Sick Kittens

I adopted 2 orphaned kittens on 25th around 3-4 weeks old. Someone found them on the street, waited few hours for their mother and asked around. She was told that their mother hasn't return for more than 24 hours. I took them in the same day they were found when I saw them on adoption page on facebook. 

They were very active and healthy. I fed them kitten powder milk I got from vet. I helped them stimulate to urinate and defecate on the first & 2nd day just in case they still can't do it on their own. Provided them a very comfy clean box with clothes to keep them warm. Btw I live in tropical country, so warmer isn't necessary.

On the 3rd day I got them, I brought them to the vet for check up and they gave them antibiotic & de-worming medication. The vet suggested to start giving them canned food  for kittens and try to stop kitten milk replacer because of diarrhea. The vet said the diarrhea was normal for kittens.

On the 5th day somehow, one of them became passive and refused the canned food so I fed him milk. On the evening, he refused to eat and drink so I took him to vet immediately. They gave him antibody medication but I was told the chance of his survival is 50-50 because he's still too young and needs his mother. He died 2 hours later. 

The other kitten was very healthy and active. He started to learn how to play, to clean himself whenever I was cleaning him. He still has diarrhea, but again, the vet said it's normal. The feces was mushy & looks like he pooped out everything he ate. Actually, the feces looks exactly like the canned food with a very foul smell. Was it normal?

He was playful and very active today and suddenly, when I want to feed him dinner, he was very weak and I found blood in his stool. Thick red blood. And he died an hour later, in my very own hand.

I've tried my very best to look after them. I didn't know what went wrong. I couldn't stop blaming myself. What could possibly be the cause of their death? Was it the canned food? 

Pochi said:

 
I adopted 2 orphaned kittens on 25th around 3-4 weeks old. Someone found them on the street, waited few hours for their mother and asked around. She was told that their mother hasn't return for more than 24 hours. I took them in the same day they were found when I saw them on adoption page on facebook. 

They were very active and healthy. I fed them kitten powder milk I got from vet. I helped them stimulate to urinate and defecate on the first & 2nd day just in case they still can't do it on their own. Provided them a very comfy clean box with clothes to keep them warm. Btw I live in tropical country, so warmer isn't necessary.

On the 3rd day I got them, I brought them to the vet for check up and they gave them antibiotic & de-worming medication. The vet suggested to start giving them canned food  for kittens and try to stop kitten milk replacer because of diarrhea. The vet said the diarrhea was normal for kittens.

On the 5th day somehow, one of them became passive and refused the canned food so I fed him milk. On the evening, he refused to eat and drink so I took him to vet immediately. They gave him antibody medication but I was told the chance of his survival is 50-50 because he's still too young and needs his mother. He died 2 hours later. 

The other kitten was very healthy and active. He started to learn how to play, to clean himself whenever I was cleaning him. He still has diarrhea, but again, the vet said it's normal. The feces was mushy & looks like he pooped out everything he ate. Actually, the feces looks exactly like the canned food with a very foul smell. Was it normal?

He was playful and very active today and suddenly, when I want to feed him dinner, he was very weak and I found blood in his stool. Thick red blood. And he died an hour later, in my very own hand.

I've tried my very best to look after them. I didn't know what went wrong. I couldn't stop blaming myself. What could possibly be the cause of their death? Was it the canned food? 

Click to expand...

Life is so precious, because its so fragile.  Even seemingly healthy and active kittens, with a first rate, loving caretaker, may drop down just in hours, if so is their fate and you are unlucky.   Direct faults nor mistakes arent necessary.

Having a good caretaking cat mom is simply best!

My guess is, they did had something inside.  Perhaps worms, although they were dewormed.

Still, some comments.

Why did the vet gave them antibioticum?  If they were healthy and lively, antibioticum shouldnt be necessary.   Also, antibioticum may often upset the bacteria flora in intestines.  So if you give antibiotica, some sort of probiotics is good.  There are good brands, for animals, but many brands for humans are useful too.   If you dont find anything else, common full fat, not flavored, plain youghurt is useful.  Especielly if it contains bifidus and acidophidus bacteria too, aside the usual mild youghurt-microorganisms...

Deworming.  Mild dewormers are OK to use already at this age.  For example, preparates of Pyrantel poamote, which are good against roundworms (which is very common in kittens).  The all-round preparate of Milbomax can too be used for small kittens.

While some other preparates arent so mild, and can cause problems...

I would probably proceed with this kmr milk - was it the brand KMR in powder, stage one?  Its a good brand.     And didnt tried with canned kitten food until they were fully stabilized.

Although the canned kitten food wasnt probably not the cause of their problems as such.

Next time, If you can get goat milk, preferably fresh, its always useful and may even be safer.

When a kittens gets weak and dont manages to eat, a useful try is to give it  glucose sugar on the gum (its usually a powder).  If you dont have it, white caro sugar or honey are useful - both contains much glucose sugar.     Here it probably wouldnt help, they were already dying from some as yet unknown cause.   Also, some extra water, best a homemade pedialyte, is useful too.  Use a small syringe or a dropper.

But as said, next time...

Diarrhea in kittens is common, but to say normal is to say too much... But their normal poo is consistency of toothpaste, so many people thinks they do have rare poo, while its normal.   And some diarrhea is better then the opposite - "hard stomach".

Smelly poo with looks of  the canned food, is of course no good.   I suspect his intestines were already disintegrating.  If because of heavy worm attack, or too strong dewormer, or anything else, I dont know.

All in all.   YOU did your best. You gave them care and love.  They got and felt love.  Their souls have peace now.

And you?  You got some experiences richer.   I dearly hope next time a similiar occasion occurs, you will take the chance again to help, to make the world a tiny bit better...

God bless you!

Good luck!

I don't think it was anything you did. In fact you did everything right. Unfortunately these were 2 very young kittens who were out in the elements for who knows how long that had to survive without their mother. It looks like they were sick you to adopted them. You did all you could do not blame yourself.

As stefanZ has said,  "All in all.   YOU did your best. You gave them care and love.  They got and felt love.  Their souls have peace now."   This is the most anyone can do.  It can end in heart ache, but I echo Stefan's thoughts that hopefully you would offer this chance of life again, it is very precious gift and so many people are afraid to try.  

It sounds like you gave it your all to help these 2 kittens. I read your story with admiration for how you handled the entire situation, I think you should be extremely proud of yourself because you gave these 2 kittens a chance they might not have had if you weren't there and took them in.

Around 3-4 weeks old, kittens start to poop and pee on their own. For around 1 week, the poo will seem yellow-ish and smell disgusting. That's normal and how it should be. However, you should see improvement over time when they change to regular food and it should change to some harder browner poop. 4 weeks is also the age they start to go from milk to regular food like canned food and/or kibbles. So everything you did was fine and the way it should happen. Though, if done too fast it can cause some diarrhea. But even if it does, they don't die from just some diarrhea. To me, it sounds like there has been an underlying problem that caused these 2 kittens to end up without a mom, sick and in the end not making it.

You did everything you could and provided them everything they needed. When you didn't trust it, you went to the vet as soon as you could. Don't blame yourself. 

That being said, I'm very sorry about your loss, Rest In Peace little ones