Scared new kitty cries all night, doesn't eat, and nothing in the litter box.

Hi all.  I'm new to this and am hoping I'm posting in the correct forum.  I brought a stray kitten home last night.  She was found (alone) in a park and we guess her to be about 5 weeks. 

We put her in the spare bedroom with a new litter box and food/water.  She occasionally hissed when we got near, but we were able to get her to play (even if only for 5 minutes).  She cried all night long and was still hiding when we left for work and when we returned.

She has been with us for over 24 hours and the litter box was still empty.  I wasn't able to find anything in the room either. 

It also seems like she doesn't know what food is.  If we can get her out of hiding, we put the food (tuna, wet kitten food, snacks) on a plate and try to give her the plate...she doesn't eat.  We put her face in it, she licks, but that's it.  Then, we actually put some food on our finger and put it up to her mouth...then she eats.  And, once she knows to eat it and that it is food, she chows down.  Does she not know what food is?

Is it still just all too new?  Should we try feliway?  Help!

She's just adjusting to the change. Give her time, and the feliway may also help.

She is awfully young and at 5 weeks may just be discovering solid food.  Putting some on your finger and into her mouth is a good way to get her to start eating.  Make sure you show her to drink as well.  I found that light pressing a kitten's head down to the edge of the water until their chin touches, never submerging nose, is a good way to get started.

There are many on these forums with far more knowledge about kittens than myself, so I hope some of them chime in with advice.

If you have other pets, make sure to keep her separate until you can get her checked for parasites/worms/other contagions.

Thank you for giving her a chance.

Poor baby, she's so young!  She is crying for her mom & siblings.  I would not give her tuna.  Instead, mix some KMR (kitten milk replacer) with a bit of baby rice cereal (from the baby aisle), some meat baby food (no garlic, no onions, not ham), and some kitten wet food together and make it the consistency of oatmeal to entice her to eat.  To help him/her not feel so lonely, give it a little stuffed animal to keep it company.  Also, be sure to keep the kitten warm.  You can use a rice sock and warm it up in the microwave.  Just pour plain raw rice in an old tube sock and tie it off.  Nuke it in the microwave for a few minutes and then wrap it in a wash cloth and lay it next to the kitty.  Lots of patience and TLC and everything will be okay.

Has the baby been to the vet to be tested and dewormed?
 

Yes, and add a kitten bed filled with small stuffed animals for her to cuddle with. 

@IzzyBees - That's what we thought too, thanks for the reassurance.  We definitely need it haha.

@tjcarst - Thanks for the reply.  We did put her head near the water and she's drinking a lot now.  She's also eating more than I ever thought she would haha.  We got her to go in the litter box last night.  She has been holding it for about a day and half and actually let out a "meow" of releif once she started to go (hehe).  We do have a 1y/o neutered male who is current on all shots and vaccines.  We kept the newbie in the spare bedroom but the only thing that seems to destress/calm her was the other cat (Atticus).  Atticus is extremely social and very tolerable of situations.  Yesterday, we let them together and they seem to really enjoy each other.  We played with him while she watched, and then she came out to play while he watched.  So, although it's not recommended, we do have them together (supervisored) and it's really seemed to do wonders for Scout.

@stephanietx - I had to give her tuna :-/.  I found her at work and we had no food at all.  The cafeteria actually gave us some unmixed tuna so she had something to eat.  She loved it, once she knew how to eat it.  We currently have her on wet kitten food and she's eating it like crazzzzzzy!  We didn't think to put a stuff animal with her.  I wish I would've thought of that earlier.  We did let her with our other cat (like I mentioned to tjcarst) and that seemed to help, so I'm sure she'd like the stuffed animal.  I think I may use the stuffed animal and rice sock while we're not home, since we don't leave them together unsupervised.  Thanks for the advise.  Also, Scout has not been to the vet.  They didn't have any appointments the day she was found.  The earliest we could go is this Thursday.

Thank you all for the advise and reassurance.  Scout has made lots of progess yesterday with the help of Atticus and we got a little bit of sleep!  Here's a fun little video from a proud momma hehe

She is tiny - she might be younger than you think.  I take it she has blue eyes at present?

She should visit the vets for a check, worming and possibly flea treatment, in a few days once she is settled at home.  Your other cat will be so good for her - fingers crossed she can cuddle up soon when she's lonely.

She's so cute as well!

Super blue eyes.  Is that an indication of age?

Yes, all kittens have blue eyes to start with and they gradually start changing colour usually at 6-8 weeks old.

I think 5 weeks is a pretty good guess. With all the wet food, you may notice she starts to have diarrhea. Too much of

a good thing you know. I would stick with chicken wet food and if you can find some Royal Canin Baby Kibble, start her

on that. It's a kibble that's even smaller than kitten kibble. Strong smelling and lots of calories for the itsy bitsy ones.

If she starts having running poos that turn a green or yellow or pasty colour..she may have coccydia and needs medication

asap. Small kittens fail quickly.

Do you have a kitchen scale to weigh her?

Thanks so much for rescuing this baby!
 

Sorry for the misunderstanding.  I thought you were still feeding her tuna.  I didn't realize it was just when you first got her.

Glad she's doing better!!  You don't want to let her interact with your resident cat until she's been tested and cleared of all the "nasties". 

She is really such a tiny little thing, but oh so cute!
 

Everyone else's advice is spot on, so all I want to add is my obsession with their names! Excellent choices! 

Yeah, for future reference, kittens that young generally need some kitten milk replacement - especially if they have been abruptly separated from their mother, and are scared and starving - before they will start to eat.  But if she's chowing down on kitten food in any form, sounds like she may have gotten past that particular roadblock.

Kittens that young also need a ton of attention - lots of cuddling and gentle petting.  As much as you can possibly give.  Hang out in the room on the floor with your laptop, if you've got one, or a book.  Eat your meals in there, on the floor (and feed her at the same time so she's not going after your food).  She should be craving some lap time and attention.  She needs this attention in order to be psychologically well-adjusted as an adult.  I cannot emphasize this enough.  Time invested over the next few months will pay off with years of a happy adult cat.  Don't worry about over-stimulating her; if she's had enough petting, she'll climb out of your lap and go elsewhere.  Once she starts play-fighting (grabbing your fingers / hand and chewing on them), if she gets too rough, give her the stuffed animal and wiggle it around for her - she'll learn pretty quickly that it's acceptable to take out her aggressiveness on the stuffed toy but not on you (Atticus will also help teach her how much is too much).  But for now, gentleness and touch should be your priorities.  Also once she starts play-fighting, like a couple weeks from now, start trimming her claws.  Just the barest tips for now, like 1 - 1.5 mm only.  

In addition to the stuffed animal, make sure she's got more than just a towel to sleep on.  Ideally, a box on its side that is well-lined with soft cloth of whatever kind you have on hand - towels are okay but they tend to compact down pretty quickly.  And old polyester fleece shirt, or one from Goodwill, will be much appreciated by her.  Boxes on their sides also make great things to play in / around.  Get her some toys (make sure they don't have any bits that can be chewed off and swallowed); crumpled up paper balls and paper sacks (cut the handles off) work great.  No string or cord unless you're using it, including the cord that attaches toys to wands, then remove it from the room when you leave.  Also - get her a scratching post pronto. She's about to start looking for places to sharpen her claws, and cat trees will give her a place to climb, too.  Get a real one that sits on the floor, not one that hangs off a doorknob.

I'm really happy Atticus is okay with her - the best companion for a kitten is another kitten, or failing that, a willing adult cat.

If you're letting her have the run of the entire bedroom, make sure it's clear of hazards - power cords, anything small enough to swallow, plastic bags, etc.  Also, suggest placing the litterbox in one corner and small bowls of food in the other 3 corners.  A bedroom is a huge space to a kitten, and she might forget which corner the litterbox is in if the urge strikes her when she's on the other side of the room.  Likewise, once she's big enough that she's not going to get stuck behind your fridge or up under your kitchen / bathroom cabinets (check under the overhang of the cabinets, just above the floor - sometimes this area is not boarded over or there are gaps, and you want to avoid having to tear out a cabinet to get to a stuck kitten), and you start letting her in the rest of the house with you, be aware that if the urge to eliminate strikes her, she's going to be looking *only in the room she's in* for a place to go.  At least until she's 3-4 months old.

Just make sure she's eating and drinking (provide water even though she's eating wet food) and pooping normalish-looking poop and peeing, until you can get her to the vet.  Are there other vets in your area, just in case you wind up needing to take her earlier than Thursday?

I'm not sure what you know and what you don't know, so I'd rather give too much info than too little.  Keep us posted!

EB24 said:

Everyone else's advice is spot on, so all I want to add is my obsession with their names! Excellent choices! 

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 ;-) thanks!  My boyfriend picked Atticus.  I choice Scout to stick with the theme.

Kat013.  ALL the info is helpful.  We rescued Atticus at 8 weeks and he never cried, hissed, or hid.  He was social from day one, so Scout is definitely a new personality for us to deal with. 

Scout doesn't have the run of the house quite yet.  We gated off the upstairs so she really only has three rooms she can roam (mostly so we can find her in the morning) and Atticus can jump the gate to get to where he wants. 

I'm glad you said a bedroom is a big area for a kitten because I kind of felt bad locking her up there all day while we're at work.  We do sit in the room with her (well at least one of us) from the time we get home until we go to bed.  Our vet is an ER vet, so if we HAD to, we could take her.  There are other vets, but we really like ours hehe.

She is eating really well.  We are actually regulating it so we don't overfeed her.  We read that kittens don't know when they're full.  I've also noticed if the water is full enough, she can't reach it and tries to climb in haha.  So she must be drinking a lot because I do have the fill the water bowl daily.

Thank you everyone for the advise/info!

AttynScoutsMom said:

<snip>

She is eating really well.  We are actually regulating it so we don't overfeed her.  We read that kittens don't know when they're full.  I've also noticed if the water is full enough, she can't reach it and tries to climb in haha.  So she must be drinking a lot because I do have the fill the water bowl daily.

Thank you everyone for the advise/info!

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Your water bowl is too deep if she can't get water unless it's full.  And I've never heard that kittens can't regulate how much they eat.  I've raised a number of litters and have always let them eat as much as they want, which is an astonishing amount for such a small animal.  So is throughput to the other end...

Levi68 said:

With all the wet food, you may notice she starts to have diarrhea. Too much of a good thing you know.

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Wet food does not cause diarrhea unless there are bad ingredients in it. If you can afford to, please keep her on wet food, it is so much healthier for her.

Bless you for taking in this kitty. There's no way she would have made it on her own. She's in a safe place now.

I figured the water bowl was too deep, but I wanted the same at Atty's, so I just keep it full haha. 

Atty gets 1/2 can in the AM and 1/2 can in the PM along with all the dry food he wants.  Sometimes he eats it all, sometimes he does not.  Scout, on the other hand, devours everything we put in front of her!  We tried to give her some kitten treats but they were too hard and she couldn't bite into them.  We crushed them up and she ate them, but since that time we've only given her wet food.  No diarrhea...yet. 

The problem with the wet food diet is that she eats all her food in the morning and then she has none for the 8 hours we're at work.  I feel if we were home and put food out, she'd eat it.  Are there any subsitutes that we could put out all day that she can pick at when she gets hungry?  We do have some dry food but I think it's too hard for her to eat yet.

On the other post about the scratch pad...

We have a HUGE cat tree down stairs for them, and I brought the smaller "~" shaped one up to the spare bedroom.  She likes to play on it (and with it) but I'm not sure she knows that's where she's supposed to scratch yet.  Any advise on getting her to know that's where she's supposed to scratch?

Also, she seems to be afraid of the toys with bells.  Like the plastic balls with the bells in them.  Is she too young?  Are the bells too loud?  Is it normal?

We are making tons of progress each day.  She did not go into hiding at all this morning.  She played with Atty and kept climbing all over me and rubbing her face on me (and Chris).  She can also go up and down the steps on her own and she's getting really good at running!

Kittens that young need feeding much more often, and will eat more than an adult cat.

You can get timed cat feeders that open a new section every so often.

It's less of an issue for kittens that are still with their mother as she would still be suckling them, but she doesn't have that luxury.

Minka said:

Wet food does not cause diarrhea unless there are bad ingredients in it. If you can afford to, please keep her on wet food, it is so much healthier for her.
Bless you for taking in this kitty. There's no way she would have made it on her own. She's in a safe place now.

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In my experience, I have found that orphaned kittens can get diarrhea even with a high quality food. I find offering both a kibble and wet

the best choice. Kibble keeps there teeth strong as well. Some cats and kittens will get diarrhea from fish based wet food as well.

That said, there is no rule of thumb but trial and error.