Does anyone have experience or would like to share their story of hand-rearing newborn kittens that are failing to thrive?

[Hanswurst]

My beautiful cat had a litter of 4 kittens 4 days ago. They were all of similar size and initially seemed to be doing well, and she is caring for them beautifully.
I weighed them all on day 1 of life, and again on day 2, and one of them was clearly failing to thrive and had lost a significant amount of weight. Long story short: I started bottle-feeding him and he has been on 2-hourly feeds for the past 40 hours or so.
He is a reluctant feeder. His weight is steadily increasing, so we are obviously doing ok in that respect. He occasionally latches on and takes a few sucks, but most of the time he isn’t really keen, and will just about swallow the little drops I squeeze in his mouth. He also seems generally much weaker and less coordinated than his litter mates.
I am really doubting myself here. I will continue to feed him and see how he goes, but part of me is wondering if this is the best thing for him. I am worried that he will grow but not develop “normally”, especially as he seems so far behind his litter-mates already.
Does anyone have any experience of this? Has anyone’s kitten been like this - weak and tiny and not interested in feeding, and then turned a corner?
I want him to make it so badly. And I don’t have it in me to stop feeding him - but part of me the is wondering if I am being selfish and should just let nature take it’s course.

Be a responsible breeder and get a vet involved, ffs.

As above. Given you haven’t a clue what you’re doing why the fuck do you have an unneutered cat ffs

Oh fuck off.
I did get the vet involved. They recommended bottle feeding and watching and waiting to see how they went. Where the fuck did you that no I got the kitten milk and bottle from.
Seriously!

We had one that our cat rejected - she actually put the kitten in the bottom of a wardrobe and put clothes over it!
we hand fed it, he did really well.
I remember as a child similarly feeding rejected kittens, one did die. I think there was a lot wrong, so yes it’s possible that the right thing is to let this one go.
personally I’d give it a few more days and see if he rallies.
is he warm enough? I also remember my dad sleeping with them in his armpit (!!) to keep them warm. Amazed any survived.

And what the fuck have you the impression I don’t know what I’m doing? I know exactly what I am doing and am in daily contact with my vet regarding progress. I have been up every two hours in the night, preparing feeds, sterilising the equipment, monitoring room temperature, winding the kitten, making sure they are urinating and pooing. So I really don’t know what made you jump to that conclusion from my post.
But thanks for the super-helpful comments!

The information in your original post gave that impression.

What do you expect to get from MN that you're not getting if you're in regular contact with a vet?

Try contacting your local cat rescues and see if they have tips. Our local one constantly has kittens being hand reared and they will have experience.

Thank you @Twoshoesnewshoes Yes, they are warm enough, they are snuggled with the litter mates and have heating etc. I've been really mindful of temperature control.

@OhhhForCryingOutLoud clearly, nobody can predict the future. But I was hoping to hear people’s stories of similar - I am worried about the little guy and I would love to hear someone say “hey, my kitten was the same but they are a healthy grown up cat now”, because that would give me some comfort. I was quite sure my original post made that clear. Apologies if it didn’t.

I have had dozens of foster orphans. It is awful when they don't all make it. We had 1 that never really grew physically. He developed in that he could run and meow and had coordination but was still tiny. Managed til 8 weeks and just died in his sleep. If yours can't suck just use dropper for the correct amount every time. Sucking reflex might kick in.
Fingers crossed op.

Kitten Lady's Fading kitten 101 video on failure to thrive may help. Good luck.