Kittty isn't pooping?!

Morning Everyone,

I'm new to this site so I hope this is the right forum. Also, this will be a long one. Want to make sure I get all the details in so I can get the most accurate answer.

So a week ago, we found a stray kitten. The vet said he's about a 1-2 weeks old. He just opened his eyes, growing very fast, and getting feisty! My husband and I are giving him KMR from a bottle every 2-3 hours and he's eating like a little piggy. But he hasn't pooped since early Tuesday morning. The first few days we got him, he pooped like crazy, but then all of a sudden he stopped! We were originally giving him 1 tablespoon kmr powder to 2 tablespoons of warm water as the directions called for. We thought maybe it was too thick for him to digest so we diluted the formula for about 24 hours (1 tbsp to 4 tbsp water) and added a few drops of vegetable oil in there. Still no luck, so we went back to the original 1 tbsp formula to 2 tbsp water.

Here we are on the 4th morning this little guy hasn't pooed! He does pee (a lot!) after every feeding, but no luck with the number two. We decided to start letting him walk around a little bit after every feeding to also "move stuff around."

We are pretty concerned but also a little hesitant to call the vet because he's eating just as much formula, if not, more during every feeding. He's purring like crazy, growing, and starting to play with us. So while he seems happy and healthy, we're just kind of at a loss.

Is this normal and am I being an over reacting mommy? Or should I be concerned? If so, is there any SAFE remedy we can use before resorting to the vet?

Thank you so much!

Melissa

Hello and welcome and congratulations on the rescue! You are not over reacting, kittens have to poop.

Are you stimulating for poop?

Yes we are. I try to stimulate him for at least 30 seconds to a minute, but I don't want to irritate his skin either. He also lets us rub his stomach after every feeding. He seems to like that. We do gentle circular motions before we stimulate him.

Hopefully someone will be along shortly with experience in this. In the mean time you can go over to the pregnant cats and kittens board to see if there are any threads about this.

http://www.thecatsite.com/f/36/pregnant-cats-and-kitten-care

Yes, we really need a mod to move this to pregnant cats and kittens. There are a couple of members over there who are very strong with The Force (of kitten rearing). They will be better equipped to help.

I will flag the thread to be moved

Thread moved. for the kitten!

I think after several days of this, it is time to at least call the vet, especially since he has already been checked over and is on their radar. I would not give him any home remedy beyond the oil you have already tried.

Yes, call your vet and see if they can charge you for an enema only since you just paid for a visit the other day. I say that b/c most likely the KMR has constipated him.

Here is one of the sites (there are others suggested too...) that has kitten "glop" recipes. I would recommend adding some pureed canned pumpkin to the mix. That should make sure he stays regular. As far ad how much to add to the batch of GLOP... maybe someone else has a recommendation.

bigperm20 said:

. I say that b/c most likely the KMR has constipated him.
 that has kitten "glop" recipes. I would recommend adding some pureed canned pumpkin to the mix.

Click to expand...

A little of pureed canned pumpkin, the plain sort, is a common recommendation. Works fine at with a little older who do eat solids or equivalent.  How is it with  milk eating kittens, I dont know.

KMR may constipate sometimes. Your diluting it was good try.  You can also try with some other brand as it is somewhat individual. (not Hartz - works for some formites, but other have bad experiences).

Goat milk seems to work fine for most kittens, doesnt seems to give constipations either. NOT cow milk.

But as the others said, phone the vet, ask advice, ask if  it is ok to pay just for enema.

Good luck!

StefanZ said:

A little of pureed canned pumpkin, the plain sort, is a common recommendation. Works fine at with a little older who do eat solids or equivalent.  How is it with  milk eating kittens, I dont know.

Click to expand...

I too would hesitate to use pumpkin on such a young bub.

We don't have KMR over here so I've no idea on the mix ratio, but my tin of kitten formula states 1 scoop to 60ml water for 1 week, then 1 scoop to 40ml.

So I'd be diluting the formula for around a week, plus ringing the vet for advice.

You guys are the experts so... OP do what Missy ans Stefan say

After all that I realized I'd never posted the link to the GLOP

http://www.hdw-inc.com/glop.htm

Thank you so much everyone! I've heard goat milk is a good alternative to KMR and can reduce chances of constipation so I'll try to that for now. He is kind of poooping now, but not enouh for me. Just little streaks of stool here and there. Yes I know probably TMI haha. I'll definitely call the vet tomorrow as well.

Nah, when we're talking poop, the more info the better. I'm glad you'll be calling the vet tomorrow. Keep us posted on the little one!