Adopted runt... looking for help and support

Hey all,

I'm a vet student, and I adopted a runty barn kitten 2 days ago. She went to the vet yesterday and besides being INCREDIBLY small for her age (1/2 lb at 5-6 weeks) and having the worst parasite load I've ever seen, she seems to check out just fine.

I just happen to breed geckos and have a small scale, and she lost weight overnight, which is really worrisome to me. She doesn't seem to be eating hardly anything at all, but maybe she's just so small I don't know how much she should be eating (except for a calculated caloric intake) but I'm pretty sure she's not eating nearly enough.

She cries and cries, in fact she lost her voice today, so I'm hoping for some behavior modification advice as well.

When I took her home I was thinking "who better than a vet student to raise a sickly kitten" but it seems once again the learning and the doing are two VERY different things.

This is Freakazoid (Zoey for short)... isn't she a cute little gremlin???

I don't have any words of wisdom for you except to say that she's such a cutie and I'm sure she's missing her mom and littermates. Are you bottle feeding her?

Stephanie

Welcome to TCS! She is a baby doll!! Was she dewormed or anything at the vets? That can slow their appetite down for a day or two. Are you giving her milk replacement such as KMR? A kitten that young still needs their milk. As for her crying, she isn't old enough for it to be a behaviour thing....she is missing her momma and litter mates. About the only thing you can do about that is be her momma...spend lots and lots of time with her and give her plenty of cuddles. She really should have stayed with her mom until she was at least 10 weeks old.

Originally Posted by stephanietx

I don't have any words of wisdom for you except to say that she's such a cutie and I'm sure she's missing her mom and littermates. Are you bottle feeding her?

Stephanie

Click to expand...

She and her littermates were supposedly already weaned and were on their way to the shelter, so I'm feeding her a mixture of KMR weaning formula from a dish, canned kitten food, and dry food. I've been syringe feeding her some of the weaning formula every 4 hours or so today because she did lose weight overnight.

I'm hoping she's just losing all those nasty roundworms from her gut, but at her size and body condition, I don't want to take any chances.

My gosh, she is sooo small for her age. But adorbale too...I don't know that I can give any useful advice, but I'm sure someone here can, this is a great forum!

Best of luck to the baby!

Originally Posted by taterbug

She really should have stayed with her mom until she was at least 10 weeks old.

Click to expand...

Probably, but try telling that to a couple of farm boys... you'd think that my fellow vet students could have at least managed to put some water in the box! She was dehydrated and scared when I snapped her up, she was dewormed and feleuk/fiv tested at the vets... we're going to wait a month or so to start vaccinations... the last thing this little bugger needs is a vaccine reaction.

She is so so precious! What kind of food are you giving her? Make sure it is either a formula or if that is not available a very soft wet food. They have a hard time chewing so young, and formula is really the best nutritionally. Till this day my cat has a hard time with big pieces of food, so any food I buy her has to be small. She is precious! Give her lots of love and I agree with what was said before, she is without her family. Time for you to take that place! Good luck!

I bought Purina pro plan canned kitten food, KMR weaning formula, and Royal Canin baby cat (teeny tiny kibble) dry food. I'll try moistening her wet food a bit and see if that doesn't help her get more of it down.

You guys are fabulous! Thanks so much!!

Please don't take this wrong,but if she isn't improving by tomorrow,call the vet back. In the picture you posted of her, her third eyelid is showing and her eyes look awful weak, like she may be coming down with something. You are taking great care of her, but a kitten can go downhill so quickly. Please keep us posted!!

Originally Posted by taterbug

In the picture you posted of her, her third eyelid is showing and her eyes look awful weak, like she may be coming down with something. You are taking great care of her, but a kitten can go downhill so quickly. Please keep us posted!!

Click to expand...

True, did not think of that. Keep an eye on her! And as always like taterbug said keep us posted on how she is...

Originally Posted by taterbug

Please don't take this wrong,but if she isn't improving by tomorrow,call the vet back. In the picture you posted of her, her third eyelid is showing and her eyes look awful weak, like she may be coming down with something. You are taking great care of her, but a kitten can go downhill so quickly. Please keep us posted!!

Click to expand...

If she loses weight again tonight, she'll be going to school with me tomorrow. The vet school is only a block away, so the best care is just moments away if I need it.

Her face looks funny in general, she's got more going on than just worms... only time will tell how much it will effect her long-term.

Wow she is so tiny. I wish you the best of luck with the little darling

Because she is a runt, I would even consider feeding her every 2-3 hours at this point. Primarily because she is so little, her stomach won't hold as much.

Dehydration in people usually takes 2-3 days to completely get over. Fatigue and weakness linger a bit after the hydration level is back to normal. Push fluids.

You're doing a great job! You may need to bottle feed her the KMR or even the kitty goop stuff (It's called something like that.) Has she used the litter box yet? If not, you might need to encourage her by gently rubbing her with a warm wet washcloth.

Stephanie

Originally Posted by stephanietx

Has she used the litter box yet? If not, you might need to encourage her by gently rubbing her with a warm wet washcloth.

Click to expand...

I found it very usefull when trying to litter box train, every few hours or so I would take the kitten to the box, and paw her front feet in the gravel. Kind of show her how to dig. She did beautifully. Make sure she gets lots of fluids!

Originally Posted by stephanietx

You're doing a great job! You may need to bottle feed her the KMR or even the kitty goop stuff (It's called something like that.) Has she used the litter box yet? If not, you might need to encourage her by gently rubbing her with a warm wet washcloth.

Stephanie

Click to expand...

Yep, she's using the litter box. We did have one accident today, but thats only because she went the wrong way down the hallway trying to find the litterbox. She's pooing quite a bit thanks to the dewormer...

The kitten died last night... I don't know why exactly, she seemed spunky and happy when we went to bed last night. She purred, played and fell asleep on my neck. I had surgery rotation this morning though, so when she was getting rambunctious at 1am this morning I had to put her in her crate with her stuffed animal. I figured she'd want to potty and eat... I wonder what I was missing in my sleep-walking because she was dead in her crate when I woke up this morning.

Thanks again everyone...

Poor baby. I'm sorry that you lost Zoey. Kittens are such fragile creatures when they are so young.

I am so sorry your little kitten died. It was very kind of you to adopt him and give him such wonderful care. I am a newbie and don't know much about caring for cats, but I do know that something must have been wrong with him when you first got him. He probably would have died much sooner without you to take care of him. The fact that he was purring shows how much he loved and appreciated you. Perhaps he had something wrong with his heart or another organ which just gave way - funny how things so often seem to happen in the middle of the night. Now he's in Cat Heaven.
You did your best to keep him as long as possible. Nancy (mom of Ellie and Snowball)

I'm sorry about your loss but I'm glad that your kitten was loved for her short life.