Abandoned 4-5 week old kitten

anju

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I live in a small-ish town in India.

Last night, we rescued a tiny little kitten outside our building and brought it home - it may have been abandoned. It is literally skin and bones, distended belly, rear end pointing outwards.

I took her to the vet yesterday (small practice, inexperienced, the nearest pet health hospital is 3 hours away) - and the vet dewormed her and prescribed liquid vitamins/amino acids, that's it - and told me to bring her back in two weeks.

Since the dewormer, she has passed stool three times, first two times with a mess of round worms coming out which I had to pull out manually.  Her last stool was partly solid and partly liquid, dark brown and very smelly. The solid part had more worms in it, so I'm hoping that's the last of it.

I'll be going back to the vet, but any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Info:

- Feeding her with milk replacer, and gave her small amounts of shredded, boiled chicken breasts yesterday - the only brand of kitten food available here is Royal Canin Kitten Instinctive - can I give her that? And how much and how often should I feed her? She lets me know when she is hungry and I just feed her as much as she wants.

- Her bottom looks a little sore and red. I dabbed on some oil with a cotton pad to keep the anus less irritated. I also fed her some yoghurt and a capsule of fish oil. I don't know if she has an anal prolapse? There is no tissue coming out of the anus, but her entire bottom area seems to be a little pushed out, ie beneath the tail, including the two sharp bones. This looks more so because she has painfully thin hind legs and not much fur.

- She pees a lot and her urine is clear.

- Her eye rims are a little pink and swollen, and waters infrequently. Not much gunk, and the vet prescribed eye drops for this

- She was extremely dirty with god knows what, which we've been wiping off with paper towels dipped in warm water and a little coconut oil from time to time. I'm hesitant to bathe her since she seems so fragile

- She is very energetic and loud and demanding when hungry..walks around wobbling a little, can jump up/down from small heights. She likes best to fall asleep in my lap, purring as I pet her. She responds when we call her, and looks up at our faces. Sleeps peacefully for about 3 - 5 hours at a time. Plays with string, fingers etc. She seems very well-adjusted except for the continual meowing when hungry.

- Toilet training isn't going very well, but she does indicate by meowing when she needs to go most of the time, which lets me put her into the litter tray, where she does her business

What else can I do to help her get healthier faster?
 

StefanZ

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You seems to do very well!  

I think the vet although inexperienced with pets, did his job OK.

As she had solid stools, she had already eaten food, not only moms milk.

Yes, you can surely use thid Royal Canin for kittens. But make sure she has much to drink!

Goat milk is possible too, especielly raw, much better than cow milk. Youghurt (plain yoghurt, not sweetened, full fat).  Chicken meat, minced meat...  If you can get canned cat food, it is usually better than dry cat food.

You mention a milk replacer. What is it?

Bth, if you are giving her food yourself, do so she has tummy down, head up. NOT like when you hold a baby with back down.

the protruding anus is reported sometimes by out forumites. It seems it is no real problem with the anus / bowel problem as such, but weak kittens seems to get this. When they got healthy, the problem seems to disappear. Remedy? Whatever you do, try she doesnt get constipated. Better her poo is a little rare.

The little one had prob contact with humans before, she doenst act feral. Even if kittens are easy to socialize.

A good site for orphaned kittens is

www.kitten-rescue.com.

At our Pregnant & Kitten forum, there are also articles about  kitten care.

Also many useful threads.

Tx for caring and helping this little sis of ours!

I will  ask a mod to move this thread there.  See you there!

Good luck!

 Welcome to our Forums!
 
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anju

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Thank you so much for your prompt reply!

It is a relief to hear about her bottom. I am keeping watch, however, and will take her back to the vet if there are any complications.

So far, she does not strain or seem to experience discomfort while passing stool. She does not like to have her anus touched however, clearly it is sore, so it is a little difficult to wipe clean when she keeps squirming and mewing.

I am giving her Beaphar's kitty milk replacer powder - she has about 15-20 ml each time she's hungry, and then she stops.

Also, the Royal Canin kitten food I bought is wet food - little flakes in gravy. I'll try that for the next feeding.

Thanks again!
 

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OK, Beaphar kitten milk replacer should be OK.   You dont need to chase after goat milk.   :)

Royal canine kitten has also good reputation, and as it is wet food, even better.   :)

Yes, give her as much as she wants, this way you dont need to think how much.

Unless she is would be sick and doesnt wants of course... 

As said,  every detail you mention I see you and she are doing it just fine!

You could write the manual, nothing to change and not much to add.   :)

Good luck!
 
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anju

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Thanks, Stefanz. That is good to know :) I so want this little baby to be healthy and happy soon, and hope she will be. Cheers!
 
 
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anju

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Hello again - the kitten has started having constant diarrhoea and shows some straining now (pooping every hour). We are giving him (he turned out to be a boy!) homeopathic medicines (which have worked well on pets in the past) and a little bit of arrowroot paste (that is a traditional recipe for upset stomach here).

We are taking him to the vet tomorrow anyway, but is there anything else I can do?

There was some chicken left so I continued to feed him that today instead of starting the wet food. His appetite is still normal and he plays and cuddles as before but his voice has become very weak, and does not cry as much as he used to in the past couple of days.

We are also having lots of trouble with the litter tray. He tries to go into corners to do his business so I need to literally watch him every second and it's exhausting...any ideas on how to get him to seek the tray?
 

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Giving some extra salt may be good, he loses salts in diarrhea. Also make sure he get enough with fluids:

A nice basic home made pedialyte who also stopps diarrheas somewhat AND stops dehydration: (antidote to the man-slaughter cholera for example)  is:

Water from well cooked rice, 1 liter

1 tea spoon (3 grammes) salt , kitchen salt OK.

This well cooked rice water contains quite much dextrose = glucose sugar.  Rice is also by itself somewhat stopping.

Tell what the vet said, so we shall continue to analyse.

Good luck!
 
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AS Stefan says, you are doing everything you can for this poor little kitten. He may still have worms - it is usual to need two doses of wormer 2-3 weeks apart, and if he has had a bad infestation like that it could need more. But ask the vet. The RC food is good for kittens - it contains nutrients and vitamins that he will not get in chicken breast alone.
 

ondine

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His system may also be getting used to the good food you have given him. If found my fosters, two starving kittiens, had a bout of diarrhea after their worming and the change in food. (they'd been eating leftover dominoes pizza). Talk to the vet but it may just be him getting used to the good life. You sound like you are doing well!
 
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anju

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Thanks for all the input, guys. I couldn't get to the vet here today, but he looks a little better. That pinched look is gone and he's become a little more playful and "fluffy". He's got a white coat with orange "cap and saddle" marking, but the orange is very diluted, looks almost like fawn - maybe it will become darker looking as he becomes healthier?

The diarrhoea is still going strong, but it's not black and has no blood in it. Also, his appetite is the same.

StefanZ, thank you for the recipe. We are a predominantly rice-eating culture, so rice water is something that's always available - I'll try that next. He started Royal Canin today, and literally got inside the bowl to lick it up, he liked it so much! That hasn't seemed to increase his diarrhoea either.

He does have another deworming appointment after another week, so I will update between then and now. He has this adorable habit of climbing up into our laps to sleep - my two other cats are most definitely not lap cats so it's a nice change!
 

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Good its going well with what you already have and what you do.   :)

The kitten becoming a lap cat is good in itself. It feeling safe with you, you being his Mom, makes it much easier for him to adapt and fight off the problems.

There are also two food alternatives to try if need be.

Goat milk, best raw goat milk. I suppose you can get it?

Youghurt, unflavored not sweetened, natural youghurt. I´m sure you do have it too... Both the bough versions in Supermarket and locally made?  If bough, best these with added bifidus bacteria, full fat.

Youghurt helps also with sensive stomach disturbances, being sorts of a natural probiotic.

Good luck!
 
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anju

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Goat's milk is not feasible here, I'm afraid. But we do make our own yoghurt from full fat milk, and I give him a little every day. I'll also try the rice water. How long will this diarrhoea last? I mean, what is normal in this sort of case?

Thank you for the advice as always.
 

StefanZ

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Goat's milk is not feasible here, I'm afraid.
Why not? Has somebody adviced you against goat milk, or you dont have any goats nearby, nor bottled goat milk in the SuperMarket?
 
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anju

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No goats nearby, and no supermarkets or stores that stock it - in fact, here goat's milk is looked down upon (have no idea why, even my mom wrinkles her nose at the thought of it) - it used to be more available for sicknesses in my grandmother's time apparently, when everyone kept livestock, but I live in a town where nobody keeps goats now.

I meant 'feasible' in that I wouldn't even know where to start looking for it...

The rice water may have helped - his frequency of pooping has gone down, and it is jelly-like now as opposed to liquid.
 

He has suddenly turned into the friskiest of kittens so that is a sight for sore hearts! He keeps jumping about like a little rabbit, so much so that we're calling him Bunny for now.

My mother wants me to name him Lionel Messi, because he's a golden colour and he keeps making messes haha.

He's got the wisest little face, and a sweet little trick of looking up calmly directly into our faces. He also likes eating A LOT.
 
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anju

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He is probably thinking how lucky he is to have found you!
Thanks, Ondine! I'm so glad to have found him. You mentioned that your fosters had a bout of diarrhoea - do you remember how long this lasted? It's been about 5 days now with my kitty.
 

ondine

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4 or 5 days. Any longer and i'd take him to see the vet. Make sure he gets plenty of water to drink. They can get dehydrated so quickly.

Can you get canned pumpkin? Not pumpkin pie mix - just plain pumpkin. I helps firm up their stool.
 
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anju

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4 or 5 days. Any longer and i'd take him to see the vet. Make sure he gets plenty of water to drink. They can get dehydrated so quickly.

Can you get canned pumpkin? Not pumpkin pie mix - just plain pumpkin. I helps firm up their stool.
Yes, he has lots of water, he seems to like drinking it. And I do check every two hours that he is not dehydrated. Pumpkin, yes - it's a given in the vegetable tray and is very common here so I've never seen canned pumpkin. So just boil bits of pumpkin and feed it mashed to him? I've been really really busy this week so hoping to take him to the vet tomorrow. He has a voracious appetite, clear eyes and is super-frisky now so I'm not scared for his health so much anymore..

His stool has firmed up a little now. It is semi-solid as opposed to being jelly-like. The biggest problem is still getting him to seek his litter tray. He likes bathroom mats, and he's done every one in the house in turn lol. Even if the tray is right next to him, he seems to prefer doing it somewhere else. I've tried putting bits of paper with his pee on it in the tray, and it does not seem to be working. Any ideas - should I post another thread under Behavior?
 

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His stool has firmed up a little now. It is semi-solid as opposed to being jelly-like. The biggest problem is still getting him to seek his litter tray. He likes bathroom mats, and he's done every one in the house in turn lol. Even if the tray is right next to him, he seems to prefer doing it somewhere else. I've tried putting bits of paper with his pee on it in the tray, and it does not seem to be working. Any ideas - should I post another thread under Behavior?
Yes, it may be best so, for getting more ideas.   Lets hope this boiled and mashed pumpkin helps too.  You begin with just a little each time, blending with his wet food, feks.

They often tend to have difficult with litter if they have diarrhea.

Good luck!
 
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