Stray Kitten

Hello! I came across this forum yesterday and thought it would be a good place to ask this question.

I work at a construction company and on Monday, one of the guys started up a dozer and a cat came screaming out. She took off and when he turned off the machine (she scared the poo out of him, btw) he heard mewing. Long story short, there was a kitten in the dozer and after an hour they got him out.

No one would take him and there was even talk of "putting him out of his misery" so I decided to take him home that night and see what would happen. Well, it's Wednesday. ^_^ My boyfriend is bringing him to the vet on Friday.

The kitten (who looks to be about 2-3 weeks old) seems healthy. He's taken to us nicely. I'm pretty proud of myself actually because we have a 2 year old cat at home, but I have never taken care of an 'infant' kitty before. It's going well. My only concern is... he hasn't pooped at all yet. I have been rubbing him gently about 20 minutes after each meal and he has been urinating just fine (amazing how much, actually) but nothing else has come out. I'm just a little worried about it because from what I understand, he should be relieving his bowels ... once a day?

Anyway, just wanted to check and see if there are any techniques to maybe.. help this along... or if I'm just worrying for nothing.

Thanks!

P.S. We decided to call him Dozer. And I have nicknamed him OLE because he has One Little Eye. Dunno if it's underdeveloped or what, but it's not crusty. Just a little eye.

-Izzy

Hi Izzy,welcome to TCS.

Because Dozer has gone through so much in the past few days, it's normal for him not to poop every day. He can go as long as 4-5 days without pooping and still be OK. I have had kittens go this long and finally poop, much to my, and I'm sure their, relief.

With his eye, gently wipe with a cotton ball moistened with warm water. Do you have a picture of him? I'd be able to tell you how old he is if I could see a pic. I don't think very new members are allowed to post pics but if you send it to me [email protected], I can post it for you.

Please visit www.kitten-rescue.com to find out all about how to raise this little Vegemite.

hello and welcome ! aww you are doing a wonderful thing by taking this little fella in I cant add anything to the above post and I am sure with all your love and care he's gonna be just fine

Keep us updated !

Hi and welcome,

What a wonderful person you are for looking after this baby.
It sounds like you have done your research and have a good idea of what you are doing.

It would be lovely if you could keep us all updated on how your new baby is getting along. With pics if you can.

Oh and I love his name....Dozer....How cute.

Emma x x

Thanks for the welcome! And the help!

When I first decided to take Dozer in, I was worried about what my boyfriend would say when he saw a 2-3 week old in the house. He fell instantly in love with him.

Kumbulu, I will send you a picture as soon as I get home from work. But for now, I will describe him. He is gray with little random bits of long white hairs that stick out all over. His eyes are still the baby blue-ish looking color. His eyes are clean and healthy looking... but his right eye is a bit smaller than his left. It looks as if it just did not develop fully. I suppose we will see if that will create any problems after the vet visit.
He is still a little shaky when he walks but not even half as much as he was on Monday.
Monday, when we brought him home, he only had two teeny tiny bottom canines coming in. Today, you can feel a whole mouthful making their appearance. He seems to be getting better at seeing and I think.... at this moment.. he... may be attempting a run but it looks more like a spastic walk. ^_^

-----Lol!-----

Ohhhh! I love the spastic "I'm learning to walk" thing!

Bless you for taking in this baby.

How is Dozer doing today?

Sorry for not responding in a while. Been so busy. I am sending you the photos via e-mail now.

One thing, my boyfriend and I are worried because Dozer still hasn't moved any bowels whatsoever. I thought I heard him pass a little gas a couple of days ago but besides that it has been nothing. I am making a new appointment to go to the vet tomorrow or Tuesday (if tomorrow is unavailable). We were unable to coordinate and get him there Friday.
Any suggestions? We have had him since last Monday.
I have done the following to try to get him to go: Rubbed anus gently with a dry towel, rubbed gently with a warm wet towel, submerged his entire lower half in warm water and rubbed, and the last thing I tried was keeping my fingers wet and warm and rubbing gently with them. Nothing.
His reactions however... sometimes he will purr for a little while and then start screaming. His anus moves and flexes as if he is trying to move something but nothing happens. Then, I can't tell if he's crying because he's pissed and wants out of the towel I have to wrap him in to get to the area or if he's in pain.

He is peeing a lot though. With no problems. He's not at all lethargic, he doesn't get upset when you rub his tummy or abdomen unless he's wrapped in the towel and wants to get out...

Like I said, we are bringing him to the vet tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest, but any suggestions would be appreciated!

How is he feeding?

Sometimes kittens can have something called an imperforate anus. This is where the part of the digestive tract joining the bowels and anus (the part you can see) is either blocked or not there at all. This means that the poo can't get to the anus to be cleared from the body. I am hoping it's not this.

At other times, kittens can simply get very constipated. The vet can give the kitten an enema and this will get things moving along. See the vet ASAP, as all that poop backing up can cause other illnesses if not seen to.

I have his pics and am just uploading them now.

Isn't he a sweetie?

Originally Posted by Kumbulu

Isn't he a sweetie?

Click to expand...

Absolutely adorable! What do you think about his age? He looks much smaller in the 3rd pic than in the other 2. He's very cute!

Oh dear!!! He's about the cutest little muffin, isn't he???

He looks to me to be about 3-3.5 weeks old, roughly. And personally, from what I can see in the photos, his eyes now look great. The one eye could have just been opening when you found him, and it needed time to open fully. Most of the time the eyes both open between 5-10 days after birth, but if he was an abandoned or malnourished kitten, he may have been a late bloomer. He sure looks good now!!!

About the poopy thing...I too would probably be getting concerned. I wouldn't stop trying to stimulate him to go, but I think he does need to see a vet as soon as you can...tomorrow perhaps, in the morning. The anus puckering a bit, along with the scream is a good indicator that he may be constipated, which can be dangerous in a young kitten. An enema may be in order...and definitely an overall check-up for parasites, disease, weight, etc. Are you bottle feeding him? I can't remember what you mentioned originally...

I'm so glad you've taken him in...he may not be here if not for you! What a blessing!!!

OMG, what a little sweety Oh I hope that he will be okay, and he is just a little constipate. Bless you for taking care of him..I can't imagine someone wanting to "put him out of his misery".

^_^

I think, since I have had him for about a week now, that he is probably 3.5 to 4 weeks old. He jumped (kinda) for the first time today! He's not quite up to running but his fast walk is surprisingly fast. His teeth are starting to make an appearance as well.
I put a little mini-litter box in the room that we keep him in and he does scratch it, but he has been peeing kinda when/where he feels like it. I know it's early, so we will see.
Definitely bringing him to the vet asap.

In regards to the him looking smaller in one picture. They were taken on the same day so I think the ones where he looks big are just because of the angle. Though, within the past couple of days (I think I took those Thursday) he has grown.

I am bottle feeding him still. Though he is getting really rough with the bottle and if I were his mommycat I would probably be in a lot of pain. Should I be weaning him off the bottle within the next week or so?

I'd estimate his age at 3 weeks in those pics, which would make him 3 1/2 weeks now.

These kittens are 3 1/2 weeks old



And this one is 4 weeks old

I think he is still too young to try food just yet. Give it another week and see then. He's probably getting rough with the bottle because he's getting frustrated with it. You may need to make the hole in the top of the nipple slightly larger. Something I do with kittens that get all overexcited about the bottle is wrap them up in a hand-towel or dish-towel like a mummy with just their head poking out. That way, they can't claw at you or the bottle and it calms them.

Any poopy yet?

We are always interested in poopy on the PC & KC forum.