VERY SICK 3 week old kitten. Help?

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little red

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We took in a sick 3-4 wk old kitten this past Saturday. She was covered in fleas--belly was completely black, eyes matted shut, nose crusted over from snot, dehydrated, weak. Just in bad shape. I've been syringe feeding her goat milk & gatorade every 2-3 hours as well as giving her a little karo syrup a couple times a day & doctoring her eyes with Neomycin ointment. I took her to the vet this morning & he dewormed her & gave her an antibiotic shot. She seems to be a tad perkier now than she did Saturday but she's still so weak & dehydrated. Her gums are real pale & her tongue is a little discolored. It's real white and sort of greenish blue but that could be from the gatorade maybe?

Is there anything else I can do for her? We've got her in a small wire crate our living room & the thermometer we put in there reads about 75ish. We only have window a/cs so it's never real cool in our house & mid to high 70s is about average during the day. Sometimes she breathes sort of fast and she makes the most pitiful weak whines. But she does seem to know when things happen around her.

Also, would it be better to give her powder KMR or is the goat milk ok? She's a real fussy eater & hates the syringe but she has to be fed that way. We fed goat's milk to the other 2 kittens we recently weaned & they did great on it but I'm wondering if the KMR might be better for her given her current condition? What do you guys think? The first picture below is one I took of her today. We don't have one of her when we first got her because our main concern was getting her cleaned up.

Also, we've named her Pumpkin :)



 

tulosai

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Thank you so so much for helping Pumpkin!

KMR is most always better if you have access to it.  Goat milk obviously can work in a pinch, but I wouldn't recommend it as ideal or the line of first defense.

The Gatorade is in interesting idea but I'd probably cut that out for now. The caro syrup should be enough to perk her up.  If you fear she's dehydrated I think a bit of pedialyte might be better then Gatorade.  I've never heard of gatorade being used on a kitten.

Are you weighing her every day to get a sense of whether she is gaining weight or not? This is something it's important for you to keep track of since she does seem vulnerable.

Let s know how she gets on and if you have other questions!!
 
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little red

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Thank you so so much for helping Pumpkin!

KMR is most always better if you have access to it.  Goat milk obviously can work in a pinch, but I wouldn't recommend it as ideal or the line of first defense.

The Gatorade is in interesting idea but I'd probably cut that out for now. The caro syrup should be enough to perk her up.  If you fear she's dehydrated I think a bit of pedialyte might be better then Gatorade.  I've never heard of gatorade being used on a kitten.

Are you weighing her every day to get a sense of whether she is gaining weight or not? This is something it's important for you to keep track of since she does seem vulnerable.

Let s know how she gets on and if you have other questions!!
That's what I was thinking with the KMR & I'll pick some up tomorrow.  The vet is actually who recommended the gatorade. He said that pedialyte doesn't replenish the electrolytes as well as the gatorade. But I'll grab some pedialyte tomorrow as well & put her on that. We weighed her the 1st day we got her & she was about 8 oz but I've been so focused on keeping her fed that I haven't thought to do it since. But I'll do it in a few mins. When I pick up the pedialyte should I syringe some to her every feeding like I've been doing with the gatorade or just every other feeding? I'm fixing to feed her again & I'll just do the milk this time & not the combo of milk/gatorade. Also, with the karo, I've been giving her about .2 cc's a couple times a day. Does this need to be upped?

She takes anywhere from 2 to 3 cc's of milk each feeding & the same for the gatorade. Does it sound like she's getting enough in each time or do I need to force more into her? Also she's been extra weak the last few hours. She'll try to stand & just fall over. She lets out these little weak hoarse whines. And I'm having a hard time deciding if she's too hot or too cold. Her crate is holding at around 75 degrees.
 
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little red

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Just wanted to let everyone know that we lost Pumpkin
I feel like I should have done more for her. And I feel like I shouldn't have taken her to the vet because she went downhill after that
 
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little red

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Poor little Pumpkin. I'm glad she got to feel loved thanks to you.
Thank you Asher.  I only knew her for 2 1/2 days but I miss her so much. I feel weird not having to get up every 2 hours to feed her so I'm having a hard time falling asleep. Felt like I was forgetting about her by laying down to go to sleep. I've bottle raised dozens of kittens but it's been a really long time since I've felt this way but she has been the first solo baby to raise in a long time.
 

blueyedgirl5946

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On behalf of the entire Cat Site Moderating team, please know we are all very sorry for your loss. In order to show our respect we close threads when the cat passes on. We invite you to post a memorial thread to Pumpkin in our Bridge Forum, which is here. http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge . Remember we have many members here who have experienced what you are going through. We understand and offer our support through a memorial thread. I am now closing this thread.
 
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