Thin Kitten, not gaining weight

On July 16th I trapped the last kitten of a litter of six, along with the mother cat. He is about 14 weeks old, now. At the end of last week I noticed he had started to become bony and thinner. At first I had wondered if he was thin compared to the other kittens because I had him for the least amount of time-- he got his dewormer a couple weeks after the other kittens and I thought maybe his weight issue was due to recovering from having worms. But when he had a stool sample tested this week there was no indication he had parasites-- there was concern he may have had giardia. The vet had asked me to feed him several times a day by himself to see if he was getting enough to eat. He still didn't gain any weight and lost a tiny amount over three days, so now he is completely separated from the other kittens and I am measuring how much he eats in a day. I am also providing him with Nuti-Cal to give him more nutrients. So far today he has had 1 tsp.

He was diagnosed with ring worm-- he had a scabby patch on his tail-- and has been on terbinafine this past week. Sometimes he has soft stools with diarrhea, then earlier he had straight up liquid diarrhea. It could be a side effect of the terbinafine, I don't know. But he had started looking thinner before he was on the medication, though his body weight about two+ weeks ago when he was first seen for the ring worm was okay. I did get some probiotic capsules from the vet to put on his food to see if that helps him. The vet said he didn't show signs of being dehydrated, but I got some unflavored Pedialyte for him, anyway.

Talking to the vet today, she was concerned that since he was the only kitten that developed ring worm that he may have a compromised immune system or some other congenital problem. Besides the parasite testing and testing for FIV and FeLV (both were negative) the vet hasn't really offered options for further testing. She did mention there was the possibility of doing an ultrasound. I wonder if he could have an issue with his pancreas, if he is not absorbing nutrients like he should? Maybe he has an infection? Right now we are trying to discern if he is even eating enough, first. But if he's not, I'm not really sure how to get him to eat more on his own or what that would mean.

Another thing that concerned me is he whines/cries a lot. I don't know if this is a sign he is upset or needy or lonely, or if he is talkative. I do my best to hold him/pay attention to him so he doesn't cry, but he also seems to be okay sleeping/resting in my room by himself sometimes. Right now he is asleep on the floor. He is also less rambunctious compared to the other kittens. He will play, is curious, and will complain if he is bored and wants to chase the string mouse around, but he doesn't seem to be quite as active as the other kittens.  I do wonder if stress is a factor, since he and the other kittens are quarantined to a couple different rooms in the house. It has to get boring and lonely. I have other cats, so they can't mingle and go wherever. All the cats get stressed out if they see each other, as well, so there's also that.

I just feel sick over him being worse off than when I found him... If anyone has had any similar experiences or info or advice, I'd really appreciate any input. Thank you for reading.

Here he is, Moby. He has a sweet face and big ears...
 

Unfortunately, that is the perfect description of a couple of kittens that I had (many years apart) who came in with dry FIP.  I am certainly not diagnosing this, but it started this way, failure to gain weight, fussiness, lack of appetite, sometimes better, sometimes worse, eventually never feeling good.  I do hope he gets better.  There isn't a simple test for FIP, unfortunately.  You can test them for the corona virus and if they are negative (only 25% of cats are negative generally speaking), then you can be certain THAT'S not the problem, but there's no way to know for sure if it is the problem except with the passing of time and the course of the disease.  All I can say is that if he were here, I would be very suspicious and watch him closely.  Check for low grade fever too.  Obviously his family has already been close with him, but if you have other cats that are indoor only cats, you may want to keep them separate from this group until you know for sure what's going on.  FIP is not contagious, but corona virus is.  Usually it's no big deal, causes no illness or a mild upper respiratory cold or an intestinal upset including diarrhea, and then passes.

Thanks for your response. The vet didn't mention FIP. He hasn't had a fever-- it's been in the normal range or however the vet put it. But I don't think they checked his temp when I brought him in today. The vet said he seemed healthy aside from his poor weight. His lungs are clear and the vet didn't mention that his abdomen appeared or felt distended or abnormal or anything like that. But I will ask about this when I talk to the vet again and ask about what tests they'd recommend. Moby has an appetite, at least, he wants to eat. It's just that for whatever reason he may not be taking in as much as he should. But I don't know for certain, right now.

I keep my cats separated from the kittens and mother cat and I wash my hands after interacting with them, but I don't change my clothes or shoes after holding them or going in their room. They never had fleas, so I wasn't worried about spreading fleas throughout the house via clothing transfer. I've tried hard to keep their litter boxes cleaned, as I didn't want them to be reinfected with worms, but they do go to the bathroom a lot so it isn't always as sanitary as I'd like... And kittens aren't very cleanly. But I have made it a point to keep their litter as clean as possible and my cats don't go into their area or anything. Were the kittens you had  that had FIP in another shelter? The mom cat and the kittens were captured from outdoors and they have only been around one another since then.

I am concerned that at least two of the other kittens have had diarrhea. But this could be because of the ring worm meds they're all on, I don't know. Or I wonder if it's possible they could still have parasites that the screening didn't catch... I plan on taking the other kittens to the vet soon this upcoming week to get their weights checked and have them evaluated.

The diarrhea could be from giardia or coccidia. Have any of the kittens been tested for either of those parasites, or treated for them?

You might want to discuss the diarrhea, along with treatment options, with your vet as well. Parasites can cause diarrhea and weight loss, as can bacterial infections in the digestive tract.

Keep us posted!

Dear Deep Search,

I am a human consultant physician in internal medicine, not a vet, but there is an axiom that I find very useful when I am puzzled by a patient - if you don't know what is wrong, after examining carefully and performing the relevant tests, then treat expectantly by waiting. 

One of only three possibilities can happen: 

1. The patient will get better - and you have cured him. 

2. He will get worse and the diagnosis will emerge

3. The patient stays the same - so you wait longer.

This seems to me to apply, not only in humans but also to your kitten's case!  You may wish to discuss this with your vet.

With regards,

Geoffrey

This in no cure for everything, but useful anyway in many cases: if you can get raw goat milk - preferably fresh, but frozen is OK too - this may make a difference sometimes.  If you have the possibility to choose, take the most fresh you can find.

Bottled or powdered full fat goats milk is useful too, as food or as supplement, but its not the same edge.

If you can get it, please try with it.  May be that little extra on the scale making it switch into the right side.

@DeepSearch

sunshineclare said:

Hi Geoffrey, thanks for your reply. As written we didn't see an osteopath so not sure where you got that from. I'd rather not go into loads of detail about my partner here as I'd rather stick to cats and their carrying the corona virus! There's clearly 2 trains of thought: people open to alternatives to the main pharma western hospital way of thinking and people who are not. Fine to be in either camp, do what works for you. Sometimes a combination of both. I know what has worked for my partner [emoji]128578[/emoji]
Back to cats anyway; I read on another thread that the corona virus can be an indication that cats might have FIV? Is this correct? And it's only a factor? Ie they could carry the corona virus and not have FIV or they could contract FIV without the corona virus? I'm just interested [emoji]128578[/emoji] Thank you for any replies. [emoji]128578[/emoji]

Click to expand...

I must apologise about confusing 'osteopathy' with 'homeopathy', I tend to get confused about the various --pathys in the alternative treatment of disease in humans.  Please substitute the word 'homeopathy' for 'osteopathy' in my previous answer as homeopathy is just as unsuitable for the treatment of coronary heart disease as is osteopathy.

Incidentally  controlled trials have shown that treatment with homeopathy is no more effective than giving a placebo.

With best wishes,

Geoffrey

Geoffrey - that's your opinion and you're welcome to share it if you feel the need as you clearly did. Lol, the fact that you think any profession that takes YEARS to study that ends with 'opathy' can all be lumped together speaks volumes about how open minded you are or are not about trying every possible thing to help your patients.

There are millions of people worldwide who would disagree with you, and they are just as entitled to hold their opinions. You have your world view based on your life experiences to date. Just as everyone else has theirs. Every persons is just as valid, whether you personally or I personally agree with it or not. We have to do the best for ourselves, our family and pets based on our life experiences and quest for knowledge and information.

Let's stick to cats eh?! I wish you all the best for a wonderful 2017 and hope you had a lovely Christmas.

If anyone else can offer any input re cats carrying the corona virus and or passing it on to humans, id be most interested to hear it, I might start a new thread also. Best wishes cat lovers [emoji]128578[/emoji]

I apologize, I never updated this post. My kitten, Moby, started gaining weight within a week or so,  his body condition really improved pretty rapidly. He was separated from his siblings and mother for all that time so the amount of food he ate could be monitored and he couldn't be crowded out by the other kittens during meal times. When I took him back to the vet for his vaccinations, she speculated he had just been feeling unwell due to having ringworm and the medicine prescribed to treat it was probably also putting him off eating to some extent--  it could cause stomach upset and had a terribly foul taste. Also stress could have been a factor, as he had to acclimate to living inside with people.

I believe his horrible diarrhea was caused by canned KMR, as he really started having terribly liquid stool after adding a lot of it to his food. He liked it and I was rather desperate to get him to eat adequate amounts, but after he was eating enough solid foods I took him off the kitten milk and he had no more diarrhea. All the other kittens in the litter did well after taking them off the milk and didn't have any further health issues.

Moby today, about 7 & 1/2 months old:
 
He looks a little chubby when he is lying down-- his cat pajamas are rather loose as he's still growing.

I decided to keep him partly because I was afraid he could still have a serious undiagnosed medical condition and I feared his health could deteriorate in a shelter due to stress. But he has had no more problems and he was fit to be fixed in Sept. He is still a very chatty/whiny kitten, so I guess that is just the way he is...

How does that quote go... You're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts. Opinion is not knowledge.

That's great to hear [emoji]128578[/emoji] Glad you kept him and are looking after him [emoji]128578[/emoji]

deepsearch

He looks great!

Just FYI - the liquid KMR in the can tends to cause diarrhea in kittens, hence, I always recommend the powdered KMR that is mixed with water. Kittens seem to do much better on it, and it contains probiotics as well. [emoji]128522[/emoji]

Thank you. When he stands up he isn't so flubby... Next to my 8 year old male cat Hal he looks smaller. And he is still a bit oddly proportioned, I guess, being at an "awkward stage" of sorts.
 
Yeah, I figured that out about KMR after the fact, but thanks for the info. In the future I will definitely get the powdered formula, when needed. Canned goat's milk would also probably have been good to add to the kittens' food. Or goat's milk yogurt. I've fed goat yogurt to weaning kittens in the past, they really loved it and it didn't cause any digestive issues. Moby and his siblings weren't crazy about the whole cow's milk yogurt I offered to them a few times, so maybe the goat's milk just has a milder flavor they'd prefer.

Cats are lactose intolerant, so goat's milk yogurt is best. Cow's milk products cause tummy upset. Best to avoid all cow's milk products. [emoji]128522[/emoji]