Baby Kitten-- Not sure what's wrong

Hey everyone, I'm new here. I just made this account because I'm not sure who to ask, and I know this doesn't substitute as veterinary advice or anything. We got this kitten from these people, she was so tiny. We named her Molly, and were told that she is 6 weeks old. There was absolutely no way. I took her to the vet, and they guessed around 4 weeks. They weighed her at 1lb ( old non-digital scale) but our digital scale says about 11.5oz is her weight. I was told to stop the KMR and put her onto wet cat food and did so. We noticed she was getting really stinky, and discovered the corn-cob clumping litter the vet told us to buy, was getting stuck in her paws, along with her poo. I took her into the bathroom to brush her off, and she had full on diarrhea, it got all over everything. Today I just realized too, that she had went from 14 oz, down to 11.5 again. We had no idea that she had diarrhea because she buried it so well. We took her completely off of the wet food, and put her back on the KMR. ( When she was on that, her stool was fully formed, and she was steadily gaining weight). She's not acting sick, she still runs and attacks our feet. I'm switching out her cat litter to a non-clump litter. I don't really know what else to do, or what else to look for. She also has been vomiting since being on wet food. The vet also gave her some de-worming liquid, but I would think if she had a reaction to that it would have been same day, or day after.

I'm just really worried, because the same people we go her from, we baby sat a kitten for them for two weeks. He was very lethargic and we took him to the vet to find out that he had intussusception  due to possible feline HIV, and we had to put him down. That was so sad, he was only about a few months old. I just want this baby to be okay.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Am I doing right by switching her back to KMR? Could it be that the vet didn't age her right due to the scale not being accurate, and the food be too much for her belly at this point? 

Thank you all so much!

Yes, switching her back to the KMR was the right thing to do.  As well as changing the litter to non-clumping.  Kittens begin weaning at around 4 weeks, some start later.  It should be a gradual change and you will start the weaning by mixing the KMR with wet food and making a mush for the kitten.  The mush will be easier for the kitten to eat than the wet food alone.

Changing the food so quickly is probably what caused the diarrhea.  You may want to get some unflavored pedialyte  and mix the KMR (posder form) with it if she still has the diarrhea to stave of dehydration.  Small kittens don't have a lot of reserves and it doesn't take much to send them downhill.

As the kitten grows she will need more food.  You  should weigh her at the same time every day.  Feed her 8 ml/cc per ounce of her weight during 24 hours.  Or (Weight times 8) divided by # of feeding in a day.  Assuming you are feeding every 3 hours she should be getting 11.5 ml at each feeding.  If you are feeding every 4 hours it should be 15.5 ml at each feeding.  when you add the wet food, she may not want or need as much formula.

Since the kitten is still on KMR  you will need to burp the kitten after each feeding and help the kitten to pee and poop after each feeding.  Begin by rubbing the belly using a damp cloth then tapping above the anus.  When she begins  eating solid food you will introduce the litter box.

You also want to clean the kitten using a warm  damp wash cloth imitating the mother cat cleaning her.  Eventually she will begin to clean herself.

You are now a mom cat!  Congratulations!

Keep using this thread for questions.

Handsome Kitty said:

 
Yes, switching her back to the KMR was the right thing to do.  As well as changing the litter to non-clumping.  Kittens begin weaning at around 4 weeks, some start later.  It should be a gradual change and you will start the weaning by mixing the KMR with wet food and making a mush for the kitten.  The mush will be easier for the kitten to eat than the wet food alone.

Changing the food so quickly is probably what caused the diarrhea.  You may want to get some unflavored pedialyte  and mix the KMR (posder form) with it if she still has the diarrhea to stave of dehydration.  Small kittens don't have a lot of reserves and it doesn't take much to send them downhill.

As the kitten grows she will need more food.  You  should weigh her at the same time every day.  Feed her 8 ml/cc per ounce of her weight during 24 hours.  Or (Weight times 8) divided by # of feeding in a day.  Assuming you are feeding every 3 hours she should be getting 11.5 ml at each feeding.  If you are feeding every 4 hours it should be 15.5 ml at each feeding.  when you add the wet food, she may not want or need as much formula.

Since the kitten is still on KMR  you will need to burp the kitten after each feeding and help the kitten to pee and poop after each feeding.  Begin by rubbing the belly using a damp cloth then tapping above the anus.  When she begins  eating solid food you will introduce the litter box.

You also want to clean the kitten using a warm  damp wash cloth imitating the mother cat cleaning her.  Eventually she will begin to clean herself.

You are now a mom cat!  Congratulations!

Keep using this thread for questions.

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Excellent advices.   Other nice food additions to try with, may be;  goat milk, some plain youghurt, minced meat, gerber unflavored baby food...   Some nice probiotic if you run into more diarrhea problems.   Although it is better to give proper good food sensibly proportioned, and thus avoid stomach disturbances, than to regulate stomach disturbances by probiotics...

In bold "posder" it was meant as powder;  as powder KMR seems more reliable than their liquid version.  Its true for the brand of KMR by PetAg, but possibly also for other brands.

Definitely be careful when switching diets, always introduce very slowly, especially when switching from formula to solids - I'm surprised the vet even suggested going cold turkey.

In regards to the kitty litter, be careful with clumping kitty litter or crystals - they can be fatal to small kittens if ingested, I stick to the paper pellets and it doesn't stick to their bums.

So, we rescued this kitten from a terrible home and she is an indoor cat which is why we were waiting to spay her. When we first got her we were told she was 8-12 weeks old but a vet told us she was actually 3-4! So we figured out the day she got out and that was about 4 weeks ago. She's 18 weeks old today according to the vet which means she was under 4 months old when she got pregnant.

I've been doing a lot of thinking and I think the vet that we see is not experienced with cats. She IS pregnant. I see the babies and feel them, her nips are pink, she's gaining weight etc. When the vet aged her they did it by her weight and teeth. Now, if she was the runt, could she be slower to develop her molars, gain weight, etc?? So that would mean she's older than we think she is, that's the only explanation of how she's pregnant too. Also, will she be ok having her babies? If she was the runt that means she is actually 23-24 weeks old.

Just wanted to give some background info. Basically: 1) cant runts develop slower and be misaged especially by an inexperienced cat vet? 2) She's been given a clean bill of health, is it possible for her to survive labor?

Thank you!

* We already have people in line to adopt the babies. They're all people I personally know. Thought I'd throw that out there *

Can you post pics of the kitten, when you first got her and now. 

I would find another vet for a second opinion.  If you have rescues or a shelter nearby, contact them for names of vets that work with young kittens.  I have a feeling you may need one when it's time to deliver.

Apparently she's " too busy" for pictures lol! The side and top views are kind of blurry.

That was when we first got her.
This was before we knew she was pregnant. 12/7. The babies were conceived the Thursday before Thanksgiving.

These were all just now.

I will call shelters about vets today! Thank You!

She's very cute.  I'm no expert but others are and will be able to guesstimate her age from the pics.

She barely looks five months old to me, so I think your vet is correct. If she conceived on Nov. 19th, she is just now 4 weeks pregnant. I strongly suggest a termination and spay. Cat pregnancy runs close to 10 weeks, so she's not quite halfway. Next week would be a good time to spay her as the kittens are not viable and your kitten will not know the difference.

Kittens can easily get pregnant at 4 months old, and the best way for vets to tell age is by the teeth. She is much too young to have kittens, and may end up needing a C- section because she is so small herself. C-sections run about $1,000.

She also deserves to enjoy her own kitten hood, so spaying and terminating would be the kindest thing you can do. She has no business having kittens right now. It's a shame she got out.

I hope you will seriously consider this.