sick ferral kitty - please Help!

texascdp · May 7, 2015

I have a 3 kitten litter of "tame" feral kittens - they are now about 5 weeks old. two are doing fine,,fat and appear healthy. they were all 3 fine until about a week ago and I found one in very bad shape. I'm not much of a cat person,,but have been trying to help this poor baby. She was "suddenly" totally skin over bones,,barely getting around, severe diarrhea. I took her to my vet (limited funds) - he gave her a b12 shot, nutri cal , anti -diarrhea meds and some antibiotics for me to administer. I have been giving the antibiotics and have been feeding her water and kitty replacement milk with an eye dropper. I was able to get her to try and eat some cat food the vet gave me (can food) and noticed that she is having great difficulty chewing...makes a terrible grinding sound and tilts her head to the side..seems like she is in pain . and, naturally she didn't eat very much. I have prepared some boiled chicken and mushed is to the max and she tries eating that and still difficulty. Can anyone help me with this problem. I figured out that the poor thing was actually slowly "starving to death" - apparently unable to suck or eat anything. She's doing good with me feeding with eye dropper kitty milk only. I know she's going to need more nutrition than just that,,,

Has anyone had any experience with this that can maybe help me help this kitten live?

Seems like the feeding process wears her out,,, and she has to lay down for a good while afterward. She will after a while get up and walk very very slowly. Seems like she might be putting on a little (very little) weight,,but I am so afraid she's not going to make it. ANY help / recommendation/ advice will be greatly appreciated. As most,,i have limited funds to take back to a vet. am hoping I can help the poor thing ....

Norachan · May 8, 2015

If she is having trouble chewing I'd stick to syringe feeding her for now. Can you get some A/D canned food? This is soft enough to be given through a syringe and is really good for sick animals.

http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-feline-ad-caninefeline-critical-care-canned.html

You could also try cooking up some broth for her. @ShadowsRescue posted instructions for how to make this in her thread. It's post Number 99, sorry I wasn't able to send you a direct link to the video.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/295873/...-after-8-months-of-being-gone/90#post_3740777

Feed her little and often, just one syringe full every hour if that's all she will take. Another thing that will keep her more comfortable is if you confine her to a crate with her bed and litter box so that she doesn't have to exert herself moving around. If it's cold where you are some kind of heat source, a heating pad or hot water bottle, will mean she doesn't spend to many calories keeping herself warm.

Is the mother cat still around?

StefanZ · May 8, 2015

Yes, as Nora-chan mentioned, a syringe is part of your answer. A needleless syringe. Say of 3 or 5 ml, as the kitten isnt newborn and need rather big helpings.

You got good tips. The kmr is also useful - unless its some inferior brand (which one kmr you do use?)

My tip is, if you can get raw goat milk, tis would be excellent.   Full fat bottled goat milk is useful too, but not so outstanding as the raw one.   They dont sell raw goat milk in shops, it must probably go by the word of mouth.

Some full fat, plain, unsweetened youghurt should also be OK to use.

And yes, I agree with you, much of her problems is she is undernourished, starving.

The othere part of the problem is this problem with eating - surely something serious, but I dont have any knowledge here -   it must also be taken care off, you will probably need a more skilled and experienced vet for this.   But its not the same hurry, so to speak.

Good luck!   @texascdp

ps. If salomonella in eggs is no problem at your place, you can have a raw egg yolk in the fluids, be it goat milk, kmr or whatever.

Some bought or home made pedialyte is also useful, to be sure she gots enough with electrolytes.

A mineral water may be used as a base... Let the gas out, and left is good water with plenty of salts and electrolytes. Use as it is here, or add a little glucose sugar...

StefanZ · May 9, 2015

texascdp said:
I have a 3 kitten litter of "tame" feral kittens - they are now about 5 weeks old. two are doing fine,,fat and appear healthy. they were all 3 fine until about a week ago and I found one in very bad shape. I'm not much of a cat person,,but have been trying to help this poor baby. She was "suddenly" totally skin over bones,,barely getting around, severe diarrhea. I took her to my vet (limited funds) - he gave her a b12 shot, nutri cal , anti -diarrhea meds and some antibiotics for me to administer. I have been giving the antibiotics and have been feeding her water and kitty replacement milk with an eye dropper. I was able to get her to try and eat some cat food the vet gave me (can food) and noticed that she is having great difficulty chewing...makes a terrible grinding sound and tilts her head to the side..seems like she is in pain . and, naturally she didn't eat very much. I have prepared some boiled chicken and mushed is to the max and she tries eating that and still difficulty. Can anyone help me with this problem. I figured out that the poor thing was actually slowly "starving to death" - apparently unable to suck or eat anything. She's doing good with me feeding with eye dropper kitty milk only. I know she's going to need more nutrition than just that,,,

Has anyone had any experience with this that can maybe help me help this kitten live?

Seems like the feeding process wears her out,,, and she has to lay down for a good while afterward. She will after a while get up and walk very very slowly. Seems like she might be putting on a little (very little) weight,,but I am so afraid she's not going to make it. ANY help / recommendation/ advice will be greatly appreciated. As most,,i have limited funds to take back to a vet. am hoping I can help the poor thing ....

It dawned on me while I was eating breakfast. This is prob no mysterious medical condition, the very most probable she got hurt in her jaws. Happened to fall down, or even somebody happened to kick her - if this is possible (it would be very possible with kittens still living outside). So its sooner a surgical problem of a crushed jaw, or something equivalent.

You will still want to consult a knowleable vet, of course, and possibly soon, so it wont heal the wrong way.

But fatting her up is of course the major priority, as she may die of sheer exhaustion, even if you manage the starvation as such.

StefanZ said:
Yes, as Nora-chan mentioned, a syringe is part of your answer. A needleless syringe. Say of 3 or 5 ml, as the kitten isnt newborn and need rather big helpings.

You got good tips. The kmr is also useful - unless its some inferior brand (which one kmr you do use?)

My tip is, if you can get raw goat milk, tis would be excellent.   Full fat bottled goat milk is useful too, but not so outstanding as the raw one.   They dont sell raw goat milk in shops, it must probably go by the word of mouth.

Some full fat, plain, unsweetened youghurt should also be OK to use.

And yes, I agree with you, much of her problems is she is undernourished, starving.

The othere part of the problem is this problem with eating - surely something serious, but I dont have any knowledge here - it must also be taken care off, you will probably need a more skilled and experienced vet for this.   But its not the same hurry, so to speak.

Good luck!   @texascdp

ps. If salomonella in eggs is no problem at your place, you can have a raw egg yolk in the fluids, be it goat milk, kmr or whatever.

Some bought or home made pedialyte is also useful, to be sure she gots enough with electrolytes.

A mineral water may be used as a base... Let the gas out, and left is good water with plenty of salts and electrolytes. Use as it is here, or add a little glucose sugar...

shadowsrescue · May 9, 2015

I am syringe feeding a stray cat right now. I use a magic bullet and put in cat food and some water or I have used some plain cooked chicken and the broth from the chicken. Blend it until smooth and able to get into a syringe. I started with the 3 ml and now am using a 6 ml. Watch some videos on youtube for instructions. It's not too difficult just time consuming and messy!!

The bone broth is amazing. My cat went from eating hardly anything thing to now eating so much better with the bone broth. It takes a full 24 hours to make, but within 6 hours you will have chicken and some regular broth. Give it a try.

sick ferral kitty - please Help!

texascdp

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