Something is seriously wrong with my kitten

Alfredo is 4 weeks old and was always the loudest of the litter. Yesterday, fredo was acting like himself, today, he can't move his back legs and will not eat. He has googly eyes and is very lethargic. (He pulls himself around by his from 2 feet, it's really really sad)

There isn't a vet around (that's open at least)

There've been fleas on the mother and the kittens, but it's impossible to kill those S.O.B.'s and they're not old enough for the fleas killing products, so it's just been the flea comb everyday.

Please help!

Originally Posted by Rosdower

Alfredo is 4 weeks old and was always the loudest of the litter. Yesterday, fredo was acting like himself, today, he can't move his back legs and will not eat. He has googly eyes and is very lethargic. (He pulls himself around by his from 2 feet, it's really really sad)

There isn't a vet around (that's open at least)

There've been fleas on the mother and the kittens, but it's impossible to kill those S.O.B.'s and they're not old enough for the fleas killing products, so it's just been the flea comb everyday.

Please help!

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You need to keep mom and kittens indoors only....as for the fleas....are you not only using a flea comb, but also using the dawn dishwashing detergent to kill the fleas:

Separate the kitten from it's Mother and isolate Mom until she can be treated as well. Make sure all bedding or other nesting materials are put into a securely sealed plastic bag or plastic storage tote and taken completely out of the house. Do not reuse the bedding, the plastic bag or the plastic tote if used. Get a bowl of hot water and add a drop or two of Dawn dishwashing liquid detergent. Swish it around to make a very thin layer of suds on the top of the water. Get plenty of papertowels and a fine tooth comb -- a lice nit comb is perfect on small kittens. With a DRY comb, run the teeth over the kittens and physically remove the fleas, quickly dip the comb in the soapy water, completely submersing it. Swish it around to dislodge all of the insects. Thoroughly DRY the comb with a clean paper towel each time (seal used paper towels into a plastic zip-lock type bag until you are ready to dispose of them away from the house) and repeat until there is no sign of fleas at all on the baby.

Repeat this process with the Mother cat and do not place the kitten back in with her until both have been treated, the bedding completely replaced and surrounding areas thoroughly vacuumed or mopped and dry.

I would recommend that you take this little one to an emergency vet...it could really be any number of things...including distemper:

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/distemper.html

Katie

nevermind... he just died

Originally Posted by Rosdower

nevermind... he just died

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I'm terribly sorry!! I would really recommend keeping an eye on the others.

Also...please have the mom cat spayed once her kittens are weaned.

Katie

I am very, very sorry.

I'm so sorry! Please still have the others checked- it sounds similar to a heart problem my sister's cat had (he had a bad heart murmur, and threw a clot- same symptoms), but better safe...

thanks for the support, it was a sad scene. I'd post the whole story about how I got the cats, but I'm not in the mood right now. I will tomorrow though.

I'm so sorry. I was scrolling down, hoping there would be good news, but there wasn't. Your boy is in a better place now.

I'm so sorry for your loss

Is there no vet where you are? Where are you? Maybe someone on here will know of a vet in your area?

ok, lemme give you all a quick summary of these kittens. Earlier this year, there was a huge flood in New York and Pennsylvania, the biggest of the century. 10 years ago, my family moved on a hill in Kirkwood NY, away from Conklin NY, which always flooded.

Last year, we picked up a cat, Joshua, from our old neighbor over in Conklin. This was July of 2005. Joshua died in Feburary of unknown causes (the vet didn't even know). It was a sad loss, Josh was the best kitten ever.

Then in late June/early July, the flood hit. It was devistating. So when the waters lowered, my mother and I went to go see if it was our old house that we saw FLOATING DOWN THE RIVER on the news. Needless to sat, it was. So there goes my childhood.

Wandering around was a cat that kept following me, I then found out that he was stuck in a tree for the past 2 weeks. Knowing that it was my old neighbors cat. I took him. (My old neighbors house, like every other house on the street, was totaled).

Later that day, my mother went over there with my father and another cat appeared, the mother of Joshua.

Weird part: We picked up Joshuas mother exactly one year after we pick up Joshua.

OK, so we're trying to find homes for the cats. My mother friend took Lupe (the first cat) but no one wants Jazmine (Josh's mother). Over time, Jazmine keeps gaining weight. All of a sudden, it looks like she's has a football in her stomach. Then the week I moved off to college, she gives birth to 5 kittens.

The first birth was a breech and had to be helped out by my aunt (who was there at the time). That one was Alfredo, a black and white cat, he's the one who died :-/

Now we have 2 orange kittens, a pure black one, and a calco one. We found a home for Jazmine (once the kittens are off the milk) and one of the kittens. We're probably going to keep one of the Orange ones, Ginger Baker, because he helped Alfredo when he was dieing. It was cute/sad. He even laied on his body once he died. AND they're Joshuas half brothers, so I DO want to keep one of them.

I also think it'd be good for the cat we already have, Boots Electric, to have a playmate.

Okay, that was probably confusing with all the names and whatnot. We went from 1 cat to 7 (to 6 ) within 2 months, so it's quite confusing for us.

Thanks for the help guys!

I am so sorry about Alfredo Many to you.

RIP Alfredo

okay, this is getting harder and harder to deal with

another one, Jax, died, the vet doesn't do anything, they're not our cats, and my mother is crying like mad. Another one is getting the symptoms which are; sitting in the corner alone, looking upwards, loss of apetite, and being lathargic. So there is one that is sick, one which is "OK", and another who is spunky... the spunkiness means nothing because they go from being happy and playful to knocking on heavens door.

My mom separated them from the mother along with the cat we already had before this mess, boots electric (the electric in his name suits him). She's becoming one of those crazy cat ladies like on T.V., she's also becoming very attatched to these kittens. Mom is a real mess over this.

so i don't know what we can do, let them all die i suppose. That, or just bring them back to the owner of the mother, because they're his after all. So they'll either die with us or die my a river in the rain. It's a morbid thought, but we don't know what to do. it's either a virus or genetic, which would make sense due to the other cat that died form the same mother (josh, who died earlier this year). they have fleas, but they get combed with dawned and mayo'd all the time, i mean, field kittens survive and they're probably full of fleas!

this is getting hard, we don't know what to do... there's nothing TO DO.

just though i'd share. it hasn't been a good year for kittens. my aunts friends cat had a litter the day after my "adopted" cat had her litter. a few days later, the dogs ate the kittens. yeah i know, sick. that, along with what's happening now, plus the loss of josh earlier this year, i think i'm going to give up on cats for a while, of course i'll keep boots electric, but i don't think he's going to have a new playmate like i had planned.

perhaps i'll get a turtle

Honey, I am SO SO sorry. I have lost a kitten before, it's so hard. We have a long-standing member, her name is Kimbulu and she is our kitten advisor here on the site. You can send her a PM - are you old enough? I have to ask because we have age limits on the PMing for security. You can find her under this name in the Member Directory. Lots of hugs, and prayers, and strength to you.

Hi I just read your thread and what an awful experience for you, the cats and your family. I hope you see what a great thing you did by rescuing the cats and trying to find her kits good homes. I am sure it is heartbreaking and I pray for you and yours.

You mentioned a relative witnessing the birth of the kittens.
Have they had their first shots?

The symptoms poor alfredo had could be from a number of diseases, but I'd suspect either parvo or heartworm.

Hi Ros.

Firstly, please put the kittens back with the mother cat unless you are feeding them KMR or another kitten formula. At 4 weeks, they're not quite old enough to eat kitten food and even if they are having a go at it, they still need momcat's milk. Katie only recommended separating the sick kitten from momcat temporarily until you treated momcat for fleas which hopefully, you've now done.

My suspision is that they have caught whatever illness Joshua died of and Boots Electric hasn't shown any symptoms because he is vaccinated (?)

Now, what to do for the other kittens. Either buy or make up some Pedialyte.

Home-made Pedialyte

1 cup water (boiled then cooled)
Small pinch of baking soda
Small pinch of Salt
2 teaspoons of sugar

Mix all ingredients well. Make sure the mixture has been slightly warmed before feeding to the kittens. The mixture will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Feed 5ml (5cc) every two hours using a dropper or syringe (without the needle of course). Make sure the kitten is on his tummy and not his back when you feed. Feed very slowly so the fluid does not go down the wrong tube and choke the kitten.

As I said, feed them kitten formula or let them feed from momcat. In situations like this, it is safe to treat the kittens with some kitten strength Program, Frontline, Advantage or Revolution. Please see this link: http://www.kitten-rescue.com/parasites.html to see how to do this.

There is really not a lot else that I can recommend, as we don't know what is it that is causing this. It could be something as simple as the mother's milk has dried up and the kittens are dehydrated and starving. If this is the case, you'll need to start feeding them with KMR or another kitten formula.

There are two ways to check for dehydration:

Pinch test - Gently pull the skin up on the back of the kitten's neck and release. If the kitten is well hydrated, the skin will snap back into position in a second. If the kitten is dehydrated, there will be a 'tent' in the skin that takes longer to go back into place.

Gum test - With clean hands, lift the kittens lip and gently press on the gum and release. The gum should turn white for a second and then return to a nice pink colour. If the gum stays pale or is greyish, the kitten is dehydrated.

If it is this, you should see the kittens perking up 1/2 an hour to an hour after you give the Pedialyte.


You said that the vet doesn't do anything. What do you mean? Have the kittens seen a vet yet? This is very important, as the vet can give you the right medication to treat the kittens or perhaps give you a diagnosis. In the worst case, if they are suffering, he can end their pain.

Here are the vets that I found:

Companion Animal Clinic
5 Brown St
Binghamton, NY 13905
(607) 798-9038

Endicott Animal Hospital
1200 Campville Rd
Endicott, NY 13760
(607) 748-7848

Valley Animal Hospital
205 Front St
Vestal, NY 13850
(607) 754-7164

Oneida Animal Hospital
101 Genesee Street
Oneida, NY 13421
Phone: 315-363-1992

Shop City Animal Hospital
105 Shop City Plaza
Syracuse, NY 13206
Phone: 315-433-1155

Rome Animal Hospital
6161 Lamphear Road
Rome, NY 13440
Phone: 315-337-1470

All Creatures Animal Hospital
9000 Turin Road
Rome, NY 13440
Phone: 315-337-7000

Queen Village Animal Hospital
46 Mexico Street
Camden, NY 13316
Phone: 315-245-3001

Hello and thank you all so very much for your help , concerns, and sympathy.
I'm Dan's(Rosdower) mother.

Kumbulu,

Thank you so much for all of the information. I did put the kittens back with the mother on thursday evening after the second one died and it was a slow and agonizing death for him. The first one was gone within a day of first showing signs of illness. The second one was about three days. We did put frontline on the mother. She is rapidly losing interest in feeding them. She herself has cut down on her food intake from three to four cans a day to about one now so she is drying up. I'm trying very hard to get them to eat the kitten formula but they won't. They also will not have anything to do with the kitten baby bottle. I made the pedialyte formula and have been giving them that.

Now for more sad news...the third one is on her way out. The symptoms began yesterday morning...sitting in the corner and holding the head down facing the wall, lethargic, will not eat even from the mother. The other two will drink water from the bowl, one very activley and the other so so. The two that are still seemingly healthy bounce around and play but they were all like that eight days ago.

Josh, our kitten who died in february, had the same mother and similar symptoms as Dan has explained. Of course Josh was eating on his own . Since he was nine months old when he passed he was bigger and other symptoms were noticeable such as his spine seemed to become crooked. Disease from fleas or a tick, I do not know.

I saw that Dan wrote that the vet would not do anything. That came out wrong on his part. What he meant is that when Josh started to become lethargic we took him to the vet(the one that you have listed in Vestal, NY)
and he conducted tests on him and found no signs of kitty cancer , etc..
He gave us medicine for him but in the end to no avail. Being that the kittens are going down the same path as Josh, Dan concluded that the vet cannot do anything. Believe me, at the first sign of a flea(although I'm no longer convinced that is the root of this) I would have taken them to the vet let alone the onset of illness. I just cannot afford to do this right now. I truly can't. I pray that I could, This is making me ill also. I am constantly trying to figure out what to do and doing whatever I can. This is enthralling my whole life. Between watching them die one by one, separating our cat from the babies(our cat is very active, healthy, and can open doors. He alone is quite the handful), and trying to unsuccessfuly save them, I'm losing it.

I called the owner( who lost his entire house in the flood and now lives in a small FEMA trailor by the river) to tell him that the first kitten died and the other one was getting sick. He said that he would take them but they would be living outside. By thursday evening I was ready to give the remaining three back to him but of course I could not do it. It was forty degrees outside this morning.

Okay, I've gone on and on here. Thank you all so much for listening and offering your advice. I really, really appreciate. I feel a little better now that I have written this. Now back to the kittens. Thank you again.

Hi Dan's mum, thank you for the update, albeit a sad one. Once one kitten in the litter shows signs of a severe illness and dies, it is very likely that all kittens will go the same way. Do keep trying with the kitten formula, as the Pedialyte mixture is just to keep up their hydration and sugar levels, it doesn't replace formula.

I forgot to say in my earlier post, thank you both for trying so hard to save these little ones. It is heartbreaking when you're facing what seems to be an unknown killer illness. It is likley that you will end up losing all the kittens and possibly mumcat as well. As soon as you're able, take mumcat off to the vet to be checked out and tested for diseases.

This happened to me! Lost two kittens I was fostering. The mother cat had MASTITIS and I had to separate and hand-feed the remaining two and they lived!

Best wishes to you and the kitties!
SwampWitch

thanks kumbulu and swampwitch

we've separated the 2 healthy ones from the one that's ill. They're getting fed the formula with the medicine dropper even though they can drink out of the bowl, they won't drink the formula. they're in my moms bedroom and they're staying there.

i will update

<3