Infant kitten with large belly

Aloha,
 

I have just inherited (temporarily) a 1 week old kitten.  They were abandoned by their mother and he has been roughing it for a week before I rescued him.  I started him on some KMR and he seems to be doing okay.  To my knowledge he has not eaten for a week.  His sibling died in my truck on the way home.  I have noticed that his belly is quite large.  I seems that he may have some form of worms or parasites.  Also he has a lot of mucus coming from his eyes.  We have been trying to wipe his eyes clean for the past 24 hours.  I went to a nearby Petco and looked for some de worming medicine but was a little confused.  Also there did not seem to be a good eye drop for his eyes.  I have been debating about taking him to vet but I do not plan on keeping him.

The back story is that I took two of his sibling to the Human Society here about a week ago and after I signed all the papers they said that they would dispose of them humanely.  They would not doubt do the same to this little guy.  I was planning to care for him until we either find him a home or drop him off at the Humane Society when he is better and they can find a home for him.  We would love to keep him but we already have two cats to care for.  Any advice would be appreciated.

I was also worrying about my two cats catching the worms or parasite from the stray.  I have setup a separate litter box for the stray and trying to keep them separated as much as possible until we can get rid of the worms.  Is there a real danger in my two cats getting worms?

He needs to be seen immediately by a vet. Very young kittens can decline very, very quickly and needs vet care ASAP.  Be sure you're stimulating him to urinate and defecate, too.

I was perhaps hoping for an alternative.  As I stated, It was either take him to the Humane Society to be put down or try to rehabilitate him at home and find him a nice home.  I have numerous vet bills from my two right now and I cannot afford another vet bill for a kitten that I do not intend to keep.  Sorry, that's the reality of the situation.  I can shell out some money for some over the counter meds but I am not sure what would be best for him.

He sounds older than one week, the age you begin with. Three weeks?  OK, KMR you have is good.  Goats milk is another alternative, and probably cheaper than KMR.

RAW goats milk has a good edge, but may be pricey.  The usual bottled /powdered are OK, as long its full fat, no funny low fat diet variation.   Shall be minimum 2,8% fat.

The amoutn is 8ml /oz / day, ie say he is 300 grammes, 10 oz,  Will give 80 ml goats milk or KMR a day.   As he was starved, small doses but often in the beginning!

Vets.  A good vet knowleable on small and weak kitten is best here, of course, but as you say, you dont afford.  and not all vets are good vith small kittens...

If my interpretation is correct, he shaould manage some of the milder dewormers.  So it really depends on what you do have at your local pet shops or pharmacia.

Milbomax all round  is OK to use for healthy  2+ kittens.   Some mild preparate having Pyrantel poaomate as the active ingredient should be OK too.  At least our Swedish Banminth is...  Pyrantel is for roundworms - the usual with kittens.

Drontal is prob OK too.   Do avoid Pancur - it takes most parasites, but is somewhat of horse medicine - takes a healthy 6+ kitten...

For eyes?  You can wahs off with lighltly saline water, or even weak tea water.  Chamomilla tea water is mild and calming for light inflammations..

Next step will be terramycine ointment.  Its sometiems possible to get prescription free.

Please continue to report!

Tx for caring!

hawaiian said:

 
I was perhaps hoping for an alternative.  As I stated, It was either take him to the Humane Society to be put down or try to rehabilitate him at home and find him a nice home.  I have numerous vet bills from my two right now and I cannot afford another vet bill for a kitten that I do not intend to keep.  Sorry, that's the reality of the situation.  I can shell out some money for some over the counter meds but I am not sure what would be best for him.

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StefanZ said:

 
He sounds older than one week, the age you begin with. Three weeks?  OK, KMR you have is good.  Goats milk is another alternative, and probably cheaper than KMR.

RAW goats milk has a good edge, but may be pricey.  The usual bottled /powdered are OK, as long its full fat, no funny low fat diet variation.   Shall be minimum 2,8% fat.

The amoutn is 8ml /oz / day, ie say he is 300 grammes, 10 oz,  Will give 80 ml goats milk or KMR a day.   As he was starved, small doses but often in the beginning!

Vets.  A good vet knowleable on small and weak kitten is best here, of course, but as you say, you dont afford.  and not all vets are good vith small kittens...

If my interpretation is correct, he shaould manage some of the milder dewormers.  So it really depends on what you do have at your local pet shops or pharmacia.

Milbomax all round  is OK to use for healthy  2+ kittens.   Some mild preparate having Pyrantel poaomate as the active ingredient should be OK too.  At least our Swedish Banminth is...  Pyrantel is for roundworms - the usual with kittens.

Drontal is prob OK too.   Do avoid Pancur - it takes most parasites, but is somewhat of horse medicine - takes a healthy 6+ kitten...

For eyes?  You can wahs off with lighltly saline water, or even weak tea water.  Chamomilla tea water is mild and calming for light inflammations..

Next step will be terramycine ointment.  Its sometiems possible to get prescription free.

Please continue to report!

Tx for caring!

Click to expand...

No, Thank you for caring.  I will keep you posted.

Mahalo!

He defacated in his pen last night and it was a mess in the morning.  I took him to the bathroom sink and gave him a nice tub bath.  He's feeling a lot better now.  He was sleeping a lot yesterday but seems to be a little more active today.  My wife gave the green light for the vet so we will be taking him in tomorrow.  I may have gotten lucky with the proper doses of dewormers and eye medication but it is probably safer to take him to the vet. 

hawaiian said:

 
He defacated in his pen last night and it was a mess in the morning.  I took him to the bathroom sink and gave him a nice tub bath.  He's feeling a lot better now.  He was sleeping a lot yesterday but seems to be a little more active today.  My wife gave the green light for the vet so we will be taking him in tomorrow.  I may have gotten lucky with the proper doses of dewormers and eye medication but it is probably safer to take him to the vet. 

Click to expand...

You seems to do everything all right, as he is still alive and even is better.  Being more or less without food for so long makes his margins are extremely thin.  I suppose he must have been very healthy and strong from beginning.  A weakish one would never made it so far.

Its sometimes necessary to bathe small kittens - even if we arent supposed to do it.  The trick is, to make sure they dont get chilled out.  Not under the bath, nor afterwards.   No draugh, warm but not hot water, warm and comfortable temp in the room, dry out afterwards, and have them on a heating pad afterwards...

Pics are welcome!

My daughters took her to the vet today and the vet said that she was 5 weeks old.  Ok sorry I thought she was much younger.  Anyway as you can see her eyes are our main concern.  We got Terramycin ointment and amoxicillin to help her eyes.  Her eyes were opened a bit more this morning than in this picture.  They also gave her a shot for her worms.  Her belly was so big that she had a hard time walking.  So for now all we can do is hope for the best.  Thanks again for the help and encouragement.

Hopefully the medicines will have her better soon! Thanks for the update. Please keep us posted on this sweet baby! [emoji]128571[/emoji]

The cloudiness in her eyes are almost all gone.  If her vision is not 100% it is very close.  She is a healthy, active, "spirited" kitten.  Her two deworming shots from the vet has cleared her of any parasites.  True, I may have gotten away cheaper by purchasing the deworming and antibiotic eye drops myself but I am not an expert and diagnosing this symptoms. 

Of course we have grown attached to her but we know that it is time to let her go.  Seeing her develop and has really inspired us to find her a home instead of a shelter or giving her to the Humane Society.  We have put out feelers but are not yet successful. 

I believe that she may have feline herpes.  The crustiness in her eyes (as well as her siblings) and chronic sneezing I believe are likely signs of feline herpes.  I have disclosed this fact to potential adoptees and I believe this has scared them away.  Any suggestions?