Three days ago I was given two kittens from two different people. The younger kitten though healthy came with a crazy amount of fleas. Not so bad considering how gosh darn cute it is so we are just dealing with it and now his fleas or gone. The second cat which is older (5-6 weeks) turns out to be in very bad shape. The man didn't tell us about her problems but we knew something was wrong when she had diarrhea all over the back seat of the car. We hoped with proper diet it would go away but today is day 3 and she still got it. Plus since last night she have only been drinking water and not playing as much as she did on day 2 with the other kitten. She just want to sleep. So I took her to the vet an hour ago and the doctor told me that there is something lodged in her stomach/ abdominal and she would need x Ray and surgery. Omg. I was just gonna pay the 75$ to get her vaccinated and dewormed and hoped that would help the problem but no.. It's much worse. I looked up the cost of all that and it's 1000+$ for everything she would have to go through. Money we won't have until our new jobs start. We are going to try and ride it out and hope she don't die while we try to put the total cost up but it won't be until maybe 2 months until we will have the cash. How would anybody handle this situation?
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I was given a sick kitten :(
- Thread starter jyxx
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TThe loose poop could be from worms.
you can try canned pumpkin mixed in the food/formula to stop the loose poop.
adult cats get around 1 tsp daily for constipation or loose poop-a kitten would be less. try 1/4 tsp mixed into the food. it takes about 12-24 hours to work.
You can try calling around other vets-maybe they feel something in the stomach due to worms. would they let you give it dewormer meds? especially if you don't know the history? Not sure what age you can start the dewormer-hopefully someone chimes in-in the meantime try the canned pumpkin.
also loose stools could be from too many changes in the diet-try to stick to one brand/flavor food for a few weeks to let the stomach get adjusted.
you can syringe water and food if kitten gets too lethargic.
you can try canned pumpkin mixed in the food/formula to stop the loose poop.
adult cats get around 1 tsp daily for constipation or loose poop-a kitten would be less. try 1/4 tsp mixed into the food. it takes about 12-24 hours to work.
You can try calling around other vets-maybe they feel something in the stomach due to worms. would they let you give it dewormer meds? especially if you don't know the history? Not sure what age you can start the dewormer-hopefully someone chimes in-in the meantime try the canned pumpkin.
also loose stools could be from too many changes in the diet-try to stick to one brand/flavor food for a few weeks to let the stomach get adjusted.
you can syringe water and food if kitten gets too lethargic.
Now, before you get into this complicated surgery, do take a second opinion... did the vet suggested some dewormer?
I mean, its fully possible he felt something inside him, but having hefty diarrhea isnt the most usual symptom.
So work on double traces - conservatively against the diarrhea and beginning lethargy - and get a second opinion of operation is necessary. Or even X-ray.
During the meantime, give her pedialyte. I will send a write up on pedialyte in next mail. the weakness may be because of losses of fluids and electrolytes.
Btw, its too early to even think about vaccinations, esp if the kitten isnt stable yet. But deworming yes, sure.
Deworming with Pyrantel against round worms is standard But as the younger kitten was flea infested, he should be dewormed against tape worms too. At least after a while, when they had developed. Do you have Milbomax where you live?
Re good kitten kmr - goats milk is always an alternative. Can you get raw goats milk?
Otherwise - what kmr do you have access to? PetAgs KMR in powder perhaps?
Pedialyte:
Re homemade pedialyte, Im reusing a couple of my older posts. If it seems lenghy, the most important recipe is at the end.
Pedialyte:
Now, as the sugar source, I use always glucose sugar (dextrose, dextropur). Its easy to get in Sweden, most well equipped food shops do carry the powder. There are also flavored sweeties, heavily used by students and wanna be sportsmen, made of glucose sugar.
So for me its no big deal to use the proper ingredient, instead of using emergency replacements.
For american forumites whom have difficulties to find glucose sugar proper, there is always white caro syrup, or even honey - honey does contain some glucose, and white caro syrup contains much glucose sugar. In some brands its perhaps even essentially liquid glucose sugar.
Common sugar works too, but much slower, as it must be digested.. While glucose doesnt need to be digested, it goes into blood directly from the stomach, yes, even from the lips and mouth.
These whom tried both, are astonished how quickly glucose works, practically instantly.
As salt source, I use minerale salt. Also common in shops here in Sweden. This salt contains several different minerales, not just the NaCl in the usual kitchen salt. Including this potassium K salt.
A nice base for salt sources is simple a bottle of good minerale water. These do typically contain a lotsa of different salts, in suitable concentration. Look at the label!
Let the gas out, add the glucose sugar source, and voilá! you got a terrific home made pedialyte...
Common kitchen salt is OK if you dont have anything else, but its too "poverty" if you use the pedialyte more than occasionally.
A third recipe is, you use water from well cooked rice. In practice its heavily over cooked.
And add salt to it, preferably such a minerale salt mentioned above...
This rice water contains lotsa of glucose sugar. This variation of pedialyte probably extra useful in some types of diarrhea, as water from overcooked rice is in itself one of the remedies against diarrhea. At least, the emergency doc gave us the recipe when I was a child and sick in diarrhea...
A nice combination should be, a homemade pedialyte on such an overboilded rice, in water of mineral water.
Here we get both natural glucose sugar, lotsa of good mineral salts, and the rests from rice whom are good when having a diarrhea. After all, such rice water is a classical home remedy for humans with diarrhea...
There is of course bought pedialyte, which can be used too. Some of the brands have too much funny ingredients, though. But if desperate, can be used.
My recommendation for bough pedialyte is, flavorless pedialyte for babies. This is OK for cats.
Re homemade pedialyte, Im reusing a couple of my older posts. If it seems lenghy, the most important recipe is at the end.
Pedialyte:
Now, as the sugar source, I use always glucose sugar (dextrose, dextropur). Its easy to get in Sweden, most well equipped food shops do carry the powder. There are also flavored sweeties, heavily used by students and wanna be sportsmen, made of glucose sugar.
So for me its no big deal to use the proper ingredient, instead of using emergency replacements.
For american forumites whom have difficulties to find glucose sugar proper, there is always white caro syrup, or even honey - honey does contain some glucose, and white caro syrup contains much glucose sugar. In some brands its perhaps even essentially liquid glucose sugar.
Common sugar works too, but much slower, as it must be digested.. While glucose doesnt need to be digested, it goes into blood directly from the stomach, yes, even from the lips and mouth.
These whom tried both, are astonished how quickly glucose works, practically instantly.
As salt source, I use minerale salt. Also common in shops here in Sweden. This salt contains several different minerales, not just the NaCl in the usual kitchen salt. Including this potassium K salt.
A nice base for salt sources is simple a bottle of good minerale water. These do typically contain a lotsa of different salts, in suitable concentration. Look at the label!
Let the gas out, add the glucose sugar source, and voilá! you got a terrific home made pedialyte...
Common kitchen salt is OK if you dont have anything else, but its too "poverty" if you use the pedialyte more than occasionally.
A third recipe is, you use water from well cooked rice. In practice its heavily over cooked.
And add salt to it, preferably such a minerale salt mentioned above...
This rice water contains lotsa of glucose sugar. This variation of pedialyte probably extra useful in some types of diarrhea, as water from overcooked rice is in itself one of the remedies against diarrhea. At least, the emergency doc gave us the recipe when I was a child and sick in diarrhea...
A nice combination should be, a homemade pedialyte on such an overboilded rice, in water of mineral water.
Here we get both natural glucose sugar, lotsa of good mineral salts, and the rests from rice whom are good when having a diarrhea. After all, such rice water is a classical home remedy for humans with diarrhea...
There is of course bought pedialyte, which can be used too. Some of the brands have too much funny ingredients, though. But if desperate, can be used.
My recommendation for bough pedialyte is, flavorless pedialyte for babies. This is OK for cats.
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Quick question - Did the vet agree with how old they are? They look much older based on your photos in the other post. It will make a difference in treatment.
J
jyxx
Your poor kitty! A sick kitten should never be vaccinated until healthy.
I am not convinced your kitten needs surgery. I would take the kitten to another vet right away. My guess is that your kitten has a bacterial infection and needs antibiotics. What color is the diarrhea? This is very important to know.
If the kitten is not eating, I suggest that you pick up some Gerber turkey baby food. It smells good, is easy to lap, and easy to digest. You will also want to give the kitten clear pedialyte with a syringe, one to two mLs at a time to start. He needs to stay hydrated. Plain canned pumpkin also helps diarrhea, just a teaspoon.
I'm so sorry you are dealing with this, but thank you for caring for both kittens. Please see another vet for medicine, and let me know the color of the diarrhea.
Your poor kitty! A sick kitten should never be vaccinated until healthy.
I am not convinced your kitten needs surgery. I would take the kitten to another vet right away. My guess is that your kitten has a bacterial infection and needs antibiotics. What color is the diarrhea? This is very important to know.
If the kitten is not eating, I suggest that you pick up some Gerber turkey baby food. It smells good, is easy to lap, and easy to digest. You will also want to give the kitten clear pedialyte with a syringe, one to two mLs at a time to start. He needs to stay hydrated. Plain canned pumpkin also helps diarrhea, just a teaspoon.
I'm so sorry you are dealing with this, but thank you for caring for both kittens. Please see another vet for medicine, and let me know the color of the diarrhea.
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