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Why are my kittens refusing the bottle and gaining less weight?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | unspayed | 3 years and 3 months old | 7 lbs

Hello, my cat has given birth to 9 kittens last week, and since it such a big litter, we started feeding thw kittens with the bottle and kitten milk formula a few times a day to complement and help Copernic feed them properly. Everything went great, But since 2 days ago, they started refusing the bottle and deink only their mother's mill. Although they are still taking on weigh, 2 or 3 of them are taking much less (5 to 10g a day comapred to the usual 10 to 20g). Is it normal or should I worry?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Emily, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 5th, 2017

As long as they are all continuing to gain weight steadily you can continue to monitor them for now. It is normal to see some variation among littermates. However if they're smaller kittens show other signs are not thriving such as decreased play behavior, being isolated from the other kittens, or they stop gaining weight then you need to try to supplement formula again.

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 5th, 2017

    Weight can fluctuate at this age and they can sometimes lose a few grams, as long as they seems to be growing normally i would not be too worried about it. if they seem too skinny then maybe she doesn't have enough milk, in this case you will need to top up with kitten milk replacer to help them get the quantity of feeding they need.

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