, and not used for parking your car or storing chemicals, you should not put the cats out there - ever! Kittens cannot regulate their body temperature and need a consistently warm environment. They could also get run over by the car, get up in and trapped in the car's undercarriage, they are exposed to oil and antifreeze - which are poisonous to them. Not to mention spiders and other poisonous creepy crawlies - like scorpions, vinegaroons etc…depending on where you live always make their way into garages all of which can bite and cause life-threating problems.

Answer 2

We adopted a street kitten with a similar problem with his back legs. I am sorry to tell you that he had FIP and the vet said this was affecting him neurologically and causing the problem with the back legs. He was with us for a year, and during that time he grew up into a wonderful sweet cat but he never was able to use his hind legs. He sort of dragged himself around. He could even climb a little, pulling up with his front legs. He also was incontinent, although he would have liked to use a litter box, he didn't seem able to control his bladder or bowels very well. We had to bathe him, which was kind of an ordeal.

Despite the challenges of caring for this cat, we never regretted taking him in and missed him very much when he was gone. FIP is inevitably fatal, it's only a matter of how long the cat can live with it before it takes over, so we were glad we could give him a happy life even though it was short.

Answer 3

Sounds to me, it is a mildly disable kitten, rather than just a very small kitten. the mother cat probably sensed there something wrong so that why she accepting the kitten

But disabled kittens can live a perfectly healthy and normal life. Being awkward with the hind legs, i would not let it outside when older unless you have one of those kitty walk systems as it more likely to get into trouble from other animal attacks.

Answer 4

I had a kitten like that years ago.She was way behind the other kittens,as she couldn't walk on her hind legs;they splayed out sideways.I started making her swim in a tub of warm water for 5 minutes a couple of times a day.Of course you have to support the kitten's belly and chest while you do this,and dry it well.But ,my kitten,Paddlefoot,started to get up and stand after a few weeks,and soon after that,she was walking.if this doesn't work,the vet may be able to put splints on the kitten's legs to straighten and strengthen them.Also,start feeding them small amounts of canned kitten food,or dry kitten food soaked in warm water.Feed twice a day until they are weaned,then increase to three or four times a day,or just leave dry food out for them to eat ad lib.Good luck.

Answer 5

The hind legs not working properly is a medical problem. If at all possible please have the kitten diagnosed, it could be caused by a trauma at birth, a virus, or a whole host of other things. Most mother cats do not abandon their kittens, so I'm not at all surprised she takes care of it. Hope you discover what you need to know.

Answer 6

That sounds serious!
Poor little thing. Kittens In their first 2 months need mothers milk to gain strengh and lots of energy. So its very important to check if its gets plenty of mothers milk.
I would go to a vet its not a large fee for a check up! about 40-50 bucks. What ever happens dont throw it out!!! if u dont want it find a loving home for it!!!

Answer 7

It would a really good idea if you took the kitty to a vet instead of trying to get free possibly unsuitable advice from us lot-(no offence guys :))

It sounds like the kitten was damaged in the birthing process and could be slightly paralysed.

this could cause issues with bladder function, so it would be kind and wise of you to go to the vet.

Good luck!

Answer 8

I am not sure if this normal, it might be, I don't know. Do all the other kittens walk normally? I would bring that little kitty to the vet and have him or her checked out. Good luck.

Answer 9

Sounds like everything is fine. I don't think I gave anything special when my cat had kittens. The mother took care of everything. I think you should just let nature take it's course. 3 weeks is very very young. They will be fine. Let Mama kitty do her thing.

Answer 10

it may be cuz he's to young, just like humans it take a long time before he can fully walk.

i hope i helped!

Good Luck Miss Or Mrs and Good Luck Sparky!