12 week old kitten

flojo75

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Hi,

I've only ever had adult cats, however I got a 12 week old kitten on Saturday. He's very small for his age & weighs 0.525kg. He's asking for food every 2hrs, he only eats about a tablespoon full of food then he's done. Do you think I should keep feeding him when he asks for it?
 

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Good Heavens!  He is very small for his age.  At that weight, I'd say for right now, yes.  You'll have some real experts chiming in here very soon with detailed ideas on getting him on track, but he's tiny!  REALLY tiny!  I'm betting he was the runt of his litter, and they can take some time to catch up.

@StefanZ  , I think your expertise in very young kittens might be useful here.  This little guy is 12 weeks, but tiny!
 
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flojo75

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He was the only one that survived from his litter & really struggled when he got taken off his mum. My thinking was to just keep demand feeding him. I'm also giving him very small amounts of goats milk with each meal until the KMR I have ordered has arrived.
Thank you so much for replying it's good to hear what you think.
 
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flojo75

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Oh I forgot to say he's a Devon Rex
 

StefanZ

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He was the only one that survived from his litter & really struggled when he got taken off his mum. My thinking was to just keep demand feeding him. I'm also giving him very small amounts of goats milk with each meal until the KMR I have ordered has arrived.
Thank you so much for replying it's good to hear what you think.
Goats milk is actually entirely OK, depending a little of which sort.  (which sort ARE you using? how much fat there is in it?)

Raw goats milk is even excellent, and will be my suggestion if you can get it.   What else are you giving him now, as this goats milk is just a part of his daily diet for now?

I suspect its some more substanital cat food?  Good these are more energy tight than kmr or goats milk.

Give as soon as he demands is the minimum.  You must strive to give him a little more than this, as he is apparently getting too little.

You can add a little glucose sugar (dextrose, dextropur). it gives quick energy.  Best if you can get it in powder, you can then sprinkle some in the food.

If you have difficult to find it, some honey water (ie honey solved in warm water) is a decent source of glucose sugar.

If you dont have problems with salomonella in eggs where you are, a raw egg yolk mixed into his kmr or goats milk, is excellent...

If he ate only kmr or goats milk, his daily minimum amount would be for now, at 525g; its 17OZ x 8 ml, gives about 140 ml during the day.  Say every second hour, 10 feedings (you want to sleep some during the night):  about 15 ml at one time.   As minimum, because he really needs more...

Real food is more energytight, so its difficult to give accurate numbers, But you get the idea...  Its more than a spoon now and then.
 

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Oh, I feel so much better getting one of our resident experts in on this little guy!  I'll be following this thread and keeping up with how the two of you are doing! 
 
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flojo75

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Hi StefanZ, I give him raw goats milk & at the minute he's on minced beef but I'm slowly transitioning him onto wet food.
Thank you so much for all the advice it's fantastic, you have really helped. I'll definitely stick to your feeding plan, thank you again
 

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Hi StefanZ, I give him raw goats milk & at the minute he's on minced beef but I'm slowly transitioning him onto wet food.
Thank you so much for all the advice it's fantastic, you have really helped. I'll definitely stick to your feeding plan, thank you again
Excellent, both raw goats milk, and minced beef.  Wet food will be good too.  You can proceed with this goats milk as supplement as long as you wish.  Cats manage goats milk much better than cow milk.

KMR is a good brand of kmr, but raw goats milk is better, I believe.  Cartooned full fat goats milk isnt necessarily better than KMR, but raw has an edge - it contains some enzymes and antibodies as an extra throw in.

If you want some dry food to eat in the night (wet food may get spoiled) so be sure its dry food of good quality.  Orijen perhaps.

But its easier to make quality wet food than quality dry food...  So go in for wet food as the main course.

Please report now and then.  You may mention my name  with the @ calling - be sure my nick comes in blue.   @flojo75
 
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Thank you so much you have been a great help. I'll continue to post updates
 
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Can you tell me if this is normal. Freddie never plays & as soon as he's fed he just walks away & sits in the sofa. He never runs around like I'd expect a kitten to do.
 
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Also he had severe diarrhoea when I had him it was just like coloured water. I took him to the vet & she gave me antibiotics to give him, this was yesterday (Tuesday) & since Monday night he hasn't poo'd. I'm worried now. The STRESS!!!!
 

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As small as he is, I imagine that he is still a little lethargic.  Once you get his weight improving, I'll bet he cuts loose.  HOWEVER...it would be a good thing to mention to your vet if it continues after his diet is kicking in.  And since he is on antibiotics, he probably isn't feeling well.  This should improve as the meds take effect.

One day without poop is NOT a big deal.  And if you are using a very high-quality, low-residue, every other day might end up being his normal.  If he goes another 24 hours, give your vet a call and ask!  A good vet NEVER minds following up with an animal s/he has seen.
 
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flojo75

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Thank you Mamanyt1953, it's such a stress with kittens, my two older cats are bad enough but this little fella is so stressful.
He's eating raw mince & trying my hardest to get him onto wet food but he just eats round it, even if I pour the goats milk over it [emoji]128545[/emoji]
 
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Well Freddie's just tried to poo, the poor little guy pushed & pushed & nothing came out [emoji]128542[/emoji]
 

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Can you tell me if this is normal. Freddie never plays & as soon as he's fed he just walks away & sits in the sofa. He never runs around like I'd expect a kitten to do.
No, they do play. They also sleep alot inbetween play sessions, but its now what you describe...   So something is faulty here.  He is exhausted and tired by something.  Perhaps these diarrheas you mention?

Btw, when they have THAT watery diarrheas,

1.  They need more fluids.  Dehydration is a real danger, and it takes forces from them.

2. They do lose much electrolytes and salts, so they need compensating.  Easiest done, if you use pedialyte for his drinking water.  Or if you use KMR, use pedialyte instead of water to solve the kmr.

Bought flavorless pedialyte for babies is good, otherwise you can make your own.   One basic receipt is to use simply some good minerale water, containing lotsa of different salts.  Let teh gas out, add a some glucose sugar (may be honey), dilute perhaps with some common water,  and voilá!  you do have a terrific home made pedialyte.

The easiest way is probably to warm up the water with the glucose sugar in, it helps to dissolve and the gas goes out...   You can boil it up, if you want to be sure its bacteria-free.

Use at body temp, or at least room temp.

There are also other receips, they all are about salts and some glucose sugar.
 

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Well Freddie's just tried to poo, the poor little guy pushed & pushed & nothing came out [emoji]128542[/emoji]
OK, what is the "algoritme".

1.  Make sure the cat gets enough with fluids.  IF he is dehydrated because of the diarrheas, it will be more difficult to do normal poo.

2. You can add some food oil.  say three-four drops at each feeding.  Less when the begans too poo again.  Use preferably coldpressed, organic style olive oil, rapeseed / canola oil, or cocoanut oil...   All these three are also good nourishment by itself-  Cocoa-oil has even some anti-inflammatory properites.

Frankly, almost any food oil will work, but these mentioned coldpressed organic style are healthy food by themselves.

Minerale oils are even more potent, for example liquid paraffine oil,  but where to find one of food grade?

3.  Add a little crushed flavorless pumpkin to each meal.   This tip is perhaps best here, in fact it works to regulate both constipation and even some types of diarrhea...

There are further steps, but this is enough in 95% of cases.
 
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Great thank you, I'll go to the shops tomorrow & get those ingredients.
He is weeing regularly & when the vet checked him she said he wasn't dehydrated & I have seen him drinking. The vet also said not to worry to much about no swing him drinking to much as he's getting water from the meat.
I thought his quietness could be due to coming to a new home & being a bit fazed by two cats that race around like crazy!!!!
 
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StefanZ will Freddie be ok to wait until tomorrow afternoon to go without any oil as I won't be able to get any until then. He's not poo'd since Monday night when he had his diarrhoea?
 
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Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Freddie has poo'd & it was solid. I'm so happy. He's also been playing with me, only a little bit but he's also been exploring the 3 cat trees I have too.
StefanZ you are a total star, thank you so much, you've given me so much advice & ive learnt a lot that will stand me in good stead if this happens again.
 
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Freddie has just been again & its diarrhoea, I've read in humans that this is common as it's flushing out the constipation, is this the same for cats????
StefanZ your help is needed again, sorry to keep asking you [emoji]9785[/emoji]️
 
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