Very tiny kitten

basketoftigers

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Hey all,

We've been in close contact with a vet about this little guy but I'd like to post here for a bit of emotional support and helpful discussion since I know a lot of people on this board have extensive experience with raising young kittens : ) 

So, we found the little one (we call him Kit) in a pet store and he was very ill, curled up in a corner while his brothers and sisters were playing around him, his eyes all goopy with an eye infection. We learned that at the home the kittens originated from, one of his littermates (the mother gave birth to 8) had already died, but we don't know the cause.

Long story short, he was given to us and my mom and I took him straight to the vet. His papers say that he is 8 weeks old, but he weighed in at 180g (no typo -- 180g, he was very small, all skin and bone and considerably smaller than his littermates), was anemic, had enlarged kidneys, and had a body temperature of 33. We took him home with KMR and gave him round the clock KMR feedings, lots of cuddles and hot water bottle heating, and medication for his infection.

He began to bounce back very fast -- each day we saw an improvement in how he groomed himself, how much energy he had, his coordination and stamina for playtime (he was sooo rambunctious!) and his stools were formed and brown. He was roughly 430g. 

Well, yesterday he began to go downhill a bit with a bout of very persistent diarrhea -- light brown with the consistency of applesauce -- and last night he began to lose his appetite a bit and only eats about half as much as he did (and he's beginning to turn his nose up at the wet food so we're giving him a bit more KMR to supplement). Weighing him this morning, he's down to ~410g. He whined a little bit last night when he was eating, so I gave him KMR instead of the wet food and cuddled him all night, I think it helped him a little bit.

We're taking him in today for bloodwork, FeLV/FIV testing, and fecal testing just to figure out 1. why he is so tiny, and 2. what is the cause of this current illness. The vet is very concerned because if he truly was 8 weeks when we got him, then he's extremely tiny for his age and of course something must be causing this (and the fact that one of his littermates died before the pet store took him in is very concerning).

What also concerns me is that according to his paperwork he was given his first round of vaccinations and deworming but there is no weight listed for him! We have absolutely no idea of his medical history before we took him to the vet ourselves, and we don't even know if maybe somebody lied about his age or the fact that he was vaccinated/dewormed. 

Anyway! Like I said, he's getting the full gamut of tests today and we should have results tomorrow, but we're scared. I'm looking at him right now and he's bright eyed and happy and batting around a mouse and he has visibly grown into a slightly taller frame. He purrs when we put him and he's still snuggly and happy, just eating a bit less and with runnier poop (and just after I started writing this mom noticed visible traces of worms in his poop, but then I think that was a foregone conclusion...)

Sorry for rambling! What I'm looking for is advice I guess, and honestly, my mom and I are just very worried that he won't make it, or that he'll have FeLV and we'll need to make an awful decision (multi-cat household, he's being quarantined in a room of course but it's a small room). What do you guys think? If he's younger than his paperwork says and if he was vaccinated, could that have damaged his organs and stunted his growth? Do you have experience with vets lying about giving animals vaccinations? I live in Canada, for reference. 
 
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basketoftigers

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mazie

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He's as cute as a button!!  His eyes have cleared up nicely.  Please let us know what you find out when the vet's test results get back.  You are doing a marvelous job with this little fellow.  Again, sooo cute!
 

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Hey all,

We've been in close contact with a vet about this little guy but I'd like to post here for a bit of emotional support and helpful discussion since I know a lot of people on this board have extensive experience with raising young kittens : ) 

So, we found the little one (we call him Kit) in a pet store and he was very ill, curled up in a corner while his brothers and sisters were playing around him, his eyes all goopy with an eye infection. We learned that at the home the kittens originated from, one of his littermates (the mother gave birth to 8) had already died, but we don't know the cause.

Long story short, he was given to us and my mom and I took him straight to the vet. His papers say that he is 8 weeks old, but he weighed in at 180g (no typo -- 180g, he was very small, all skin and bone and considerably smaller than his littermates), was anemic, had enlarged kidneys, and had a body temperature of 33. We took him home with KMR and gave him round the clock KMR feedings, lots of cuddles and hot water bottle heating, and medication for his infection.

He began to bounce back very fast -- each day we saw an improvement in how he groomed himself, how much energy he had, his coordination and stamina for playtime (he was sooo rambunctious!) and his stools were formed and brown. He was roughly 430g. 

Well, yesterday he began to go downhill a bit with a bout of very persistent diarrhea -- light brown with the consistency of applesauce -- and last night he began to lose his appetite a bit and only eats about half as much as he did (and he's beginning to turn his nose up at the wet food so we're giving him a bit more KMR to supplement). Weighing him this morning, he's down to ~410g. He whined a little bit last night when he was eating, so I gave him KMR instead of the wet food and cuddled him all night, I think it helped him a little bit.

We're taking him in today for bloodwork, FeLV/FIV testing, and fecal testing just to figure out 1. why he is so tiny, and 2. what is the cause of this current illness. The vet is very concerned because if he truly was 8 weeks when we got him, then he's extremely tiny for his age and of course something must be causing this (and the fact that one of his littermates died before the pet store took him in is very concerning).

What also concerns me is that according to his paperwork he was given his first round of vaccinations and deworming but there is no weight listed for him! We have absolutely no idea of his medical history before we took him to the vet ourselves, and we don't even know if maybe somebody lied about his age or the fact that he was vaccinated/dewormed. 

Anyway! Like I said, he's getting the full gamut of tests today and we should have results tomorrow, but we're scared. I'm looking at him right now and he's bright eyed and happy and batting around a mouse and he has visibly grown into a slightly taller frame. He purrs when we put him and he's still snuggly and happy, just eating a bit less and with runnier poop (and just after I started writing this mom noticed visible traces of worms in his poop, but then I think that was a foregone conclusion...)

Sorry for rambling! What I'm looking for is advice I guess, and honestly, my mom and I are just very worried that he won't make it, or that he'll have FeLV and we'll need to make an awful decision (multi-cat household, he's being quarantined in a room of course but it's a small room). What do you guys think? If he's younger than his paperwork says and if he was vaccinated, could that have damaged his organs and stunted his growth? Do you have experience with vets lying about giving animals vaccinations? I live in Canada, for reference. 
He doesnt look like 8 weeks, sooner 6.   Which is nice, it explain a little this extremely low weight. 

Also, I dont hink any responsible vet would vaccinate a kitten that visibly under the weather, with such a ridicoulously low weigh.  I know sometimes there are vaccinations made early in desperate cases, taking a calculated risk, to give an orphan at least some protection.

But its usually with orphans in so so shelters, where the contagion pressure is often high.

As he was supposed to be in private home with momma,   its more probable somebody told stories.

So deworming with some mild dewormer (possibly also testing for other worms and parasites than the usual roundworms)   and vaccinating when he becomes of age - and stronger.

For now?   As he is having diarrhea and losing lotsa of salts, you shall give him much pedialyte. Bough or homemade.

If bough, best is such a clear flavorless pedialyte for babies.  but if cornered almost any will do.

If homemade, I suggest you base it on mineral water containing lotsa of different salts (look at the label) and add som glucose sugar source - for example some honey.

Half a soup spoon in a 330 ml bottle...

Can you get RAW goats milk?  It may give a nice edge here.   bottled or powdered goats milk is OK to use too, but not the same potential edge as raw goats milk.

If you cant get, continue with KMR - stage 1.  Not stage 2.

Some chicken broth is too always useful.  The Jewish Mama is renown for her chicken or pidgeon broth given to her sick children, no?   :)   Many a sick and weak childs were saved this way...

Read on the L-lysine too.  I think it can be tried with such young kittens too. Cant harm and may even help.

You seem to do excellently, and is the right home for her.

I dearly hope you manage to save this beuty.  We do fight for all of them, and love them all,  regardless on  any looks, color or breed, but it cant be helped - the heart mealts a little extra for these naturally sweet ones.... 
 

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I had some malnourished kittens who weighed about 8 ounces (about 200g) at 8 weeks, so he wasn't much smaller than that. And he's gained nicely. So I think he probably doesn't have anything wrong, just a case of not enough proper care. So hopefully the vet can get him on track to grow up big and strong. Keep adding KMR to his food, for a long time, until he seems to be the right size for his age. The extra nutrients are good for him. Lots of canned food, plus a bowl of dry always available, so he can always eat when he's hungry. De-worming will help too.

The pet store probably did their own vaccines. You aren't supposed to vaccinate a sick animal, but not many people pay attention to that :/.
 

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ps.  Some nice vitamine paste cant hurt and may help...  There are several brands in well sorted pet shops.  You can also ask your vet when you visit.
 
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basketoftigers

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Thanks so much for your replies everyone! We came back from the vet about an hour ago. The vet changed his mind about the blood work he had reccommended us and said the little guy was too small to draw blood. The poor thing was given back to us with a shaved neck and a bandage stuck on his leg, he was not happy but the vet tech said it was good to see some feistiness from him. We were at least able to give them a fecal sample so that they could test it for parasites and worms, and he was given some dewormer today to begin the process. Hopefully this will help pull him out of the slump he got into yesterday!

I forgot to mention in my first post that he was put on the L-lysine paste about a week ago (along with antibiotics for his eyes, which he's since finished) -- it certainly doesn't seem to be hurting him :) he hates the taste though!

StefanZ -- I'm not sure we can get raw goat's milk, but my mom is going to the store soon and I'll ask her to look for that and pedialyte. The KMR is indeed stage 1 so at least we have that for now. He certainly seems to love it :) If we can't get the raw goat's milk I guess we will continue with the KMR in its place, and then I'll give him some pedialyte or the mixture you talked about so he can replenish the salts he's losing.

Willowy -- it's a relief to hear you have had similarly skinny kittens pull through. My mom and I were getting freaked out because the vet kept stressing how frail and skinny he is. He seems doubtful that worms and parasites would leave a kitten so malnourished, but to me it makes sense.

Thanks again for your responses! I'll keep you all posted with his progress/changes and I hope we can get the bloodwork done soon. We have never taken care of a sick kitten before so everything is new and unfamiliar to us. Your support and wisdom is very comforting to have :)
 

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Do keep us posted, you do have a feisty little trooper there.  With his sheer determination, he will come out the victor!!
 
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basketoftigers

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So, we were not able to get him raw goat's milk, but we've been feeding him KMR hourly and KMR+wet food every second hour, and he's bounced back today! He's doing really well :)

The results of his fecal test came back and he has tapeworms, which are being treated by the dewormer he was given yesterday. He was negative for any other parasite (Giardia, round worms, etc...) -- I read online that tapeworms don't do much to cats, is this true? Could tapeworms have been responsible for this little guy's malnourishment? I'm scared that his size might be due to some severe or potentially fatal issue like FeLV :( we are of course going to test him as soon as possible, right now our vet will not do it because he's too skinny. What are your experiences and thoughts on this?
 

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So, we were not able to get him raw goat's milk, but we've been feeding him KMR hourly and KMR+wet food every second hour, and he's bounced back today! He's doing really well :)

The results of his fecal test came back and he has tapeworms, which are being treated by the dewormer he was given yesterday. He was negative for any other parasite (Giardia, round worms, etc...) -- I read online that tapeworms don't do much to cats, is this true? Could tapeworms have been responsible for this little guy's malnourishment? I'm scared that his size might be due to some severe or potentially fatal issue like FeLV :( we are of course going to test him as soon as possible, right now our vet will not do it because he's too skinny. What are your experiences and thoughts on this?
Tapeworms come via fleas - fleas are inbetween hosts for tapeworms.  Otherwise kittens cant get it easily.   And yes, they can give diarrhea and gases.

Both fleas and tapeworms are enemies.

Tapeworms arent usually deadly, but they do take their share of the bodys resources.  Fleas can kill a kitten, if the infestation is massive and not treated.

I presume these could add to any problems he may have had, adding to the burden.

Anyways, splendid the kitten improves.  Although, he yellow flag is stilll on.  Being that emaciated undernourished and undermined, makes it very easy to break down and collapse at literally any moment.  You cant  let go your vigilancy till he is an healthy adult in his prime.

Be optimistic and hopeful, but you must be vigilant and prepared.  As you are and you do.
 
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basketoftigers

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Thanks StefanZ! We will continue to be vigilant and keep a close eye on him. Today he feels like he has more weight on him and his ribs aren't so prominent, which is nice! Will update as things change...
 
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basketoftigers

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We're calling him Kit because he looked like a little fennec fox kit when we first got him :) (and because I love Kit Harington...cough cough)

He's still doing well! He's very, very playful and doesn't entirely fit on the kitchen scale anymore but I think today he's about 500g, if not just a little more. 
 

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He is beyond cute and so incredibly lucky to have found you.

Keep us updated.
 

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First thing I see is, the pic where you posted the day you got him vs yesterday, I see blue in his eyes still, meaning more like just under 6 weeks then, now I see green, so he is maybe 6 1/2 weeks old, which is good for the weight issue.

Also the momma cat had 8.........that is a big problem right there, and there are always smaller kittens who might get just enough to survive (or often not) but not thrive weight wise.

This also easily explains why one had died too.

He looks very well now, the last question will be results from an felv test. It doesn't sound like it will be positive though, as others in the litter would not be well either.

No, my guess is this happened to him due to the size of the litter.
 
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basketoftigers

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 Glad you didn't call him Hodor.
It was a contender! So was Theon, since he's getting neutered, but we thought that was a bit cruel : P
First thing I see is, the pic where you posted the day you got him vs yesterday, I see blue in his eyes still, meaning more like just under 6 weeks then, now I see green, so he is maybe 6 1/2 weeks old, which is good for the weight issue.

Also the momma cat had 8.........that is a big problem right there, and there are always smaller kittens who might get just enough to survive (or often not) but not thrive weight wise.

This also easily explains why one had died too.

He looks very well now, the last question will be results from an felv test. It doesn't sound like it will be positive though, as others in the litter would not be well either.

No, my guess is this happened to him due to the size of the litter.
 
This is what we're thinking was the case. The other kittens at the store looked healthy, although when we followed up and asked the owner how they were doing we didn't get a response. I think when he gets his second dose of Strongid on the 8th we'll do the FeLV test and then we'll have more information to go off :)

He's up to ~580g today! He seems to gain about 30/40g a day or so and he's bulking up enough that he doesn't feel so fragile. Actually, even though we don't let him contact our other cats, he chases them around. It's pretty funny. He's absolutely fearless.

We're having a ton of trouble trying to litter train him, though. Right now he's crated when he's unsupervised, and uses the litter box in there fine, but when we let him out he seems to lose track of where the box is. He has a living room and kitchen in this quarantined area. The litterbox is large and kept clean but it's only in the living room. When he's in the living room and the urge strikes him, he's pretty good at finding the box, but if he's in the kitchen he'll just run into a corner or a secluded area and do his thing (while we run after him and try to put him in the litter box in time!) Is this normal? Should we just make his area smaller, or add another box in the kitchen? He's been doing this for a while now and we thought he might grow out of it but he hasn't yet, even though we catch him and put him in the litter box (even if he's just finished and is walking away). I figure maybe he's just still too young for a large-ish area and probably loses his bearings...
 
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