Help with a 9 week old kitten

Hi everyone,

Im new to the forum, and still learning about cats. I was hoping you might have some tips for me or be able to provide any insights.

I just picked up a 9 week old snowshoe siamese yesterday afternoon and she isnt in the best of shape. Im pretty sure she has worms, because her belly is just HUGE while the rest of her is really skinny and lacking good muscle mass. She was being fed CRAP food (the lady couldnt even really tell me what, because she was just getting whatever was cheapest), and given only milk to drink, no water. She has diarrhea and just generally smells... I gave her a bath as soon as she got home yesterday because she had nastyness caked on her paws and smelled BAD. Today I'm having to wipe her bottom regularly because she's just a mess from the diarrhea. She also has a couple REALLY small bald spots on her. Im assuming it's from poor nutrition and HOPING it's not ring worm.

Im going to be calling first thing Monday to get her to the vet asap. In the interim I’m giving her EVO wet food, and have dry kibble available to her, although she isn’t interested in the dry food, and she has a big bowl of water that she’s lapping up like there’s no tomorrow. I also gave her a dose of Revolution to kill the worms and whatever else she might be carrying… and, yes, she is quarantined from the rest of the house right now because I have a 10 month old Siamese Mix and ferrets as well….

Aside from getting her to the vet, which Im planning on doing tomorrow, do you have any other suggestions as to what I could to to help her feel better? I just feel so bad for my little girl.

Forgive me for being so new to cats.... What's KMR?

Thanks! I was actually looking at some at the store today but the only kind they had was Hartz, which is a company that I've learned to stay away from like the plague with ferrets. Not sure how it actually is for cats, but I imagine not much better.

Is there a different brand that would be better that I should look for? I have a really good pet store near me that can order just about anything for me.

Also, at 9 weeks old, is she too old for that now?

Actually, I have some A/D here!!! I keep it on hand for the ferrets for exactly that reason. I was just worried it would be to rich for her given the horrible food she was eating before. I'll go mix some in with the EVO wet food she's eating right now though and I'll pick up some KMR tomorrow morning too.

The scary thing is that this lady thought she knew EVERYTHING there was to know about cats. Even tried telling me it's illegal to get a rabies shot for a cat in the state of CT... UGH! I was just happy to get her out of there before something really bad happened to her.

Vet appointment is at 3:30 this afternoon! WOOT!!!

My boyfriend and I talked a lot about if we should report the previous owner and we're not entirely sure what to do about it in all honesty. Yes, she considers herself a "breeder", although, she's NOTHING like any of the ferret breeders I've had the pleasure of knowing. The tern CRAZY cat lady has a whole new meaning for me now...

The problem is that I dont know what animal control would do. She has over 20 cats in a 3 bedroom appartment, but, there's litterboxes EVERYWHERE and the cats are actually using them. Yah, it smells BAD, but not to the point of making you vomit. And while they're being fed absolute CRAP, they're still being fed. So, my plan is to talk with the vet this afternoon. Let her check over Nestle. Tell her about the conditions in the house and everything i saw there and see what she suggests. She may make the decision herself to call animal control, or she may tell me that while yah, it sucks and isnt anything I would ever do to any animal, it's not "criminal". So, That's my plan. I'll talk with her and do whatever she suggests on both fronts. If she finds criminal neglect wth Nestle though, not only will be calling animal control and the police, but I will be handing them Nestle's nedical records in the process!!!

In your experience, with the good food, and proper care, how long does it usually take for a kitten to stop smelling like this? Even this morning, my son held her for a minute and at 8 years old, he commented that she needed a bath and smells. She's had baths the last 2 days...

She said she is, but, from what I've read online, a lot of the "breeder associations" out there don't actually monitor anything. It's just you submit paperwork saying who you are and pay the annual enrollment fee and your in... Doesn't really mean much.

As for the landlord... Yah, the home owner knows. It's a 4 apartment house in the city and the landlord lives in one of the units. You'd have to understand the pure ghetto factor of where this woman lives to see how this could be thought of as acceptable behavior...

Although I'm pretty sure the town has an animal control bylaw limiting the number of pets a person could have without having a legal "business' for breeding and filing all the paperwork... Hmmmmmm....

ok, I have no idea how to do that... lol But I'll be sure to ask the vet about it this afternoon!

Update from the Vet:

Nestle is going to be ok. The Vet had the same thoughts I did at first exam though... She did a fecal test which came back negative for everything. She was shocked at the amount of mucus in her stool though... She checked for ringworm and any other fungal infections and all were negative. She also did the normal kitten exam and all was well there! Nestle's butt got to the point this afternoon where it's actually starting to bleed now... So, the vet said I could use desiten and corn starch powder on her as needed to help sooth her little tush.

We're still waiting on the FIV and Feline Leukemia results, and I should have those in the morning.

So, bottom line, ALL of this was cause by really poor nutrition and cows milk, and that's something I can easily fix, and AM fixing! The vet said it will be another 3-4 days until her tummy feels better based on the amount of mucus in the fecal sample, and the smell should get better with that as well. All in all, I have a kitten that will be perfectly healthy!

I'll call tomorrow and see if there's something she can give me just in case. Is there something specific I should ask for? Will the revolution take care of tapeworms too?

Yah, Im really excited. And she's starting to calm down a bit. The first couple days here all she did was cry. Which, with her being siamese, was a LOT of crying... lol She's getting to know us better, and was even playing last night which was nice to see.