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Why isn't my newborn kitten gaining weight and struggling to nurse?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Persian | Female | 1 year and 2 months old

My cat gave birth to a litter of 6 kittens 11 days ago. One of the kittens is always keeping his back to the ground and is not not gaining weight, the runt of the litter is getting larger than him. His mother is attentive towards him but I suspect that he is having trouble nursing. What are things that I can do to make sure that he survives the neonatal stage?

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1 Answer

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Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on November 8th, 2019

Your best bet would be to bring the kitten into your vet. They can check for any issues such as congenital problems causing the weird back arching, cleft palate that affects nursing, etc that you may need to treat differently or take particular care for. If the kitten is otherwise healthy, adding in supplemental feeding may also help with weight gain if it can't nurse enough from mom.

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