My new young kitten

I have recently got a kitten too young to leave mum, she weighed 300grm when i got her and she has put half of that weight on in a week , my kitty was seriously anemic due to flea infestation and has a heart murmur, the vet thinks this will ease as she gets stronger.

this is her the night we picked her up xx

I rescued /bought her from someone off facebook !! they were ,"getting rid asap " so i had to save at least one , i picked the smallest !! she was only 5 weeks old and i had her vet checked the day after i got her , she had been fine for the first week no problems then last week she started suddenly changing from a lovley lil kitty to a maniac going for her tail , hissing , crying , biting us when we tried to comfort her , its as if she is in a trance of evil !!!

its heartbreaking to see , i did have her back at the vets as she had loose poop , i mentioned it and she laughed !! im so worried that this is going to get even worse , if thats possible , i have fed her poached chicken since yesterday and she is a little constipated now , i was interested in the post by the other person about her cats constipation so will keep an eye on that , i may also look into the raw diet and see how that works , i will be taking her for her first injections in three weeks and will be armed to the teeth with info about FHS , im so glad i found this site x

I can't offer any advice but she looks pretty

hollypeg said:

 
I have recently got a kitten too young to leave mum, she weighed 300grm when i got her and she has put half of that weight on in a week , my kitty was seriously anemic due to flea infestation and has a heart murmur, the vet thinks this will ease as she gets stronger.

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That is a nice weight gain, about 20 g a day.  Which hints she was some undernourished before.   It tells also she thrives nicely at your place.

What food are you giving her normally - Im not talking about these poached chicken, as its just the last few days.

hollypeg said:

 
this is her the night we picked her up xx

I rescued /bought her from someone off facebook !! they were ,"getting rid asap " so i had to save at least one , i picked the smallest !! she was only 5 weeks old and i had her vet checked the day after i got her , she had been fine for the first week no problems then last week she started suddenly changing from a lovley lil kitty to a maniac going for her tail , hissing , crying , biting us when we tried to comfort her , its as if she is in a trance of evil !!!

its heartbreaking to see , i did have her back at the vets as she had loose poop , i mentioned it and she laughed !! im so worried that this is going to get even worse , if thats possible , i have fed her poached chicken since yesterday and she is a little constipated now , i was interested in the post by the other person about her cats constipation so will keep an eye on that , i may also look into the raw diet and see how that works , i will be taking her for her first injections in three weeks and will be armed to the teeth with info about FHS , im so glad i found this site x

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I suspect the change in humour is mostly her being a little older, now she is what they call for a kitten.  Big enough to run, wrestle, do mischefs and make a nuisance - and no other kitten to do it with - as they say, its often easier to have two cats than just one.  And this is especielly for kittens.

The easy way out, is you get yourself another kitten. But perhaps better still, a friendly, cat sociale adult cat, who is still young enough to appreciate some merry chases and wrestling, and doesnt mind to be bitten in the tail...   He will also teach her not to bite too hard.  

Im not sure of your post, does she has diarrhea and you want help with that, or is she having constipation?

Anyway, there is a trick many practicioners use.  She is now old enough for it.  Get home  canned crushed pumpking, the plain sort.  We dont have it in Sweden, but our USA forumits knows what it is...

And use a little teaspoon with her wet food.  Several days running.  It wont help against real medical problems, but it helps nicely common everyday constipations, and also, de facto helps  against some types of diarrhea.

Good luck!

Hi Stefan 

Unfortunatly the kitty has got worse , she has managed to make a real mess of her tail , she is back at the vets tomorrow , she is still constipated , i have only just seen your post so will try to get some pumpkin if the vet doesnt give me anything , she is really unhappy , i cant figure if she is having the episodes because her tail hurts or her tail hurts because she keeps having the episodes if that makes any sense , im really hoping that its pain from the tail thats causing her episodes and not fhs as fixing her tail will be a lot easier than managing the syndrome , whattever it turns out to be we will do our best for her !!

What is she doing to her tail? She sounds very lonely to me. Since you do not have another cat, you will need to spend lots of time playing with her. She needs some toys: balls to roll and chase and stuffed mice to throw around. A toy on a string at the end of a stick that you can play with her is also a good idea.

I would also recommend that you buy some KMR (kitten milk replacement) at Walmart and mix it with kitten chow for nourishment. Just moisten it don't drown it. She needs the nutrition. Have you been giving her wet cat food and do you have a little dish of water? If she is constipated she needs the moisture from water, wet food, kitten milk.

Honestly, she sounds like she misses her mama. She is rather young to have been taken away. Be gentle with her so she trusts you. Put her food, water and litter box in your bedroom with her for now and help make her feel secure.

So glad you rescued this little one and are caring for her. Let us know about her tail and how it's going!

Hi 

I am feeding her wet kitten food and poached chicken , we had to take her to the vets again this morning , she already had an appointment for the afternoon but i needed to take her first thing , she made her tail bleed last evening when she had been put to bed , i decided it safer if i slept on sofa with her to stop her biting herself , i was shattered to get to work for 7 am lol !! the vet has given more antibiotics and some painkiller, because she is so young its hard to get a decent painkiller into her as they are all too strong but we were given something at least , i have ordered some of the rescue drops so hopefully they will help to calm her , she is cuddled all the time she loves attention , but when she has her episodes she is frightened , i know she is far too young to be away from her furmummy !! she has a buster collar on which she is stressing about so im in the process of trying to make my own kitty friendly version !! vet also said if she persists with the tail biting we should amputate !! hopefully we wont have to ! also the vet says the antibiotics and painkillers will probably unblock her bowels , we will see , sorry for the long post lol 

Presuming the vet has checked for any residual flees, or any possible cause for skin irritation in her tail?  Poor little thing being so tiny and frightened and in pain.  I hope you are able to find some less scary type of colar for her that means you can prevent her bothering her tail more.  Please do keep cuddling and reassuring this little kitten baby.  

Are there any other vets in your area who might have different opinions and perhaps offer another view on how to approach her distress other than to amputate her tail?

I would not allow the tail to be amputated. This kitten is likely going through a phase and is nervous/upset about something, and taking it out on her tail. I agree that you should seek the advice of another vet if this becomes an issue. I personally feel the kitten will get past this stage. I really believe this little kitten would do better with another furry friend around. It was nice of you to sleep with the baby. Hopefully the tail will heal & you can get the collar off and the kitty will be fine.

Yes I strongly feel you should find another vet who can work with you in ways that do not involve what seems to me to be extremely premature amputation.Cats tails are NOT just accessories but are actually ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL to their balance and communication.  They are also closely related to the spinal cord in cats and a botched amputation could have serious and far reaching consequences for your kitty. With that said, cats can live without tails, sure, but I really think it should not be the first line of thought to amputate.

Hi guys 

Thank you for your comments 

As soon as i got home from work this morning i got to making her a more kitty friendly collar , i have made a tube out of some soft fleece material and filled it with a lightweight pillow filler and threaded some ribbon through , she didnt like it at first but she is fine with it now she can eat and drink with it on and still fight with her favourite toy Maggie the maggot lol !! i have not left her alone for a second and even though i think she could get at her tail if she tried ,she hasnt ! which is great , she is quite fazed out with the pain killer and antibiotics and quite wobbly , i phoned the vet to check this was normal ! she said yes , a bit of  a scare though , when i took the plastic collar off she started to groom her legs and tummy but very aggresivly ,pulling at the skin , so i was quick to put the soft collar on ! i have been searching the internet to try to find another reason if any why she is so sensitive , and i think i may have found something 

When the vet frontline sprayed her she read the bottle and it said to use 3 sprays , she laughed and said that wouldnt be enough and sprayed quite a lot all over my kitty , looking into it , side effects of overdose of frontline , depression, timidness,fear, and over sensetivity to the skin !!!!, hundreds of people have hurt their pets with rhe stuff !

Macey is all of those things since the frontline !! so maybe it isnt FHS !

i truly hope so and maybe the symptoms of the flea treatment may go away ? i was wondering do you think it would help to bathe her ?

any comments are much appreciated , and again im so sorry for my long winded posta lol x

I would absolutely bathe her. Just don't get her head wet and dry her thoroughly. I believe you may have found the answer. I had full grown cats aggravated and pulling chunks of fur out years ago from spray-on flea products. I had to bathe them to stop the irritation, and they were so much better after. The stuff is probably burning her poor little skin. Ouch! You never mentioned until now that this treatment had been done to her.

By the way, please find a new vet. This woman who "laughs" about everything should have her license taken away. I would not take your precious kitten back to her.

Love the soft collar you made for her. Hopefully you won't need it soon. Let us know how she is after the bath. hollypeg

Hi 

It was my son who came to visit and asked if she had been treated for fleas , i told him what had happened and the alarm bells rang for him right away , we both started hunting for info then and there was lots to find !!, i am waiting for the delivery of a natural flea treatment and the omega 3 , i have got the rescue remedy and will be seeing how that goes ,

she is sat watching the news at the moment as its all about the new royal baby lol !! she hasnt stopped watching !!

i will try to bathe her this afternoon , i have some baby shampoo so i think thats the best option 

thank you so much for your responses 

Poor little kitten.  I hope you are able to find a way to get this little one more comfortable.   Take great care with any bathing as with being so small your kitten will be very vulnerable, esp to getting chilled.  There is a helpful article on TCS about bathing small kittens, I would post the link but having some problems with my cut and paste / internet today.   The article is in the top strip of interesting articles on the home page.  I hope it is useful.