Help with a new little one

On Tuesday I went to look at some kittens. The owners had 2 adult cats and 1 older kitten outside, a litter of kittens and the mum inside. I couldn't leave the poor little black kitten there, so I took her home with me.

I was told she was 8 weeks old, and they had to get rid of them before they went on holiday.

She's gorgeous, Very needy and wants to be with us all the time though.

She has silky fur, is cleaning herself generally well and eating around a packet of kitten food a day, spaced out over the day, and a few biscuits. She keeps trying to dig into our 2 year old cats food though.

I wormed her the day I got her.

Her poop has been mushy. I was worried so I rang a local vet who said not to worry. But I'm paranoid. I also googled kittens and the internet has me freaked out.

When I rang the vet I hadn't weighed her. I weighed her this afternoon and she is only 1 lb. 

She has been exploring and playing around the house and with toys, but she seems happier to climb all over us and sleep. I'd say she seems to be spending 2/3 of her time asleep or cuddled up on us. 

Mushy poop was what brought me to TCS when I brought my 2 home years ago.  We found out it was from changing the food brand on her; now I slowly introduce new foods and we haven't had that issue again.  

Do you have a scale that weighs in smaller units?  They are so small a regular scale isn't going to be as accurate to determine their growth.  Also all of my small kittens have been clingy and in need of a lot of attention.  They've just left the litter and aren't used to being on their own at all.  Plus there is so much they need to learn still.  Many consider 8 weeks too young to leave their Mom now.  Mooch and Noodles were a few weeks older than that when we brought them home and it was months before one could leave the room without the other crying to know where they'd gone.  They always slept together too.  One of my mother's kittens used to ride around in the pocket of my stepsister's sweatshirt and we were told the shelter workers would carry him that way too.  He was tiny (a preemie) and needed the heat as much as the attention.  

Good luck with your new little sweetie!  Do you have a name for her yet?

pixzee said:

eating around a packet of kitten food a day, spaced out over the day, and a few biscuits. She keeps trying to dig into our 2 year old cats food though.

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Good she has kitten food as her main course. Her digging for extras in the adult cats food is pretty normal, and the adult food isnt harmful, just not enough if main food source.

Good if she can gets this extra is she wants.   

The rule of thumb is kittens shall have as much food as the wants. They grows and are lively, so they need all this nourshment and energy.

I also hope she and the resident are friends?

What dewormer did you use?  It is quite probable you will need to repeat the deworming, if not now so in 2-3 weeks.

After it, if she is pure inside, with a little luck she wont need no  more deworming. Ever.

If she is allowed to go out,  after the actual need.

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!

Her eyes look blue.  If they are she's 5-6 weeks old, not 8 weeks.

Did they tell you what food she was eating?  Or can you find out?  Whatever it was, a gradual change is far better than a sudden one.

She needs a vet check for fleas and worming, and she will get lots of love and food which are the other things she needs.

She looks a real sweety.

Thanks!

She had her first normal looking poop today! 

I weighed her using an electronic kitchen scale, it's one with a large bowl she fit into nicely, and we don't use it for food.

She weighed in 5 grams more than yesterday, so hopefully that's a good sign. She's just so scrawny and cries a lot. 

Her name is Bumble Bee. 

I used a vitapet dewormer. And will be doing her again in 2 weeks time.

Our cat Smokey and little Bee are getting along fine. Smokey slept next to her for awhile last night. They are more curious of each other than anything. There's been no aggression, just confusion and Smokey seems to be working through that.

I was told she'd been eating Whiskas kitten singles. So that's what I grabbed for her. I've also picked up some Science Diet kitten biscuits and the pet store gave me some iams kitten biscuits.

Her eyes are more of an aqua shade. Either way I'm not convinced she's 8 weeks.

She looks more like 6 weeks to me - she has that boss-eyed look of a very young kitten and it looks like her eyes are on the turn from blue.

It's good that you are weighing her, for now, though 5g isn't much of a gain.  Hopefully that will go up as she settles in.

I've not come across the Vitapet wormer, guess you don't live in the UK!  Hopefully it's safe and effective.

OrientalSlave said:

She looks more like 6 weeks to me - she has that boss-eyed look of a very young kitten and it looks like her eyes are on the turn from blue.

It's good that you are weighing her, for now, though 5g isn't much of a gain.  Hopefully that will go up as she settles in.

I've not come across the Vitapet wormer, guess you don't live in the UK!  Hopefully it's safe and effective.

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I agree, she looks like my cats kittens who are 6 1/2 weeks old, and their eyes are that color.

Honestly, in my experience Iams and Science diet are some of the worst foods you can feed a cat, when I fed dry food I tried both and my cats did horribly on it, a kitten that young should be eating mostly if not all wet food anyway, because young kittens don't always want to drink, and cats get most of the moisture they need from the food they eat.

we have Vitapet wormer here (I'm in the states) it's a store brand here though, walmart sells it right along with crappy kaytee stuff, I wouldn't trust anything a chain store sells, if that is where you got it.

cute kitten otherwise, I love black cats

Aww, what a cutie patootie! She looks just like my Cricket did as a kitten. 

You should definitely take her to the vet for the worming as suggested.  One thing I noticed is her 'third eyelids' are showing.  This is usually a sign of illness or dehydration and is a good indication she probably isn't feeling well. 

Please have the vet do the worming and do not buy these products from Walmart and do it on your own.  That is just not a good idea, and your kitty should be seen by a vet to solve the issue of why she is not feeling her best. 

I noticed the eyelids, too, Toby, and I agree with your assessment.
 

Please bear in mind that I am in New Zealand , not America. Foods will have different formulas, just like our human food does.

The vet recommended Science Diet for her and the pet store gave me the iams as a sample, when I mentioned I was worried about her weight.

She is eating wet food as her main source of food. She has a tiny amount of biscuits in a separate dish that she has access to, if she wants. It is not her main food. I've mixed some water in to her wet food as well, just to make sure she is getting enough water, as people seemed to think she could be dehydrated, although she seems keen to drink water from her bowl...and any other water I have out.

She will be visiting the vet this week for a check up.

Thanks for the advice about the eyes. I thought they looked odd, but wondered if it was just because she was so tiny. The pictures are from the first day I picked her up (except the one with our cat smokey, that was recent!). Her eyes are looking normal now, but I know to look out for it now.

Here it is common to use worm tablets from the supermarket. When she sees the vet I'll talk to them about redoing her. I'd hate to overload her little system.

Other than being tiny and having mushy poop, she has bright eyes and a silky coat. She's using her litter tray well and last night didn't cry for us as much when she was put away.

It's not at all unusual for the third eyelid to prolapse.  It is always a good "eye dear" to get it checked if you notice, and is good you did.  All these little clues are things we learn along the way

It could be minor and it could be something that you want to catch early.  And the vet will be able to give the proper dose of the correct meds.  The third eyelid could very likely be up because of worms, best left up to the pros to determine.

It's nice to meet you and welcome to the forums

I rang the vet today to make an appointment.

They thought it was odd I was making an appointment just to get her checked over.

It most not be what it is done where I live!

I'd rather be safe than sorry though.
 

Re the worming, assuming NZ is like Aus going to the vet for worming isn't necessary as products are all available over the counter

Thanks! I was starting to feel like the worst kitten owner and that I'd done everything wrong by not getting a de-wormer from the vet.
 

missymotus said:

Re the worming, assuming NZ is like Aus going to the vet for worming isn't necessary as products are all available over the counter

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What wormer would you use in Aus?  Here in the UK Panacur is the usual kitten wormer.  It doesn't deal with tapeworms but they are not an issue in small kittens.  Once they are big enough they can have Milbemax which does, but here it's POM - vet-only.

Milbemax, Drontal, Ambex or the spot on Profender. 

Have only seen Panacur available for horses or cattle. 

pixzee said:

Thanks! I was starting to feel like the worst kitten owner and that I'd done everything wrong by not getting a de-wormer from the vet.
 

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Oh no, you are a great kitten owner.  You noticed these things and asked, for heaven's sake. 

Here in the US you can buy worm meds at Walmart and other places, I imagine. Here it is typically admintered by a vet while they are there anyway for their kitten shots.  That way they are giving the correct amount based on the weight of the kitten.  

I just thought I 'd update how little Bumble Bee is doing.

I took her to the vet on Wednesday. He confirmed she is a girl and suggested she was about 6 weeks old.

He said she's not too bad at all. She has nothing major wrong with her.

I just need to keep worming her every couple of weeks.

She has really grown up the last few days. She is meowing for food from 6 am every morning and gobbling up her wet food like there is no tomorrow.

She is slowly getting bigger.

She is more playful and adventurous now, although she is still very keen to snuggle up and sleep on us.

And in even better news she is having less accidents on the carpet. Although I wish she'd clean her bum more!

As I was reading through this thread I felt anxious to mention what I ended up seeing others mention, her third eyelids showing.

Honestly, I believe she got off to a rough sort of start, if the former owners had her outside at her young age??!  Wow, I mean jeez unless there are no contagious disease like here in he US...,URI's that can damage her for life, even take her young life, Panleukopenia, which is a big death sentence for a baby (just like parvo in puppies, deadly cat version) and so on.

She surely has fleas, which causes worms and anemia in kittens, so the things she needs besides a good die are dewormer and flea-treatment. Not sure how it goes where you are and I know somehere won't agree about giving flea treatment at her age, but it is important for her health to be rid of any fleas she as.She will feel better, healthier, and you wont contaminate your other cat and home either. But you might want to either use another method or have your vet handle de-fleaing her, they know which can be safely used and the ones that should not be until at least 8 weeks old.

At 7-8 weeks her first vaccine, then repeated after 3 weeks then 1 more, same.

If you contain her in a smaller area she will use the box more regularly, kittens this young need it 'in their face' or will have accidents.

Her lids will retract in a short time, as I said I'm sure she got off to a bit of a rough start.