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This is a true story about Braveheart the Runt

It's not hard to see that there's a huge difference between Braveheart, the runt, and the rest of his siblings.	I thought for sure that he would die, but Braveheart was a fighter.  He was given the name Braveheart by his new owner, a man who had recently gone through open heart surgery.
The couple who adopted him also adopted his sister, the dilute calico (blue, cream, and white) girl shown in the photo with him.	This was wonderful for both Braveheart and his sister.  I felt better knowing that he would be with a litter mate.  It  made the adjustment to his new home less stressful.
	Paula Mack, MS, DVM (right) and her assistant examine Reba's litter of kittens.
They all check out to be healthy.	I hoped that Braveheart would catch-up, but we love the little guy just the way he is!
I just wanted assurance that something serious wasn't wrong with him, like a heart defect, or something.	Here are some solutions for feeding malnourished kittens.  Braveheart, however, never required any special treatment.  He always crawled under the group of nursing kittens and got a bottom teat, whether Reba was lying on her left, or her right side.  He just went for the bottom!
Here they are in their new home.  He's still quite a bit smaller than his sister, named Sand Pebbles.	Fortunately, they are both spoiled rotten!
	This breeding experience let me to the following question:  What causes one kitten to be so much smaller than the other?  Read the article below for the answers.

What causes one kitten to be so much smaller?   

"Most veterinarians would agree with the saying, "Not enough to go around," in terms of nutrition.  We find malnourished queens ranking high for underdeveloped kittens.  Parasitism (worm infestation) is often a cause for the malnourishment.  It is unknown if queens have a genetic predisposition to throw underweight kittens.  Trauma has been listed as a possible etiology (i.e., over activity or high-strung behavior), but I feel this smacks of sexism, as it has not been proven to be true.  As with humans, drugs or other toxins can be implicated with less than desirable body weight of kittens.  In general, any factor that compromises the health of the queen during gestation may affect birth weight.  This includes sub-clinical infections (bacterial, viral, rickettsial, mycoplasma), trace mineral, vitamin, enzyme deficits, overexposure to heat or cold, and loss of emotional well-being."   

Does the length of the heat cycle and the number of days that she is with the stud put her at risk of having different age fetuses?  Another words, can one kitten be premature, while the others are at term?   

"Sure.  Queens are "seasonally poly estrus" in cycle, which means they cycle and remain in estrus until they either breed, or the season ends.  The season is governed by light and temperature and I'm sure other factors we humans haven't noticed yet.  Yes, clinically we see neonates of different weights that we presume to be from different breedings.  I'm not aware of any studies to document this, but in practice the difference in weights is rarely greater than 2-3 grams and the kittens who are underweight "catch up," with the others in the litter.  They all seem clinically to be within limits of term, i.e., well haired, and vigorous.  On a technical note, the queens ovulation is stimulated during estrus by intercourse.  Generally the lag phase of copulation and ovulation is about a day, so it is possible and likely that more than I sire can be responsible for kittens."   

Does the number of days a Tom and queen mate affect litter size?   

"Generally not.  They need to breed more than once, however, for effective surge of lutenizing hormone.  Leaving the queen and Tom together twice a day for two days is generally enough to insure pregnancy, about two or three days after the queen shows signs of estrus."   

How long should the queen and Tom be left together?   

"Most sources state two hours up to three consecutive days, but clinically, some queens are left with Toms for the entirety of estrus."   

Do larger queens have larger kittens?   

"No."   

Do older queens have larger kittens?   

"No."   

Does litter size or overcrowding of the uterus effect whether one kitten will be smaller?   

"There is finite space in the uterus, placentation is zonary endotheliochorial.  When overcrowding occurs, the percentage of implantation within the uterus declines.  The end result is a gravid uterus up to six to seven kittens, on average."   

What is fading kitten syndrome and are runts at greater risk of dying?   

"Fading kitten syndrome is a name for kittens that die within the first two weeks after birth.  This can occur from uterine sub-clinical infections or malnourishment during gestation or just after birth.  There are multiple factors at work here but usually the cause is an intrauterine problem.  Runts may not be at greater risk.  They may be able to "catch up" with their litter mates and live normal lives (size and otherwise)."   

Should breeders weight kittens daily?   

"I've recommended weekly weightings for breeders, unless there is a problem, then daily or even twice daily for dehydrated or bottle or tube feed kittens.  Normal weight is about 100 grams; general rule is 13 grams per day for the first week, 17 for the second, 20 for the third, and 22 grams per day for the fourth.  I tell clients with weaned kittens the rule of thumb is after weaning, we expect a kitten to gain about a pound per month until six months of age (i.e., a 4 month old kitten should weigh about 4 lbs)."   

Do you recommend supplements?   

"Generally not, unless there is a problem with weight gain and the amount is governed by weight gain.  We recommend KMR and other commercially available products.  I recommend every other hour for especially weak, malnourished kittens.  I recommend an exam prior to having a client attempt to nurse a kitten.  If a kitten has a cleft palate, we are concerned about aspiration problems.  In general, if a kitten does not suckle, we recommend tube feeding."   

What if the queen abandons the runt in favor of the other kittens?   

"There may be a congenital problem with that kitten, and we may not be aware of the queen's good sense to cull in the face of efficiency of her efforts.  Otherwise, we can try to offer the runt more space and less competition with other kittens by removing most of her normal kittens and allow the runt to nurse.  If the queen flatly refuses, then we can intervene by feeding supplements, or milking the queen and tube feeding the colostrum."   

Should kittens be placed with another queen that has better mothering skills?   

"I generally don't recommend this practice due to the possibility of neonatal isoerythrolysis.  If the kitten has blood type A and the queen has type B, that queen's colostrum will contain alloantibodies which will bind to the kittens red blood cells.  Those red blood cells with lyse and create a life-threatening anemia in that kitten.  This can happen with kittens and their queens, this probability of occurrence will increase with fostering queens."   

Do some queens with large litters nurse the kittens in separate groups?   

"Yes."   

How important is it that kittens receive colostrum?   

"Very, it contains the essential maternal antibodies to survive in the kitten's environment.  One recommendation for orphaned kittens is to vaccinate at two weeks of age with an intranasal vaccine, followed at four weeks with a modified live vaccine (FVRCP).  Colostrum should be nursed or tube fed during the first few hours after birth.  Queen's produce colostrum for two to three days."   

Are there any artificial means of providing weak kittens with systemic antibodies?   

"Yes by nursing or tube feeding colostrum from ideally, it's own queen, less optimally from another nursing queen."   

Dr. Paula Mack graduated from the College of  Veterinary Medicine at Ohio State University in 1979.  In 1978, she received a graduate degree in the Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology from Ohio State University.  She is a member of our local SDCVMA, CVMA, and nationally, AAHA and AVMA.  She is also a member of the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights.  She has worked with the Feral Cat Society locally by volunteering her sugical time and facility for the altering and treatment of feral cats.  She is a member of  the American Association of Feline Practitioners.  She was the owner and founder of the Ramona Animal Hospital for ten years.  She is also a commercial and fine art photographer and plays a raspy tenor saxophone.  She has an Irish terrier (Rex) who enjoys fly-ball and a cat (Willow) who loves to watch him practice.