Please help me keep this kitten alive! :(

My gf found a small box with a very tiny kitten in it on a sidewalk by her work. The kitten was barely alive and squeaking softly for food and warmth so my gf immediately brought her home to render some care. First thing we did was buy powdered kitten milk by Pet AG called PetLac and bottle feed the kitten. Then we gave it a warm bath with dawn dish wash soap to get rid of the incredible amount of fleas it had. We have a heating pad set up in the bathroom with a small nest comprised of clothes for the kitten to sleep in. it's hard to say just how old this tiny thing is but it seems to be less than 2 weeks old. While taking care of the kitten we noticed 2 things:

1) One of her eyes has a discharge and is keeping her eyes shut closed. 

2) She has diarrhea 

We've been using boiled water and cotton pads to clean her eye. This has made things slightly better but the discharge is still there. 

Her diarrhea is a weird green color and its getting us extremely worried. We've been using unflavored pedialyte to reconstitute the powdered kitten milk to try and alleviate her diarrhea but so far, no luck(its been 2 days now). 

We need to take her to the vet, I know; but we both work full time and we don't have time until this weekend to do this. Is there anything you guys here can recommend we try to try and help this kitten survive? 

I've attached some pictures of the products we're currently using along with a couple of shots of the color of her diarrhea. 

Please help!

I think you had done very good so far.  The PetAg is a good producer, so their PetLac should be good too.

What is it with Hartz, you are using it solely as a bottle?  good then.    She takes the bottle, no problem?

And the kmr is warmed up to body temp, right?

You can give her a stuffed animal as companion.  Carrying at your chest is effective too - not only for warmth - as you made her nest warm and comfy, but for getting human live warmth - helps up her will to survive, to fight on.

Pedialyte is good.  You have a good brand.   I would suggest, you  also give some few drops in between the feedings too.

Re washing off the eye, you can have some salt in that water, ie a saline water.

Although good you are planning to go to the vet.  If you have several vets, take the one whom is used to work with small weak kittens....  Not all are.

Her age seems to be nearer 3 weeks.  She is prob somewhat undernourished, but seems also to have a slim bodybuild - perhaps of the Oriental-alike type.

Do you have possibility to get raw goat milk? fresh or frozen?  It could be worth a try.

Some nice probiotic is good, PetAgs  BeneBac is made especielly for small kittens, although there are also other brands too.

moomooqueencat said:

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• moomooqueencat
• Oct 28, 2015

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• moomooqueencat
• Oct 28, 2015

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You are doing everything right. I had a litter of kittens back in March where in which I had one baby that was having discharge from his eyes. The bowel problem I didn't have...in fact I had the opposite problem. With the eye problem just keep wiping her eyes with the warm cotton ball when you see it. As for the bowel problem may I suggest some water. She may have a cold in her eyes. My fur baby still has slight problems with his eyes but mostly now it is dark....kind of like sleep in his eyes. She is getting a lot of nutrition with the formula and pedilite but she needs water also. Give it a couple days to start working. She may be getting a little too much of the nutrition and needs the water to balance it all out.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll go check out some probiotics later tonight and I'll try using some saline solution for her eye. I just really want her diarrhea to stop... Im so paranoid that every time I put her down to sleep, will be the last time  

SpiritMama said:

You are doing everything right. I had a litter of kittens back in March where in which I had one baby that was having discharge from his eyes. The bowel problem I didn't have...in fact I had the opposite problem. With the eye problem just keep wiping her eyes with the warm cotton ball when you see it. As for the bowel problem may I suggest some water. She may have a cold in her eyes. My fur baby still has slight problems with his eyes but mostly now it is dark....kind of like sleep in his eyes. She is getting a lot of nutrition with the formula and pedilite but she needs water also. Give it a couple days to start working. She may be getting a little too much of the nutrition and needs the water to balance it all out.

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So should i mix her KMR with just water for one of her meals? Or should I try giving her straight water?

Straight water. I used a siringe. It was easier then the bottle for me at least. And yes she looks about three weeks old. Start getting her used to water so it will be easier also to get to drink it out of a bowl.

About the vet thing I would get a stool sample and drop it off at least until the weekend. You just drop it off sometimes they charge you up front sometimes after you bring them in next time it depends. They just will call you if the kitty has any worms or anything from the sample.

SpiritMama said:

Straight water. I used a siringe. It was easier then the bottle for me at least. And yes she looks about three weeks old. Start getting her used to water so it will be easier also to get to drink it out of a bowl.

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I just tried to give her some water and she threw a tiny tantrum. I don't want to over feed her so I just put her back in her nest and she's back asleep now haha. 

She doesn't need extra water if you are giving her pedialyte.

Handsome Kitty said:

 
She doesn't need extra water if you are giving her pedialyte.

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thats good to know I just thought water for a dehydrated kitten couldn't hurt so I tried it anyways. Im going to spread her meals a little further apart to see if that will help with her diarrhea 

In about another week you can buy some chicken and gravy baby food and dip your finger into it and have them lick it off, great way to get a kitten like them some extra calories later on when they are able to. 

How often and how much are you feeding her? I wouldn't cut down on frequency. She needs as many calories as you can get into her.

M moomooqueencat

This kitten is not 3 weeks old. It is younger. It needs the formula mixed with pedialyte every 4 hours around the clock!

The amount is based on the kitten's weight. You need to weigh the kitten daily on a kitchen scale to ensure it is gaining 6-10 grams a day. The kitten needs 8 mL's of formula for every ounce of weight. If the kitten weighs 6 ounces, for instance, it will need 48 ml's of formula over a 24-hour period, divided by the number of feedings. If you feed every 4 hours it will need 8 mL's of formula at each feeding. More is better, and the amount is increased as the kitten gains weight.

The green diarrhea is not good. I suspect coccidia as the cause. The kitten needs an antibiotic ASAP from the vet, along with terramycin antibiotic eye ointment for the eye infection, which is common in newborn kittens. Keeping the eye clean and open in the meantime is excellent.

The kitten needs to be fed around the clock every 4 hours, and needs immediate vet care to survive. Waiting for the weekend is risky, as a kitten with this diarrhea can go downhill quickly.

I suggest you take the kitten to the vet early in the morning and explain the issues, then leave the kitten for the day and pick it up after work. The vet techs will feed it, and they can begin treating the diarrhea and the eye.

Good luck, and please let us know how it goes.

moomooqueencat said:

 
So should i mix her KMR with just water for one of her meals? Or should I try giving her straight water?

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Pedialyte for extra for now, as she has diarrhea.  Pedialyte give her the salts and electrolytes she loses, and also, is somewhat a stopper in itself.

The question is possibly, if you shall mix the KMR with water or with pedialyte.

ps. I agree with the others, you shall not give her less often - its sooner the other way around,  somewhat smaller portions but more often.

And yes, that diarrhea needs a vet help.  Why Im not promting is bc you said you could get the vet first at weekend.  If you cant so you cant.

But the treatment for diarrhea really needs to be taken care of earlier...  Yes, its probably coccidia or some similiar parasite induced diarrhea.

UPDATE: 

We've decided to name the little kitten Pumpkin. Pumpkin is about 3 weeks old and weighs 8 ounces. 

We took her to the vet 2 days ago to see if we could at least find out what was wrong with her. The vet basically said that they needed to do a fecal test and also test her for FIV. They did the blood test and she came back negative for whatever it was they tested her for. When I told the vet about her diarrhea and the weird color of it he just said it was probably worms. He gave her a dewormer and said to wait a WEEK to see if she gets any better. He said we can do the fecal test then. 

It's been 2 days since the vet visit and now Pumpkin is not eating and being super lethargic. She's no longer meowing every 3 hours for food. I've resorted to force feeding 10 mL of KMR reconstituted with all pedialyte every 2-3 hours with a syringe. It's really heart breaking to see Pumpkin wasting away. I don't know what I'm supposed to do at this point. She's obviously lost some weight and I know that's a big no no for kittens. Am i doing the right thing by force feeding her with a syringe? Is her lack of appetite and her lethargic behavior a side effect of getting dewormed? What should I do? 

Please help!

Sounds like she needs an antibiotic and very quickly. Like Sarthur suggested earlier. I'd be taking her to another vet and ASAP. I hope she makes it

update: sadly, Pumpkin passed away this morning. We were going to take her to the vet in the morning too.... thank you everybody for your suggestions. 

Please ignore the SOS GoFundMe thread I put up about 3 or so hours ago. 

I'm so sorry to hear that.  You did all you could and gave her warmth, love and food. 

Oh no I'm so sorry. Poor baby. This is so sad.bless you for trying xx

Very sorry to read this update.  We will close the thread now out of respect for your loss.  The TCS Team  invites you to post a tribute to this little girl in our Crossing the Bridge forum if you wish:  http://www.thecatsite.com/f/19/crossing-the-bridge