Lethargic 4 1/2 week old kitten

We adopted a cat who had kittens on our patio 4 weeks ago, after a short bout of fleas on days 3-6 ( dawn baths and flea comb) the kittens did wonderfully. Just this week they started eating mommy's food, they like the dry kitten food and the wet canned food and don't really care for the moistened dry food unless we mix the canned food into it. We also bought collars for them so it was easier to tell who was eating and who wasn't without seeing their belly spots.

Starting yesterday I noticed that our little girl seemed lethargic, she just wants to sit there... and this morning it is the same. Yesterday, when we fed them she came right out and ate and played a bit but then laid back down, this morning she didn't even want to eat. I am pretty sure she is still nursing ( they were all piled up nicely at mommy's tummy this morning).

Does anyone have some insight they could share with me? What should I be watching for, I know kittens can be really fragile and can take a turn for the worse quickly. Is there anything I should be doing right now? 

Best would surely be to contact your vet.  Do you have any possibilites for it?

Phone at least.

I understand it is not any usual dehydration, but still, some extra water cant be wrong.

I understand it is warm enough, so this is no primary cause. Although a kitten on the way to go down doesnt keep warm as well as a healthy kitten.

If you take body temp - you can take it in the armpit, and compare with some siblings - what does it show?

Deworming done?

Lets hope others fill in with ideas and suggestions...

Keep reporting!

Good luck!

pisces7386 said:

they like the dry kitten food and the wet canned food and don't really care for the moistened dry food unless we mix the canned food into it.

....still nursing ( they were all piled up nicely at mommy's tummy this morning).

Click to expand...

As they eat nicely both wet canned food, and normal kitten dry food,  you dont need to bother any longer to have moistened dry.   Its becoming easy infested with bacteria and mould, much more easy than the other two.

 I had answered this several hours ago but for some reason it didn't post.   I mentioned the same thing Stefan did that it is not a good idea to moisten dry food  especially if they dont eat it all right away ,  because dry food can easily have some bacteria  and if you then add water and let it sit the combination of the starchy ingredients and water  make it an ideal bacterial breeding ground.    

It's possible that she got a bad bit of that,  which kittens are less equipped to deal with than adult cats.  

Do you know if her bowel movements are normal?      diarrhea could be a sign of some bad food causing gastrointestinal upset.    

Or could be a sign of some other illness.    ( Let's hope it is not panleukopenia) 

To check for dehydration,  take a pinch of skin on the neck or back,  gently lift up and let go .  It should snap back immediately if the cat / kitten is well hydrated.   If it takes more than a second she is dehydrated.    If it takes more than 2 seconds to settle back down into place,  I would take her to the vet.

If it's between 1 and 2 ,  i would give some plain Pedialyte  ( rehydration fluid).   The usual amount is to give 2 to 4 ml per pound of body weight  per hour.  

  a 1 month old kitten is usually around 1 pound. 

 And as Stefan mentioned,   you might want to get them de-wormed.  

 But in the opposite direction of problem from diarrhea,   another possibility is she could be constipated.   Interestingly,  adding a little canned pumpkin to wet food will often help with either problem. 

And some glucose ,  syrup  or honey rubbed on the gums can help give some energy. 

Also try warming food to make it a bit more smelly.   sometimes that will make them more interested to eat.  

Fortunately you said she does seem to be nursing.  so she is not totally without nutrition.  

I may have gotten worried a little prematurely. When I got home from work today she was back to her usual self almost. she is was still the first one to stop playing and go to sleep, but she was right there with the rest of the pack tumbling around for play time. 

  I am glad to hear I don't have to bother with the moistened food anymore since they really aren't interested and never were. We have had several kitten poops, but we can't figure out who they came from so we don't know if any are constipated ( unfortunately we both work during the day ). I don't think it is dehydration, although they are long hair... and it is tough to see through all that fuzz We haven't had them dewormed yet, we had called the vet at the beginning ( the day the kittens were born) just to find out when we should be bringing them in and they said we should wait until they are two months old before we do anything.  We are a little worried about that since we don't know the mother's history and she does have a tendency towards soft poop/ diarrhea but up to this point everyone has been in tip top shape. 

  Thank you both for your responses, It is so comforting to have people who know what they are talking about to answer my questions.

Good it is better!  Dont trouble about "premature alarm". Whom shall be worried and on watch but you??

When vet talks about 8 weeks, this is of course the usual time for check up, vaccinations, plannining on whom is ready for spaying, and whom should wait a couple of weeks etc.

Many are also sold at 8-9 weeks, so it is good they are check up-ed before they go both for the sellers and the buyers benefit.

In his eagerness to make it convenient and easy for the customer, he gave also an advice which is not necessarily really the best one.

It is entirely possible to deworm kittens quite early.  At least the round worms.   This is also the usual recommendation.

Preparates using Pyrantel as the active substance can be used quite early.

The preparate of Milbomax, which uses another active substance, can also be used earlier than 8 weeks.

There may be others.

With a  mom with unclear background, you can bet she is not dewormed, and thus with worms, and  kittens prob have round worms too from her.   (small kittens seldom have tape worms, and this only can happen if they were flea infested. Older kittens who eats prey moms brings to them, can get easily infested by tape worms too)

I suppose in this vet experience they usually do OK anyway.  Like you do witness.  

Good luck!

A little follow up-->

  The little girl is back to normal after another 'slow day' so I am no longer worried about her. It may have been dehydration; I started mixing extra water into the canned food and that seemed to make the difference ( or at least it coincided nicely). 

   We think the mom may have been a beloved family pet before she came to us. Our neighbor's daughter brought the cat home from college to her mother early this summer with some crazy story about it being at McDonald's and it jumped in their car with no collar. The mother,our neighbor, had been reluctantly caring for it ( she has health, money and responsibility issues). We notice the cat was pregnant around the beginning of July and when the cat had the kittens at the end of the month the neighbor gave them all to us. Based on the cat's behavior with nail clipping and bathing I really do believe she was a well cared for family cat. It makes me think that she has had regular health care up to this summer when she was brought to our neighbor.