Foster Journal - Second Wave

The Humane Society has been hit with the second big wave of kitten season here. Twelve bottle baby litters and several moms and babies were surrendered in the last ten days.

Well, the Foster coordinator called and begged us to take a litter of five bottle babies a couple days ago. I thought I'd record their progress here, and, of course, post the obligatory seven billion pictures.

The story is that a female cat was found deceased four days before the kittens were located. They were apparently hypothermic and dehydrated when they got dropped off. Still, I don't believe they were alone for four days. I don't think they would have survived (unless there were two queens around maybe?).

There are three boys (one black with a stumpy tail and two black and white), and two girls (one black smoke and one black and white). I'll post pics later today when the light gets better.

From my estimation they're about 2 1/2 weeks old. Eyes and ears open, crawling (sorta), but still sleepy most of the time. They're latching pretty well to the bottle, so I can't complain there.

Aww, how sweet! Thank you for fostering them. It's sad when they lose their mommy. I look forward to watching them grow! [emoji]10084[/emoji]️

So Cute!

Well unfortunately they've developed very pale poop (tan or green usually, with some mucus or particles occasionally) since switching their formula to the Walmart PetAg variety. They were on the PetAg brand with blue packaging, but I ran out so I picked up the pink PetAg KMR from Walmart. The blue was from the Foster dept so I don't know where to buy it. They do have a slightly different ingredient order and slightly different nutritional values.

Since then I've seen pale stools, one was practically white (overfeedng? undigested? liver problems? coccidia?). The foster coordinator said to keep giving them extra diluted formula and use subq when needed to keep up hydration. I'm also going to give pumpkin at the next feed. They all are interested in eating still, but one seems to have decided she is going to be difficult to feed and either won't latch or takes forever. She will take some plain cooked ground turkey enthusiastically, but she's quite bad at actually eating it.

That kitten in particular seemed more tired than usual at the last feeding, but I'm not sure if it was lethargy or normal sleepiness. I'll find out next feeding I guess. Hopefully she'll have a good appetite.

This feeding went surprisingly well. There was no diarrhea, and no wet babies that got peed on by each other. Everyone ate super well. The formula is diluted to 1 part powder 4 parts water right now, with pumpkin mixed in. They were all quite enthusiastic.
There was a pale poop but not was darker than before. I also gave a bit of pro-pectalin last feeding so maybe that helped.

A big-chain pet store would carry the formula you originally used, or you can find it online at Amazon.

I think the physical change in the kittens' poops is related to the formula change. Anytime diet is changed it usually results in gastro-intestinal changes that can take time to resolve.

I'm glad to hear that you've come up with solutions that seem to be working in the meantime! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

I would think that a pet store would have the original formula too, but I only found GNC and PetAg weaning formula at the Petsmart and Petco, so I'll have to ask the Foster dept for more.

So does Walmart have a special PetAg version? I find it strange that it's not the same. They both say for kittens 0-6 weeks, so it's not an age thing.

This is the one that we got from the humane society.

This is the one from walmart.

did you look at the ingredients? any change in them?  The one from Wal-mart says PLUS on the container. What is the plus for??  Also the blue can is in French...

I have seen the blue can in Petco and PetSmart...

My Pet Smart here in Florida carries the blue kitten formula. So does a smaller, independent pet shop in my area. I think PetAg makes the Walmart one just for sale at Walmart.

I'll have to check again at the pet stores then. They seem to have normal stools now, at least. I'm hesitant to switch them back over if I find the old formula in case it causes more digestive upset. Is this a valid concern? Should I switch them back even though their stool has normalized?

No, I would not since they have now adjusted. As long as they are growing, they will be fine. There is nothing wrong with PetAg formula from Walmart. It's what I use.