Kittens not growing

catnamedpanda

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I took in a very malnourished mom cat and her kittens. Mom is still working on putting on weight, and the kittens were small and a bit skinny for their age. They grew a little after mom started getting more nutrition, but seem to have stopped. They are battling coccidia which they are taking Albon for, I don't know if that has anything to do with the not growing. I have one I am worried about and am forcing her to eat and drink, she just started being lethargic last night and stopped nursing. I have been supplementing the kittens some with formula but they still don't seem to grow or put on weight. I was looking at kitten glop recipes to try with my friends kittens that were having seizures and was thinking that feeding them this might help? What do you think... is there any particular recipe that would be best, I have seen so many different ones.
 
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catnamedpanda

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They are about 5 weeks old but they have zero interest of eating solid food yet, I have been trying with no success yet. They do drink water on their own.
 

Willowy

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Hmm, yeah, they should be eating at least some solids by now. Have you tried them on canned food mixed with kitten formula? Or turkey or chicken baby food (or puree it yourself)? Have they been de-wormed yet (probably yes if they're being treated for coccidia, but just asking)?
 
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catnamedpanda

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I tried canned mixed with formula and nothing, I can get one to lick up a tiny like a few fingertipfulls of baby food before she won't take anymore. The only way I can get anything of significance into them is by force feeding. They are 7.5-10 oz for the active ones, the one that I am worried about is losing weight and is 6 oz. They were given a dose of strongid for a dewormer. They were even smaller when I first brought them home, I wasn't weighing them everyday just because they were doing better and already older. Maybe their small size is why they don't want to eat solid food?
 

orientalslave

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Have you tried any Hills A/D?  A lot of cats seem to like it.  Feel I would be smearing that or something similar round their mouths and paws to try to get them to swallow as they clean.  Maybe some force feeding is what is required?  Maybe some more worming?  Slightly warm food?
 

kailie

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I always find that when kittens are reluctant to try wet food, I put a bit on their front paw and when they lick it off and see how good it tastes, they are MUCH more interested, lol. I just did this last night with some of Kiara's kittens. I take the stinkiest wet food I can find and mix it in with warmed up KMR.

 
 

levi68

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Coccyida is def a culprit when kittens fail to thrive. Not sure what Albon is exactly but I've always had the best results with

Sulpha. Are the poos solid or loose? What colour?

I always give my little ones Royal Canin baby cat. I've stopped giving them wet when they have a momma because it's messy

and they seem to get diarrhea easily. Although I will supplement if I feel like they need it.

I almost lost one of my foster's about two months ago to coccydia. I had returned him to the shelter at 8 weeks and because

they were under stress and were probably carriers..the one got really sick. They hadn't even tested for Coccydia when I went

back in 10 days later. I brought him home and thankfully, he pulled through although it was touch and go for a few days.

Good luck and lots of vibes for the wee ones! :)
 
 

orientalslave

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I wondered what Albon was as well and Googled it.  I gather it's an antibiotic often used to treat coccidia.
 

feralvr

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Albon is exactly what these babies need right now. It is an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections and used to treat coccidial infections which are caused by a microscopic, single cell, spore forming parasite which infects the intestinal tract. I have used it on many kittens over the years and it is quite effective and would not be the cause of the kittens stunted growth. Since mom was so malnourished she was not able to supply any healthful nutrients to her babies. I really hope that they are able to make up for that somehow. :cross: Bless you, hun, for all that you do :hugs: :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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catnamedpanda

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Sadly little Daisey who I was worries about passed away this morning. She is joining her sister who died shortly after I pulled them from the shelter. :rbheart:

The remaining kittens seem to be doing alright. The biggest, Delilah, is eating on her own now, the other two just think I am crazy if I put food on their mouths or paws. If it is on their paws they just shake it off. :lol3: I am syringe feeding them some just to get something into them. They are nursing and active so i am hopeful. Exciting was Penelope's first solid poop today, no more runny yellow poop. :clap: So the Albon is definently working. The only one right now who has me slightly concerned is Lyra, she is the least active and smallest of the bunch.

I'm sure the malnutishment and coccidia are to blame for their stunted growth, and I hope they can catch up, I am forcing them to take a high calorie paste I used with Cloud to try to push extra nutrients and calories into them, as well as some a/d food. I'm sure it will take time, it did and still does with Cloud. I'm not even sure this is much else I can do for them but hope they start doing better, and keep forcing them to eat.

I have come to the conclusion that if they start off malnourished in life it is extremely hard to catch them back up. Cloud survived and is doing great but he is still very little for his age. I have a friend with a bottle fed litter of kittens who started off malnourished and most of them have died and she is trying so hard to pull the last 2 through, they are smaller than mine and have no health issues, they have been checked by the vet, but still fail to thrive. Those first few weeks are crucial that the kitten get all the nutrients they need from a healthy mom.
 

lindz2785

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BOO for coccidia. I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of the kittens. We had a bout of coccidia with my current litter and I lost two of them at 4 weeks old. It's so hard.
 

Willowy

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I raised a very undersized litter a few years ago. They had been found at about 2 weeks old and the finder tried to bottlefeed them, but she worked two jobs so they were only fed twice a day (not enough at that age!) and she was watering down the ready-to-use formula (I don't know why). So they were tiny when I took them at 5 weeks. I took them after one died, and another one died about a week after I took them. The other 2 weighed only 8 ounces when I took them to the vet at 8 weeks. . .they should have been 4 times that size! They took forever to catch up, but they grew up to be big and strong kitties. I kept the male and my brother took the female, and they're both normal-size (10-12 pounds) now. So they will catch up someday!
 

feralvr

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Oh, hun... sorry about little :rbheart: Daisy :sniffle: COME ON LITTLE ONES... start eating on your own soon. AND good for Delilah - maybe the other's will follow her lead :cross: :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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catnamedpanda

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Not sure how much more heart break I can take, Lyra joined her sisters and Cloud at the bridge tonight.
She took a turn for the worst and I was unable to help her as hard as I tried. She suddenly had even worse diarrhea than she had been having and was weak, dehydrated and lethargic. I tried pedialyte, Karo, and forcing tiny amounts of whatever she would take just to get something in her, and was doing this every few hours but she never improved. Penelope seems to be doing alright, not eating on her own yet but she has some energy right now. Delilah is the only one I have not worried about and she isn't giving me a reason to yet. I hope that it was just the coccidia and not something else I didn't know about that claimed these 2 sweet girls.
 
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catnamedpanda

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The girls have not been improving, they actually have started to do worse. We went to the vet today to have then looked at again especially since Delilah developed a stuffy nose and has been sneezing. They both barely have energy to do more than eat and sleep. The vet dewormed them again and started them on an antibiotic. She also gave me some Viyo to give then to help boost their nutrient intake and some more a/d food to keep mixing with the formula baby food goop that I started feeding them because it was the only thing they would eat. Hopefully these girls can pull through and survive. They are so tiny, they are about 6-7 weeks old, Penelope is 6oz and Delilah is 7oz. So either my scale is inaccurate or they have lost weight.
 

missymotus

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They are extremely small for their age, has blood work been done on the kittens? Could be a liver issue.

I'd be adding Pet Nutri Drops to their food, over here many vets have not heard of the product but it's well known among breeders.

Sorry for the ones you lost, hopefully those who want a litter just for fun are reading this thread and what you're going through.
 
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eb24

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The girls have not been improving, they actually have started to do worse. We went to the vet today to have then looked at again especially since Delilah developed a stuffy nose and has been sneezing. They both barely have energy to do more than eat and sleep. The vet dewormed them again and started them on an antibiotic. She also gave me some Viyo to give then to help boost their nutrient intake and some more a/d food to keep mixing with the formula baby food goop that I started feeding them because it was the only thing they would eat. Hopefully these girls can pull through and survive. They are so tiny, they are about 6-7 weeks old, Penelope is 6oz and Delilah is 7oz. So either my scale is inaccurate or they have lost weight.
I'm so sorry to hear this. 
 I don't know what could be causing them to take such a bad turn but try to take some solace in the fact that it sounds like you are doing absolutely everything you can do. Sometimes kittens (especially those who didn't have an easy start in this world like yours) just can't overcome all the hurdles in their way. I'll be thinking of Penelope and Delilah and hope that the medication starts working and that they soak up all those nutrients and take a turn for the better. 

Hang in there. A lot of us know the pain and helplessness you are feeling and are sending many, many positive vibes your way. 
 
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catnamedpanda

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I'm so sorry to hear this. :sniffle:  I don't know what could be causing them to take such a bad turn but try to take some solace in the fact that it sounds like you are doing absolutely everything you can do. Sometimes kittens (especially those who didn't have an easy start in this world like yours) just can't overcome all the hurdles in their way. I'll be thinking of Penelope and Delilah and hope that the medication starts working and that they soak up all those nutrients and take a turn for the better. 

Hang in there. A lot of us know the pain and helplessness you are feeling and are sending many, many positive vibes your way. 
I am going to try everything I can for them, and give them the best shot possible. Sadly the feeling of pain and helplessness is not new to me, its the part of rescuing I hate.


They are extremely small for their age, has blood work been done on the kittens? Could be a liver issue.


I'd be adding Pet Nutri Drops to their food, over here many vets have not heard of the product but it's well known among breeders.


Sorry for the ones you lost, hopefully those who want a litter just for fun are reading this thread and what you're going through.
We did not do a blood test. we tried to d a fecal but we could not get a good enough sample to tell anything. As soon as the girls give me something useable I am supposed to bring it in for testing.

Would the Nutri drops be to many vitamins in combination with the viyo?

I hope the people who want kittens just for fun do read this thread. I have a few more that have ended in heartbreak for me. I cant express how much I wish people would just spay and neuter their pets. But there will always be those people out there who just want one litter, and don't seem to understand that their one litter means death for another litter who is not lucky enough to have a forever home. Because there will always be people who don't spay, I will always have my hands and heart full of rescues. I cant stop just because there is the risk that I could get hurt like I have this past week and like I have been in the past. Maybe if I am lucky my experience will change someones mind on the just one litter, or just for fun litters.
 
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