5-wo kittens with dirty noses

Hi 

My now-friendly colony cat has had 5 kittens and they are all being cared indoors to be fostered until I can find homes for momma and the babies.  They are 5 weeks old today actually.

Problem is, now that the kittens have started eating they seem to enjoy shoving their entire snout in the food which has resulted in this:

  Ellie

Just been for their first check up at the vets today and he tried warm water but it won't budge. Just wondering if any cat-loving kitten veterans can advise on ways to get this pesky stuff off as neither baby wipes or warm water seems to do it and I don't want to use anything harsh on her as she's still so small.

I think she has dermatitis caused by having a dirty face for too long, i.e. mama didn't wash her face and the food stayed on, so now that isn't just dirt, it's scabby.  If that's all it is, then applying triple antibiotic ointment (which you can get at any drugstore) should help it heal and also keep it soft and mama cat will probably lick it off which will help with cleaning.  (Is mama with the babies now?)  Once it has healed and she has new healthy skin under the scabs, the scabs will slough off. 

Thanks for your reply

The mother is with them but at 5 weeks does seem to be slowly losing interest, I think she's tired as she's mostly crated with 5 kittens to care for.  There is no other option as we only have 2 rooms and a hallway and I have 2 of my own young adult male cats whom I don't trust around the babies.

She herself (momma) has been losing weight despite getting between 16-24oz a day.  Momma was a stray/feral but has become friendly so I'm getting momma spayed (and hopefully adopted!) but not sure when to separate her, would presumably spay once she's done with the kittens as I wouldn't want them pestering her when her skin is still healing.

The triple antibiotic sounds great for Ellie (the kitten). Might you know what I would be asking for at the drug store? (I'm from England, moved to NY last year so a lot of products are still foreign to me :} )

Will try to get out to get it from Rite Aid if they carry it.

AmyRose said:

 
Thanks for your reply

The mother is with them but at 5 weeks does seem to be slowly losing interest, I think she's tired as she's mostly crated with 5 kittens to care for.  There is no other option as we only have 2 rooms and a hallway and I have 2 of my own young adult male cats whom I don't trust around the babies.

She herself (momma) has been losing weight despite getting between 16-24oz a day.  Momma was a stray/feral but has become friendly so I'm getting momma spayed (and hopefully adopted!) but not sure when to separate her, would presumably spay once she's done with the kittens as I wouldn't want them pestering her when her skin is still healing.

The triple antibiotic sounds great for Ellie (the kitten). Might you know what I would be asking for at the drug store? (I'm from England, moved to NY last year so a lot of products are still foreign to me :} )

Will try to get out to get it from Rite Aid if they carry it.

Click to expand...

it takes a lot of energy for a momma cat to birth and nurse/care for her babies. have you tried feeding momma cat canned kitten food? she may need the extra nutrition/calories. has momma cat been to the vet's? i'd be very concerned with her weight loss.

I will likely have to take her to the vets as she had Diarrhoea again today (happened 2 weeks ago without further incident) but she's also seemingly uninterested in the kittens? They try to feed but she just stands up and sort of walks away, she's not licking them and just wants to get out of the cage, she focuses on me and won't even look at them. Wondering if it's the sickness or whether she's in heat again. She's due for spaying once completely separated.

Yes the weight loss is noticeable so I'm guessing at 6 weeks it's not too early to keep them apart from the mother?  They do eat on their own, perhaps she is fed up with them.  I do think momma needs a vet check up which I can't manage until next week unfortunately. Will try to get some KMR tonight if possible for her and the babies. Someone told me that KMR is the best although the ingredients look horrid?

The noses seem to be clearing up with use of an antibiotic cream my mother in law gave me for their eyes a while ago. Looks like that works so thank you. :}

If she has diarrhea, she would probably rather use a litter box away from the babies.  Also, at 5 weeks it is too soon for total separation but she doesn't need to be with them constantly and probably really wants a break.  In our rescue cages, we have a shelf the mama can climb on to keep away from the babies while still watching over them.  Maybe you could make her something like that.

Rite Aid does have the triple antibiotic ointment, will cost you $5.59 for a small tube, more for a larger one.  The small will probably be enough.

If you get KMR fot the abies, she should like it also.  All our moms do.  However, be sure to get the POWDERED form and mix it more dilute than the instructions, because the instructions are for feeding newborns and they need more concentrated.  Use twice as much water as the instructions say when giving t to older kittens and adults.  The liquid KMR often gives the babies diarrhea.  We don't know why, but it is our experience.

http://shop.riteaid.com/Rite-Aid-Pharmacy-Antibiotic-Ointment/dp/B0062PC50U

Excellent advice from @Red Top Rescue  !

At 5 weeks she is tired of nursing and has other things on her mind now, as it is right about time for her to go into heat again.

Plus at 5 weeks for her to be caged with the kittens she is not as much a doting mom as she was prior.

They have teeth and this is annoying, climb all over her and eat her canned food.

She should be getting canned daily, it not only helps her but teaches the kids about eating from a dish, which they should be doing now too. Some are fully eating but still nurse now and then for comfort, but others are slower and tend to nurse longer. 

As for you applying antibiotic cream in their eyes, this is not a good thing to be doing.

Unless it is specifically formulated for eyes/optical like terramycin, erythromycin, etc then I would not use that in their eyes again.

Topical antibiotic ointment is good for the noses.

The diarrhoea has stopped so I have come to the conclusion that she is allergic or intolerant to fish varieties and will steer clear of them.

The cream I am using is more like a gel than cream, it's called Terramicina (Xxitetracinclina Oftalmico).  My mother in law uses it but I will be getting the ride aid stuff instead. If no better by Wednesday I will take Willow to the vet instead as nothing is worth risking her sight.  First photo is before, second an after from today.  Perhaps her eyes are infected? The nose is clearing with the topical stuff but I'm not using more of it until I buy the ride aid stuff.

 1st of July

  As of 5th July

I've put Willow back in with momma in the hopes that momma's milk will help her fight off the infection. The rest are in the other crate just for a few hours and are all asleep anyways.

The name does translate to Terramycin, but in the US there is the american version of it.

I'm not sure if it is more appropriate for inside the eyes or not, but it sounds like it's fairly safe at least.

Re the mom and her problems with weigh loss.   Do you have  problems with salomonella in eggs at your place?  If not, adding an egg yolk (yellow of egg) to her food, be it goat milk, kmr, canned wet food, minced meat, etc,  is very useful.   Easy to digest and lotsa of good nourishent.

If you do have problems with salomonella in eggs, you can give crushed boiled yolk too, but its not as easily digestable.   At least, all receipts I know talks about raw egg yolk...  

The egg shells from boiled eggs, crushed into a fine powder, works nicely as a calcium source. 

Alternatively you can use some other calcium source you do have, and rely on.

Like plain unsweetened full fat yoghurt, a little cheese....

Some nice vitamine pasta may help too, like Nutrical or similiar.

Most of these additions mentioned  usually arent necessary for a mom who gets lotsa to eat of good nourishing food - type kitten food, or good quality wet food.

But she BOTH loses weigh,  and also even loses interest for her kittens already now.

My collegues have several good explanations whose everyone may be true - but I fear her losing interest in her kittens is because she is unwell.

Moms being unwell do often lose interest in their kittens...   @AmyRose

Good luck!

So, if you do have access to a good vet, I think its a good idea to let him check her up.

And also, proceed simultaneously with this extra nourishing food - cant do any harm as long as you dont overdo it grossly, may help and be the bid difference..

The ointment from your mom IS ophthalmic gel (Xxitetracinclina Oftalmico), the second word translates to "ophthalmic" -- so yes, that is fine for in the eyes.  The triple antibiotic I told you about is only for external skin, NOT for inside the eyes, which you already know.

Brilliant ideas from everyone. I'm so grateful. Thank you for letting me know about the triple antibiotic gel, I will buy that for external only.  I have given momma some egg now as she's not liking the non-fish stuff which is all I have in the house so looks like another trip out to the store late tonight!  :{  She's fussy for a stray/feral type!  Ridiculously friendly for one too, oddly...

  This is her while the babies were a week old.  Sorry it looks dirty -- was taken right as I was about to sweep/clean.  Hoping there is someone out there who will give her a chance but it might be an uphill struggle. Worth a shot though, right? She hasn't hissed since around that time either.

Will be keeping super close eye on Willow (kitten with eye trouble) and will take her to the vet if it's the same by Monday. Vet's closed on Sundays unfortunately.

Thank you again :}