Abandoned kitten approximately 10-14 days old says vet. Need advice!

Well thank you guys for the kind words.  Here is another update.  I just talked to the vets office and they said Hope should take the eye ointment until it is totally cleared up (probably 10-14 days) and take all of the liquid antibiotics just to be safe.  So I guess now I have a pretty good time frame.  And all night into this morning she has not gotten any new pus in her eyes and they are already less cloudy and the white area is actually white unlike before where it was blood red.  The swelling and redness around the outside of the eyes is totally gone as well.  I am amazed at how well everything has taken affect on her so well and quickly.  She seems to be in less pain as well though she is wanting to sleep a lot more and eat less often but more each time.  I think since she usually eats a normal of 10ml per feeding every 2-3 hours and now she is eating 20-25ml every 4-5 hours I guess she is making up for it and doing fine still.  I think the meds are making her very tired or her body is trying to heal itself so she is sleeping more.  As long as she is consuming 60-90ml or more per day I think I am gonna let her sleep.  I am not sure how much she weighs still and therefore don't know exactly how much she is supposed to be eating but the vet said she is a healthy size and all and his well hydrated and nourished so I guess she is getting enough.  She is still peeing each feeding and pooping about an inch to an inch and a half each day and sometimes twice a day.  And her pee is usually clear and her poop is a medium brown/tan color and firm but not hard.  Tell me if any of this sounds irregular for a kitten of her age that was malnourished.  Thank you all for being so great and taking such a great interest in my sweet baby Hope.

Her health seems improving steady.  The physical funcions seems excellent now as I see it.   Jolly well done!

Di & Bob.  Tx a lot for these words. They are truly warming me and my soul.  Tx again!

Good luck!

Ok I need help once again.  Hope has not been wanting to eat her bottle much.......she claws and grabs onto the bottle and climbs it and claws me.  She has eaten a tiny bit of soft food but I wouldn't think nearly enough to fill her up for 8 hours.  She is crying like she is hungry but when I try to feed her she claws everything really bad.  What do I do?

I would say swaddle her in a thick towel so that her paws are enclosed to feed her. Hopefully that will help.

Ty for the advice, but she finds a way out of the towel.  I think I have figured it out now.  She only does it when I wake her up to eat.  I think it is her way of throwing a temper tantrum.  She is eating fine when she wakes herself up and wants to eat.  So I guess I am gonna just gonna feed her when she wants to eat.  Also I have a small bowl of water available all the time for her and I offer her soft food 2 times per day and she usually eats about a teaspoonful each time.  And she hasn't lost any weight at all.  Her stomach is still full as normal until she decides she wants to eat then it is less full.  She is still peeing and pooping at her normal rate.  She decides when she wants to go to bed and when she needs to go potty now.  Also she wants to be held less and to run around more.  She is finally acting like a normal active kitten.  I will just closely monitor her to make sure she is staying healthy and keeping her weight and potty rates up.  I will keep everyone posted.

Well done you for figuring out.  She sounds like she's a teenager already!  You have your hands full.   

I hope you manage to establish a compromised routine with her so you can get some sleep and get on with other stuff when you need to (ha ha). 

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww hope is the perfect name glad he is ok

That clawing at the bottle is really a natural thing.  They do tread on moms teats to stimulate the milk flowing.+ some natural eagerness.   This is no problem for most, but some forumites has reported this and had troubles.

You can cut the nails some if you need.  Also wrap a sock around the bottle, so it will feel a little more like the mom teats...

Good luck!

Just dropping in to offer many, many more prayers and vibes that little Hope will survive and get through this with your loving care. You are doing so much for her and such a good job!!! I can only imagine how hard it is to worry about this little one. I do not have much advice to offer on kitten care but am sending all of the vibes I can muster for Hope to thrive and a giant thank you once again for saving this little one. Each day she has with you is one more day that she is being loved, cared for and mothered. That is a gift....... and I HOPE for many, many more days to come. :cross:

I just read through this thread and I am SO happy that Hope has made it through and is becoming healthy! Not everyone has the guts or will to do what you did, so thank you so much! It reminds me of when my grandfather found a three week old kitten that was abandoned hiding under his truck and scooped him up and called me over to take care of him for a bit. I had no idea what to do, as I was a new cat mom at the time, but I followed my gut feeling and instructions from a rescue center and did what I could for the little guy. He ended up fighting his way through the first tough week and had grown to be healthy. I'm so happy that Hope has a good mama like you to take care of her! SENDING GOOD LUCK AND VIBES YOUR WAY FOR THE FUTURE <3333

Update on Hope.  She is doing amazingly well.  She is healthy fat like she should be at her age and is eating about 120ml a day in about 4-6 feedings per day.  She has decided to stop eating soft food though and just stick to the bottle.  I figure when she is ready she will start eating hard food like my other cats did when they were babies.  Her eyes are completely cleared up and haven't had any gunk in them for several days.  They do tend to water a bit through and she gets like a little dark crush outside of her eyes nearest to her nose.  But other than that no problems.  She has finally started climbing up on my bed all by herself and sleeping under the covers with me and she is getting courageous enough to jump off too.  Well I will keep you all posted.

She sounds like a real heart breaker!    I am really glad to hear she's doing well, I get all worried when there's no news.  It's lovely to hear her eyes have cleared up and she's growing in to a well covered healthy little kitten who's found out how to get on and off her mommy's bed!  Lucky you! Looking forward to seeing some more photos of her as she develops.  Well done you! 

On the eyes front, I notice your vet suggested antibiotics for a URI because she was sneezing occasionally and now she has a little dark crust in the corner of her eyes.  It might be worth chatting with your vet about checking for feline herpes: that can cause brown crusting at the eyes as well as occasional sneezes and coughs, and runny eyes and noses.  A lot of cats have it but many never show symptoms.  If she doesn't have it that's great but if she does it would be good to know so you can take action to boost her little system and hold back the virus from early on. Hopefully then she would be less prone to being sick with it. An early and correct diagnosis also helps as vets are less likely to give antibiotics inappropriately i.e. when there's no secondary infections present.   Before he was diagnosed Mouse had lots of antibiotics and anti inflammatory medications for mouth and eye problems but now he takes L Lysine daily and gets anti viral medication when he has a severe outbreak which is much less often with the L Lysine.

Please give her a little hug for me.   

Update on Hope!  Today she decided that she no longer wanted the bottle at all and wouldn't eat from it.  So I decided to offer her soft food again and she ate a half a can in one sitting.  She also tried to eat hard food today, but unfortunately that didn't go so well.  So choked on it a bit until she threw up a bit of milk and needed a bath.  She has also decided that my bed is HER bed and usually sleeps nicely under the blankets with me but has a bad habit of waking me and my husband up A LOT for attention.  She is also staying awake a lot more and running and playing.  She is starting to pounce on feet, other cats, and random objects left on the floor or low shelves that she can easily reach.  She is now a normal healthy little kitten with no issues at all.  I will try to take some pictures when I can get her to sit still for a few minutes.

                That is great!  You must be so happy.  I'l keep my fingers crossed for you while your little tike doesn't get in to any nasty scrapes as she explores her cat world.  

On the photo front, oh yes please!  She looks such a character. And hopefully now as she gets bigger you will start to feel you can tell everyone about her kitten antics on some of the other threads so they can get to know and love her too! 

Does this mean that she can see things to pounce on?

mrblanche,

Yes she has very clear eyes now and can see everything and studies everything and everyone.

If only the world has more Ebonly2000s, there won't be war on Earth.

Awww thank you.

Ohhh bless her, she looks gorgeous and you are doing a fantastic job with her.