Orphaned Kitten

First off, I haven't posted in a little less than a year. Last summer, we had found a stray cat who was pregnant. I am pleased to say that she and all six of her kittens were adopted out to wonderful homes since then.

Now I have a new problem. A 10-day old kitten was dumper at our animal shelter last Thursday. Being the only person with any veterinary experience (since I am now a vet assistant), I volunteered to take over hand-raising the little critter. He has been named Pippin since all of my cats have Lord of the Rings names.

My concern is this... he seems pretty bloated in his belly and although he pees constantly with some stimulation, he's only poo-ed twice that I know of in the near-week I've had him. This is my first time raising a kitten without a mother-cat, so I'm not certain if this is normal.

Is he supposed to be very round-bellied? Or does he likely have worms (like most puppies do)? How often should a 2-week old kitten poo?

Other than these problems, he's very bright and alert. Eyes have now opened, ears starting to stand up. He mews a LOT. I am also a little concerned about him having no mom and no siblings... so how do I teach him to be a cat? (I know he's way too young for litterbox training yet... but how will I do that since there's no mom-cat to show him what to do?)



Thanks for any and all help!

Rose

I don't know about the pooping, but I just raised a newborn, I found on my lawn, she is now 11 weeks old , she figured how to a cat all by her self, I did wipe her with a wet cloth after feeding so she would learn to clean herself, but she figured out the rest

Kittens should poo about once a day. It should be mustard color and like toothpaste.

Your little guy sounds constipated.

Adding some mineral oil to his formula (I'm assuming you're feeding KMR?) can help him to "get going"

If you have no mineral oil on hand, Karo syrup will do the same.

He's adorable.

He poo-ed on Friday and it was that toothpaste consistancy, but it was dark brown. On Sunday, he pooed and it was the mustard color, tooth-paste consistency, and stank to high heaven.

He hasn't gone since.

Poor little Pip. I'll add a little oil to his formula (yes, KMR).

Rose

I bet that is a wormy belly. I would have him dewormed. All kittens, especially if you don't know their background, should be dewormed twice.

Find a moma cat if you can/ Maybe talk to somene who has a nursing Queen. Kittens that NEVER have a mom or siblings can devolp LOTS of issues, Everything from sucking on everything even as adults ...... to death

Hopefully he wil survive but its really in his best intrest you fnd a nursing queen maybe PM a breeder or something. Kai bangals is the ONLY breeder I know of thats on here.

Put Vix vaper rub on the new one that will convise 'Mom' its really hers She could reject the kitten though

um I think vicks would be a little harsh and smelly. Try pure vanilla extract, that is what is usually recommended when trying to get cats to smell alike

He's absolutely adorable, good luck!!!!!!!!!!

Blossom was 3 wo when my son found her. I fed her KMR for about 2-3 weeks. I burped her & wiped her bottom after each feed. I took her to the vet the next day & he gave me Felix worm paste which I gave her every 2 weeks. She used to wee ok but had trouble defaecating. I used to rub her quite hard & nothing happened so I took her back to the vet on day 4. She gave her an enima. She emptied out after that but still had trouble so I put liquid parafin in her bottle for 2-3 days. She would only go once a day after much rubbing. When it came time to litter box train her I scratched her front paws in the litter & from then on she knew what to do.

I'm not sure but can you give Laxatone to young kittens?

Well, I just visited the PetAg(makers of KMR) website and it says there that it's normal for kittens to not poo every day because their formula is so palatable that the kittens don't have much "left over" after eating, thuus they don't poo as much. Hope that makes sense.

Also, they say that if they seem constipated, add a couple drops of Kyro syrup to their formula.

The vet here says to not let them go more than 24 hours without going poop. Even though the KMR website says differently, I wouldn't let him go more than 24, perhaps 48 hours tops without pooping.

If he really won't poop, I've gotten the honor of using a thermometere to make them poo.