My wife and I took in a stray kitten about a month ago, and she, Eva, is having some health issues right now. Already she has been de-flead, de-tapewormed, and de-ear mited with stuff from the States. But now she has been vomiting for about 48 hours now. She seems to have gotten everything out of her system but any time she drinks or eats something she will vomit it up. The vomit was originally the color of her cat food and now is clear from the water she drank. For this reason, she doesn't want to eat anything or drink anything (and it will come up anyways). She has slept for most of the days, but when she is awake she is still somewhat active and playful.So that's the health issue...The extra problem is that we live in CHINA, and veterinarians or animal medicine is not easy to come by here. Everything online just tells you to go to your vet, and doesn't give any real information, which I understand because people want to be certain, but we don't have that luxury. So if anybody has some ideas for what could be going on and how we could treat it with home items, this would be extremely helpful.Thank you!
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Kitten (~2 months) Vomiting and Lack of Appetite
- Thread starter dsb223
- Start Date
How wonderful of you to rescue this little girl! :rub: :heart2:
OK, let's see if we can help.
Can you detail which medications were used, and what is the timing of that in relation to her vomiting? How long has she been vomiting and gone without food or keeping any water down? What was she eating when this started?
In kitties that young, you really don't want to let them get dehydrated, it can take a toll rather quickly.
I recommend trying a home-made pedialyte:
http://www.kitten-rescue.com/what_to_feed.html
Because she's having trouble keeping anything down, I would syringe VERY SMALL AMOUNTS frequently.
...and if you can get the ingredients for the kitten glop formula, you may want to try using that once she's keeping small amounts of water down. See if she can keep just one or two ML of the kitten glop formula down.
Since we won't know what's wrong with her, all you can do is provide supporting therapy: keep her hydrated, try to get easy-on-the-tummy nutrition into her once she's keeping some homemade pedialyte down.
If she can't keep even very small amounts of homemade pedialyte down, if she's had nothing to hydrate her for more than a day or two, you will have to try to find a way to obtain a bag of fluids given to people in the hospital for sub-q administration. In a kitten her size, she should probably receive no more than 50ml at a time. You pull up the skin between her shoulder blades, and poke the (rather large) needle into the "skin tent." The drip should be somewhat slow. You don't want it to take half an hour, but about 15 minutes. You can watch how fast the water comes out of the needle and get used to the settings before you administer it to her. Getting this type of fluid into her will prevent the vomiting yet keep her hydrated, which in and of itself will make her feel better. It will give her system a fighting chance: let her system "reset" for a day, and then, if you can, try syringing the pedialyte again. If she can keep a little of that down, try a small amount of the kitten glop.
If you don't have access to the ingredients for kitten glop, you can try chicken babyfood (please ensure there is nothing but chicken in it) - or just make it, by putting cooked chicken in a blender with some water. If you can't get it smooth enough to syringe, you can try putting a little on your finger, and just "tuck" it into her cheek at the back of her mouth.
If she's not coughing, sneezing, no runny or goopy eyes (which can be signs of a bacterial infection), we can hope this is just a passing virus that will resolve on its own.
OK, let's see if we can help.
Can you detail which medications were used, and what is the timing of that in relation to her vomiting? How long has she been vomiting and gone without food or keeping any water down? What was she eating when this started?
In kitties that young, you really don't want to let them get dehydrated, it can take a toll rather quickly.
I recommend trying a home-made pedialyte:
http://www.kitten-rescue.com/what_to_feed.html
Because she's having trouble keeping anything down, I would syringe VERY SMALL AMOUNTS frequently.
...and if you can get the ingredients for the kitten glop formula, you may want to try using that once she's keeping small amounts of water down. See if she can keep just one or two ML of the kitten glop formula down.
Since we won't know what's wrong with her, all you can do is provide supporting therapy: keep her hydrated, try to get easy-on-the-tummy nutrition into her once she's keeping some homemade pedialyte down.
If she can't keep even very small amounts of homemade pedialyte down, if she's had nothing to hydrate her for more than a day or two, you will have to try to find a way to obtain a bag of fluids given to people in the hospital for sub-q administration. In a kitten her size, she should probably receive no more than 50ml at a time. You pull up the skin between her shoulder blades, and poke the (rather large) needle into the "skin tent." The drip should be somewhat slow. You don't want it to take half an hour, but about 15 minutes. You can watch how fast the water comes out of the needle and get used to the settings before you administer it to her. Getting this type of fluid into her will prevent the vomiting yet keep her hydrated, which in and of itself will make her feel better. It will give her system a fighting chance: let her system "reset" for a day, and then, if you can, try syringing the pedialyte again. If she can keep a little of that down, try a small amount of the kitten glop.
If you don't have access to the ingredients for kitten glop, you can try chicken babyfood (please ensure there is nothing but chicken in it) - or just make it, by putting cooked chicken in a blender with some water. If you can't get it smooth enough to syringe, you can try putting a little on your finger, and just "tuck" it into her cheek at the back of her mouth.
If she's not coughing, sneezing, no runny or goopy eyes (which can be signs of a bacterial infection), we can hope this is just a passing virus that will resolve on its own.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
Thanks for the advice! She has taken well to the home-made pedialyte, so hopefully it will stay down. The ingredients for the glop is a little difficult to find, but we can try the chicken baby food.
To answer your questions above:
1) Two medications - For the tapeworms we were giving her Ramical febantel. For ear mites - Mitmax oticdrops. And for fleas - Fibronal spray. We have been doing the ear mite and flea treatment about every 2-3 days. The last time we gave her the tapeworm medicine was on September 29th (its supposed to be administered every 10 days).
2) The vomiting and non-eating has been going on for a little over 2 days. We force-fed a very small amount of tuna last night and haven't found traces of that around the house yet. I have been doing the "tent-test" with the skin on the back of her neck to check for dehydration and she seems to be hydrated based on that method.
3) When this started she was just on a dry food diet. I don't know the brand, they just put the amount you want into a plastic bag here.
Hope this is helpful info. Thanks again for the time spent on answering the questions. Really appreciate it.
To answer your questions above:
1) Two medications - For the tapeworms we were giving her Ramical febantel. For ear mites - Mitmax oticdrops. And for fleas - Fibronal spray. We have been doing the ear mite and flea treatment about every 2-3 days. The last time we gave her the tapeworm medicine was on September 29th (its supposed to be administered every 10 days).
2) The vomiting and non-eating has been going on for a little over 2 days. We force-fed a very small amount of tuna last night and haven't found traces of that around the house yet. I have been doing the "tent-test" with the skin on the back of her neck to check for dehydration and she seems to be hydrated based on that method.
3) When this started she was just on a dry food diet. I don't know the brand, they just put the amount you want into a plastic bag here.
Hope this is helpful info. Thanks again for the time spent on answering the questions. Really appreciate it.
Were things things from the States purchased there, or do you have someone that can send you stuff? I'm not familiar with any of those things, and the Fibronol spray looks to be an OTC product, and those often have ingredients that can be toxic. I don't know if that one does - but I can't seem to find it in order to find out. :dk:
OK - the Ramical febantel is known here as Drontal. That is a usual (and safe) treatment for tapeworm and roundworm. Where I live, it is not effective against roundworm, they're resistant to it (northwest NJ). For internal parasites other than tapeworm, we use Revolution. Because that also is a heartworm preventative, it can only be obtained from a vet, and it's used topically (between the shoulder blades) once a month.
The Fibronal spray is Frontline. I didn't know it was available as a spray. We use the drops - a topical treatment again, used between the shoulder blades, once a month. It should be a safe product. Why are you using it every 2-3 days? http://www.vetrxdirect.com/product/view/frontline-spray-for-cats-and-dogs It is a long acting product and if you have the actual Frontline (potentially generic) equivalent, it is meant to be used monthly. Your kitty might be suffering from overuse: poisoning.
I don't know how you're using the octic drops, but it seems they're to be used daily for a limited number of days. After that, they should be used only if there is another infestation. http://www.globalrph.com/otic.htm I don't have recommendations for pets, but adjusting the child's dose is how I would approach it...
I would stop the use of the Frontline spray. Unless the directions specify on the bottle to use every 2-3 days.... I suspect she's gotten a toxic dose of the poison used in the flea spray. If you can keep her inside for now, and keep giving her the pedialyte to keep her hydrated. In fact, give her as much as you can to flush out her system to the extent possible.
Are you able to procure reasonably clean meat and organs? Because if the only cat food available to you there is dry cat food of unknown ingredients, you may want to make your own for her. Cats are obligate carnivores, and they are "designed" to eat meat, bones, and organs. They need those in an appropriate amount, but in the wild, on their own, they don't eat anything else, and the derive all the nutrition they need from that. Now, since we can't provide them mice and other small rodents, we do need to make a few adjustments to what we feed them if we feed them meat, bones, and organs. But you might want to read through this thread. Someone in India, in a similar situation, rescued a very malnourished kitty and is nursing him back to health... http://www.thecatsite.com/t/249455/please-help-my-kitten-has-a-strange-skin-problem
it might be very helpful on how to manage feeding her going forward.
With her little body struggling right at the moment, I wouldn't want to feed her much more than boiled chicken, or chicken babyfood - MAYBE boil some chicken and a little rice, and feed that to her in the boiled chicken broth until she gains some strength back. It's not a balanced diet, and she NEEDS calcium and the other nutrients to grow and develop properly. But while her system resets, for a few days or even up to a week, it might not be such a bad idea.
FYI, the person in India that rescued the kitten is going to use the raw diet. If you're not comfortable with the safety of a raw diet there, we can provide you with recipes for making homemade cooked food. If you're interested in pursing providing her a raw diet, just post a thread asking for help in the raw forum here: http://www.thecatsite.com/f/65/raw-feeding-for-cats
Continued vibes for you and your kitty.
OK - the Ramical febantel is known here as Drontal. That is a usual (and safe) treatment for tapeworm and roundworm. Where I live, it is not effective against roundworm, they're resistant to it (northwest NJ). For internal parasites other than tapeworm, we use Revolution. Because that also is a heartworm preventative, it can only be obtained from a vet, and it's used topically (between the shoulder blades) once a month.
The Fibronal spray is Frontline. I didn't know it was available as a spray. We use the drops - a topical treatment again, used between the shoulder blades, once a month. It should be a safe product. Why are you using it every 2-3 days? http://www.vetrxdirect.com/product/view/frontline-spray-for-cats-and-dogs It is a long acting product and if you have the actual Frontline (potentially generic) equivalent, it is meant to be used monthly. Your kitty might be suffering from overuse: poisoning.
I don't know how you're using the octic drops, but it seems they're to be used daily for a limited number of days. After that, they should be used only if there is another infestation. http://www.globalrph.com/otic.htm I don't have recommendations for pets, but adjusting the child's dose is how I would approach it...
I would stop the use of the Frontline spray. Unless the directions specify on the bottle to use every 2-3 days.... I suspect she's gotten a toxic dose of the poison used in the flea spray. If you can keep her inside for now, and keep giving her the pedialyte to keep her hydrated. In fact, give her as much as you can to flush out her system to the extent possible.
Are you able to procure reasonably clean meat and organs? Because if the only cat food available to you there is dry cat food of unknown ingredients, you may want to make your own for her. Cats are obligate carnivores, and they are "designed" to eat meat, bones, and organs. They need those in an appropriate amount, but in the wild, on their own, they don't eat anything else, and the derive all the nutrition they need from that. Now, since we can't provide them mice and other small rodents, we do need to make a few adjustments to what we feed them if we feed them meat, bones, and organs. But you might want to read through this thread. Someone in India, in a similar situation, rescued a very malnourished kitty and is nursing him back to health... http://www.thecatsite.com/t/249455/please-help-my-kitten-has-a-strange-skin-problem
it might be very helpful on how to manage feeding her going forward.
With her little body struggling right at the moment, I wouldn't want to feed her much more than boiled chicken, or chicken babyfood - MAYBE boil some chicken and a little rice, and feed that to her in the boiled chicken broth until she gains some strength back. It's not a balanced diet, and she NEEDS calcium and the other nutrients to grow and develop properly. But while her system resets, for a few days or even up to a week, it might not be such a bad idea.
FYI, the person in India that rescued the kitten is going to use the raw diet. If you're not comfortable with the safety of a raw diet there, we can provide you with recipes for making homemade cooked food. If you're interested in pursing providing her a raw diet, just post a thread asking for help in the raw forum here: http://www.thecatsite.com/f/65/raw-feeding-for-cats
Continued vibes for you and your kitty.
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Just to clarify about the plain chicken or babyfood - the suggestion is just for a few days. That is a completely unbalanced diet and will harm her. I just meant until she's feeling a little better.... :cross:
BTW, if you're using the same spray to which I provided a link, you may want to give your kitty a bath, see if you can get some of the excess flea spray off of her.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #7
So we put into practice some of things you suggested above, and now Eva is doing a lot better.
She is eating and drinking again. She still seems to be recovering, so has been a little more chill than usual, but there has been no vomit or lack of appetite. Those websites are really useful for that, as well as your suggestions for the chicken mix.
So it looks like she is okay. We were afraid that she wasn't going to make it, but apparently she is a fighter.
Thank you very much, Laurie, for all of the time you spent writing these threads, for the above resources that we can use for future feeding, as well as the good information about the various medications that we are giving her (and what to do/not to do with them). This has been extremely helpful for some first-time cat owners. Thanks!
She is eating and drinking again. She still seems to be recovering, so has been a little more chill than usual, but there has been no vomit or lack of appetite. Those websites are really useful for that, as well as your suggestions for the chicken mix.
So it looks like she is okay. We were afraid that she wasn't going to make it, but apparently she is a fighter.
Thank you very much, Laurie, for all of the time you spent writing these threads, for the above resources that we can use for future feeding, as well as the good information about the various medications that we are giving her (and what to do/not to do with them). This has been extremely helpful for some first-time cat owners. Thanks!
Oh this is WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL news!
Little Eva is so very lucky to have such wonderful, caring parents! 
I remember being a first-time kitty parent. In fact if you'll notice the date I joined TCS... yep, that was when the kittens first turned up in our yard. :lol3: I've learned a lot rescuing kitties over the past 10 years....
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I just caught up on this thread, and I'm so very happy little Eva is doing so much better! Thank you for rescuing her, and for caring so much for her.
If you decide to go the raw diet route - and I totally recommend you do - there's a lot of us who will be happy to help you.
Just pop over to the raw subforum and start a thread!
AC
If you decide to go the raw diet route - and I totally recommend you do - there's a lot of us who will be happy to help you.
AC
