Stray sick kitten

Dear all, this is my first post here... registered specifically for this and I'm glad to see such a well structured online community.

On Saturday I found two kittens in the middle of the street, 5-6 weeks old, without a mother. They were in danger of being run over and falling into drainage pipes and also didn't look too healthy, so I grabbed them and brought them home. One declined rapidly and passed away late afternoon, and the remaining kitten was fed with kitten formula and taken to the vet first thing on Monday.

The vet diagnosed gastroenteritis and administered antibiotic. The kitten had fleas which were sprayed away with a mild chemical, and I was given special gastrointestinal canned food to feed the kitten with. By Tuesday (yesterday), the kitten stopped eating and became dehydrated so she was rushed to the vet again. The vet gave her a subdural serum injection and Nutri-Gel, after which she ate some canned food.

I continued trying with Nutri-Gel and food, talk to her a lot, but today she seems a tiny bit colder. She's not moving around very well and stays in her cat box with her head hanging low. The vet will open in 5 hours... and tomorrow will be closed due to public holidays.

What I'm looking for is, I guess, a bit of TLC advice. I try to cuddle her even though she's soiled and dirty (and I can't clean her with water, vet said no) but she just looks so miserable. How have other members kept their kittens alive?? If the vet is closed tomorrow, any chance I could get a needle and give her the subdural serum injection myself?

Please help, any advice is welcome... been around animals all my life so I'm used to some of them not making it but I became very attached with this particular kitten

Do you have any 24 hour vets nearby? I'm from NYC. There's a 24 hour vet that takes calls, is very nice, and knowledgable. Maybe she can talk with you, if you don't mind long distance. (718)677-6700.

I should've specified - I'm from the small island of Cyprus, Europe... no 24 hour vets, especially these days

Oooooh. Well...long distance indeed. I'm a new mom myself, so that's all the help I can offer. I'm sorry. I hope the baby can hold on long enough for the vet.

Really appreciate your quick reply and willingness to help, thank you x

I'll go, I don't know, massage her or something...

I'm so sorry your new kitten is sick. You did a good thing rescuing them. Even though one didn't make it. Why doesn't the vet want you to wash it off? Just curious. Can you hold it close to you and try and warm it up a little? I'm not familiar with the Nutri-gel. I raised two kittens a few years ago on eye droppers. Their mother wouldn't let them nurse. I wish I could help you more. I know that feeling when you're trying to keep one alive. You feel helpless. Don't give up! She's really cute.

They're supposed to sleep about 16 hours a day. My kitten, who's 6 weeks, sleeps mostly but has 20-30 minute bouts of kitten craziness, then falls right back to sleep. Has your kittens lethargy been the same or worsened?
Also can you bottle feed her water? Everything on gastroenteritis says to keep her hydrated. And I wonder why she can't be bathed? I called the vet. She said try warming the food. If not, she said try stage 1 organic chicken baby food. She stresses that the kitten must see a vet ASAP, but if not, you can try the above.

Hello,

The vet is worried that the kitten will lose body temperature if I apply water, so he doesn't want me to risk getting her wet.

The food has been warmed up every time because I take it straight out of the fridge and can't serve it cold... also been bottle feeding her water, but she's not very enthusiastic about swallowing it. I'm very worried about her accidentally inhaling it so taking it easy with the water...

And the absolute soonest she can see the vet is in 4 hours when they open I fear she won't make it through tomorrow when the vet is closed...

Keeping warm is very important.

You can use a bottle with warm water, wrapped up in towel. Or if you do have an electrical blanket of course.  Be sure it is not TOO warm either.

Do you have a stuffed animal, like teddy bear?  Important, it will give her the courage to live.

You can have it at your chest if you dare for her filthiness and probably, fleas.  Very effective.  She hears your heart bets, and feels the warm. You can perhaps carry her in a sack?

Bathing is tricky as the danger of cooling down is big, its true.  Yet desperate forumites had done so, as their kitten were full of fleas, and they couldnt use any chemicals.  So the water is warm, not hot but warm. say 40 C.    As long they are in the warm, they are feeling warm.  Afterwards, immediately swep them in warm towels, and dry.    And afterwards, immediately to their nest with warm flask - or the rescuers chest.     Besides, I suppose in Cyprus the air is rather warm, no?  otherwise, make sure the room is warm, and no draugh.

Massaging some, limbs, body, as somebody mentioned, is also useful.

The subcutane injection is a useful trick. It is not serum, its essentially a solution of water, salts and glucose sugar (somewhat alike pedialyte, which is for oral use)

Home made pedialyte is not difficult to do.

There are two recipes, both should work.

1,5 soupspoons (15 g) dextrose (=glucose sugar), if you dont have it, honey will do.

1 tea spoon (3g) kitchen salt.

1 liter water.

Boil upp with stirring.  Let it be body temp, use.  Dont spare too long, better make a new.

Works nicely with humans perhaps with diarrhea and cats.

Rice water after well cooked rice, 1 litre.

1 tea spoon (3g) kitchens salt.

Stir up, etc.

Give it with a dropper, drop by drop, if she doenst manage to suckle.

Not too much, so you dont risk she gets it in the lungs, or throws out, give it little but often.

Be sure, when you give food or water, she is lying on her tummy, head up. Looks awkward, but they do so with their mom.   So NOT the human baby variation with lying on the back!

You may need to burp her.

Mom cats dont burp, but giving with a bottle and thus having different technique, may be necessary.

There is a useful adresse, www.kitten-rescue.com, you will surely find ideas, even it is written for primarlily younger kittens.

If you google, look up on hand rearing kittens, handrearing kitten orphans...  There are other sites too.

Messybeasts have one.

We do also have articles here at this our Forums.

And lotsa other threads....

When they are cold, they dont digest properly. 

So up with the body temp first...

IF they seem to fade, or hanging weakly with head down, it is quite possible her blood sugar is going down.

The trick is to smear some  dextrose (=glucose sugar) or honey on their gum. The glucose sugar in there goes into the blood already directly from the mouth...   And perks them up, if it was this which was wrong.

Last, not least for now.

Its good you do have good cooperation with this vet. But remember, most vets arent very skilled at keeping live in small kittens. Or they arent wiling to give it the time. Unless they are specialized.

So use their advices to  know which chemicals and preparates are safe (many preparates sold at shops are NOT safe).  To diagnosticize if the kitten is sick. To prescribe, to give advices.

But the hard, continous, demanding work of keeping life in the tiny body, to upheld life and raise into healthy adulthood - is almost always the task of the rescuer herself.

So dont dont despair the vet isnt open, it is quite probable YOU and your resources, are the solution and the remedy.    Use your intuition, your wits, your resources.  Most are MUCH stronger than they think, and do grows in time of need and emergency.  Such are my experiences here.

Good luck!    *vibes!*

Welcome to our Forums!

Thank you thank you Stefan! Invaluable information!

My mom advised the same thing about the stuffed animal. I have a grown cat that she's fond of but he's not very interested in her. Whenever he sits still she cuddles next to him. He growls but I tell him to be quiet, he's not going to hurt her but he's still protesting...

Wrapped her in tissue and kept her on me yesterday, which seemed to make her uncomfortable. Cyprus has a very hot climate so keeping her warm is not a problem. She does seem to prefer lying down on tiles as opposed to her blanket, and tiles are cooler so I'm a bit baffled as to why a kitten with below normal body temperature is trying to cool off in a room with a mild temperature of 80F...

I just got home after work (yes I sneaked her in the office, oops) so will try to make a sac out of kitchen towels and see if she prefers that. I don't mind the filthiness, as long as it works for her.

(English is not my first language so wasn't sure how to call the injection. Pedialyte, got it... it's a Greek term but we don't call it that in Greek, we call it "orros" which translates to "serum".)

Will keep you posted. Again, thanks so much.

Mordenna said:

(English is not my first language so wasn't sure how to call the injection. Pedialyte, got it... it's a Greek term but we don't call it that in Greek, we call it "orros" which translates to "serum".)

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I do have the same problem, english being my third language.

Yet people seems to understand what Im saying, even if I sometimes use my own describing words instead.

We do not tolerate any mockering of somebody using her second or third language, so this is a very friendly international forum in this way too.

I remember, once a forumist did made a joke of me saying something.  It was a rather friendly joke.  yet several forumists, including advisors and mods, did told her such behavior was not welcome here...

Prepared the solution you prescribed and I have good news! She suckled! Not much, but a good 4-5 drops! Will get some more Nutri-Gel into her mouth and let her rest on me. She liked the idea of the towel as opposed to the tissue, maybe the tissues were too hard for her. She's sleeping on my chest now. She looks dead... but she's breathing ok and hopefully she'll hang on.

Googled Nutri-Gel and this is what I found... http://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/NUTRIGEL#.UgtgFJKj28A

We just got back from vet (it was chaos before the public holiday, 2+ hours wait...)

Kitten had another two syringes of pedialyte, so around 20ml. Vet injected some vitamins in her to help her overcome anemia. It's still touch and go... vet gave me her private cell phone number and said she'd be back in the office tomorrow night to check on the animals, so if she takes a turn for the worse, I can go tomorrow even if it's a public holiday.

I asked if it would be a good idea to get some pedialytes for tomorrow and she gave me 40ml and showed me how to inject them under the skin. I have a dog with diabetes so I'm used to giving muscle injections, though injections under the skin are new to me. Will still be feeding her Nutri-Gel and the gastrointesinal canned food whenever she feels well enough to eat.

Vet also gave me some latex gloves and said i should fill them with lukewarm water and put them under the kitten's blankets. Her temperature was 97F (36C).

We wait and see, she's not giving up so neither am I...

That's wonderful. I hope she pulls through. *fingers crossed*

97 F / 36 C is quite noticeably lower than the usual, especielly if it is taken in the rectum, the behind.  If it is taken in the armpit of foreleg it is just a shade lower.

Lets hope it is some sort of natural antireaction to the warm Cyprus air, and not just chilled down.

Now, the vet knows it, and doesnt seems too much concerned, so I hope it is OK.

I suppose the latex gloves with lukewarm water is for a mild warming up.   Makes also some feeling of   lying on somebody. Perhaps laying on her mom.

Still, my guess is you shall try and keep her body temp up.

This of teaching how to do injection, and lending you gears, is more than what an average vet does. So it is apparent she is doing her best, the vet.

Good luck!

 I noticed a little confusion over terms for different sorts of fluids for treating dehydration .        Some confusion is understandable  when discussing complicated issues...  and even more understandable when people from different countries, with different native languages,  are discussing complicated issues and translating. .     Normally we  manage to understand each other

  but I want to clear this particular thing up because I don't want someone who may later read  this thread  to possibly get a dangerous idea that they can give Pedialyte via injection! 

Pedialyte  is originally a brand name of an oral rehydrating solution for infants and children.  (    " Ped " of course coming from the Greek root word for  child   and   "- lyte "   because it contains electrolytes. )      The term "Pedialyte  is now often used as if it's a common noun,   not only for that specific brand.   So people also talk about  "homemade Pedialyte".   Plain, unflavored Pedialyte,   or  homemade "Pedialyte"  is sometimes used for cats  -  given orally.  

  I had never before heard  "Pedialyte"  used as a name for fluids given by subcutaneous ( under the skin) injection.  Pedialyte is good for an oral rehydration solution but it is NOT a sterile solution for injection and cannot  be  safely given  via  injection. 

Fluids for  re-hydration given with an injection needle under the skin    we usually just call those  in English  "sub-q fluids"    ( "Sub-Q "  is short for subcutaneous,   often abbreviated  "SC" in medical literature.)   

Or else we call  it by the name of the specific kind of fluid like "Lactated Ringer's solution"  or "Normosol-R" .   ( Or there are others,  like in the UK there's something similar to LRS ,  called Hartmann's Solution. )   Things like  Lactated Ringer's  or Normosol-R  ARE sterile solutions for intravenous (into the vein)  or subcutaneous (under the skin)  use .    It could also  be given orally   but it is not usually used that way.  

Both Pedialyte  and sub-Q fluids  are used for treating dehydration  so I can understand there could easily be confusion , especially in translation!  

ορρός    in this specific context would be better translated as  "solution"    (  which has multiple meanings in English;  in chemistry,  "solution" means a homogenous mixture of 2 or more substances. )    

 Re Subcutaneous   vs  Subdural   

Mordenna,    you used the word "Subdural"    but in English medical usage,   "Subdural' specifically means  under the dura mater,  the outer membrane of the meninges,  that surrounds the brain and spinal chord.    I think I can see where this  came from linguistically --  maybe you found a translation that was  mixing up dural and dermal.    Dura  means  "hard'    "Dura mater"   =  Latin for "hard mother" .  ( I  don't have any clue why the outer membrane around the brain and spinal chord is called the  "hard mother" !  but it is.  ) 

But the word "dermal"   does refer to skin.    The dermis is  the connective tissue layer of the skin.     And there IS a word  "subdermal'  that means under the skin..    but it is not the word used in English  when referring to giving  injections under the skin.     In that context,  the English medical word used  is  "Subcutaneous" .   ( from a different  word for skin,   the Latin  "cutis" ) 

 I  tried using Google Translate  to  translate "subcutaneous fluids" into Greek and got " υγρά υποδόρια "   No idea if it's correct!    You are a lot better at English than  I am at Greek .     and Stefan is a lot better at English than I am at Swedish.   I can read more Swedish than Greek but that's not saying much ! 

Believe me Stefan  I have the greatest respect that you are so willing and able to help out so many people in a language that is your 3rd language.  And you do a wonderful job. 

  and  I also have  very much respect for you, Mordenna,   or anyone who tries to help their pet by posting online in other languages.    

Oh wow - did i really say subdural? Meant subdermal... Was very upset when I was writing yesterday's posts can a moderator edit the original post to avoid confusion for other members potentially reading this thread?

In other news, the kitten literally woke up the neighborhood screaming for food this morning. For the first time, i'm getting cautiously optimistic!

Aaaaand I'm about to inject... and she started purring so I'm waiting her to stop purring before sticking the needle in her. I'd make a very bad vet hahahaha

Yaaaaay! Lets hope she stays on the mend!!!

Sorry all, for my careless usage here of the word pedialyte. Maew has totally right.

Why did I got astray was not only the language barriers.  I know pedialyte is supposed to be an oral solution, so I did wrote wrongly when I said the subcutan injection was called pedialyte.

Sorry.

Analysing myself, I think there are two reasons:

My favorite variant of home made basic pedialyte, this with dextrose = glucose sugar, kitchen salt and clean boiled water,  could prob be used in such a subcutan injection.  Or rather, Im convinced the fluid the vet is injecting  IS a sterile variation of this solution, ready made at the medical factory.

The old fashioned "physiological salt-solution" they often used  70 years ago when they didnt had enough with blood, was probably also something such alike.

Second reason is my belief: a wider and more common usage of such basic home made pedialytes  would make it in many cases not necessary for the vets to injection the fluid.  Less cats would get dehydrated and in need of emergency care.

ie, if thight on money, dont wait for the cat to be dehydrated so you must rush to the vet and get these fluid injections.  Give the cat freely of such a pedialyte early on, if necessary forcefeed a few drops at a time...  And have the vet as your reserve for more difficult treatment.

This basic pedialyte works btw beautifully on humans too.  

.  Ps.  I see Im doing it again.  If Pedialyte is really a brand name used by a factory for its products,  I shouldnt prob use this word homemade pedialyte when I mean "solution of electrolytes and sugars,  to drink and stop dehydration and also, stop diarrhea"

What is the appropriate word for such a wonderful live saving fluid??

Its reminds me of the renown razor factory Gilette, who was very long sponsoring a big bicycle race in Europe.  This Gilette bicycle race got so well known, the Gilette factory got critique for "their lack of imagination, as calling themselves by the name taken from this big bicycle race"...   After that, the Gilette factory stopped sponsoring of this bicycle race. Nowadays its called something else.  Giro d´France, I suspect.   

Edit.  There are of course a lot of examples where a brand trade mark becomes a noun.

a hoover for  vacuum cleaner,

zyletka (from Gilette) for razors in polish,

to google  = seek on Internet, from Google

 etc.

The factory lawyers arent happy with this, but common usage becomes common usage.