Sick Kitten?????

We have 3 week old kittens (litter of 5) of which only one seems to be completely healthy. The other 4 have crusty eyes which we have been using hydrogen peroxide to clean them off with daily. It does not seem to work. Here is the strange part...the runt kitten was black when it was born but is turning white (gray?) so that now there is only black on the tips of his fur. Is this okay or is he/she sick? None of them have had bowel movements yet either..is this normal? Help!!

Where is their mother? With young kittens the mother helps them to make their bowel movements, because they are too young to do this on their own, she does this by licking their bottoms to stimulate elimination. As gross as this sounds the mother usually then eats it to keep the bed clean. So if you do have the mother with them, just because you don't see any doesn't mean they haven't been making bowel movements. If the mother is out of the picture you will need to help them, by taking a q-tip or cotton ball and very gently rubbing there bottom with it, you will need to wet the q-tip or cotton ball with warm water. You can get books that will tell you all you need to know about raising kittens without the mother if this is the case, and of course they should see a vet.

[Edited by bookitty1231 on 04-29-2001 at 10:39 AM]

Two of my kittens were born all white but they have gradually changed to have colored ears and tails, so you don't need to worry about it. I fought the crusty eye on one for a long time, but eventually it cleared up. They are 6 weeks old now.

Originally posted by bookitty1231
If the mother is out of the picture you will need to help them, by taking a q-tip or cotton ball and very gently rubbing there bottom with it, you will need to wet the q-tip or cotton ball with warm water.
[Edited by bookitty1231 on 04-29-2001 at 10:39 AM]

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A washcloth's texture simulates a cat's tongue better than cotton balls or swabs.
jdonner you MUST wipe their rears soon after every feeding. If you don't help them eliminate, the kittens will die. You really should take them to a vet ASAP to make sure the time you had them and they didn;t eliminate hasn't affected their health.

I would have a vet look at your kittens. If it is feline herpes, that is very treatable in young kittens. Here is a page on it:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body...nctivitis.html

Good luck!

You really do not want to use hydrogen peroxide on these kitten's eyes! Please just use warm water on a cotton roll and do the cleaning very gently. If your kittens haven't had a bowel movement in three weeks then they would be in serious trouble. More than likely there is a momcat taking care of them? As one poster stated, she is cleaning up behind her little ones, they do that to keep predators away from the nest-