?? about abandoned kitten

Hi everyone! This site is wonderful and I'm glad I've found it! Now I'm hoping you all could help me out a little.

So, two days ago, my mom and I acquired two abandoned (by the mom) kittens from a friend who couldn't care for them because of his work. They're 1 1/2 weeks old. The smaller one didn't make it through the first night, but the other kitten is still going after his second night.

We've been feeding him the kitten glop recipe from this site, probably more often than every three hours because he eats so little, but that gets me to wondering, how much should this little guy be eating? We're lucky if he gets in a teaspoon.

What's really worrying me is that he's bloated, and has been since we got him. I've gotten him to pee a little bit with the cotton balls, but no stool. I tried adding some vegetable oil to his milk last night, but it hasn't worked yet. And since we don't know what his stool looks like, we're not sure if we're feeding him the right amount.

I also noticed his back legs are totally limp... is this normal? I've never seen him move them. He can't hold his head up but he can move it around, and his front legs move all over. He lays in the box on his side. To feed him, his head has to be held up.

If anyone has any advice at all, it would really help! We're complete newbies in raising newborns and just trying to do what we can. TIA!

ETA: One more thing, his eyes are goopy. One eye is half open, and the other is crusted shut. Should we try to un-goop them yet?

He is such a young one- are you keeping him warm enough? www.kitten-rescue.com was set up to help people such as you to figure out the best way to go. His eyes, just use a damp mildly warm compress, and gently press to his eyes- don't rub, don't move the compress and don't make it a hot compress. using cotton gauze soaked in warm water and wrung out, remove the crusts from the corners of the eyes, but don't force the eyes open.

There is an excellent thread on eye goop that Gaye wrote the other night. I will see if I can find it and link to it for you.

Little kitties should be pooping yellow stool. It should be somewhat firm not loose, are you stimulating the kitten? The kitty glop is likely to give the kitten constipation- can you get some KMR and use more water with that as well as a few drops of mineral oil? It is likely kitty has worms as well.

Goopy eye thread

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54375

Thank you so much hissy! I was actually just reading your thread about the kittens you are raising - they're all absolute dolls!

We have the kitten in our 78 degree house right now, but there is a heating pad in the box set at a very low temp (he is wrapped in a towel and doesn't have any direct contact with the pad). It seems to be working well.

I have been reading the kitten rescue site, which is very helpful so far.

It's not that he's just constipated, his tummy is swollen. Is this due to the constipation? The kitten is being stimulated after each feeding with a warm, wet cottom ball. I will try to get some mineral oil today. And sorry, what is KMR?

Also, what do you think about his limp back legs?

You don't really want to use a human heating pad on such a young one. Your better bet would be to get some minute rice and some cheap socks. Fill the socks up halfway with the uncooked rice, tie off the ends and nuke the socks for 30 seconds. This gives you about 2 hours of safe heat, plus the kitty will more than likely snuggle down into it- like a bean bag- a human heating pad can damage a small one, even if it is buried under towels.

KMR Kitty Milk Replacer any feed store, pet store or places like WalMart carry this- get the powder and some bottles. Kitty needs to be fed every three hours, stimulated and burped.

The bloating could be worms, or it could be whatever the kitty is getting now. The best way I have found to stimulate a kitten is to use your second finger to the side of the rectum (I threw away cotton balls long ago) Make small circles with your finger alongside the rectum, going clockwise than counterclockwise. Also taking your finger run it along the underside of the belly back toward the rectum to stimulate what is sitting in there to disperse. I do this over a sink, with a thin trickle of warm water running, and when they start going, I just stick their rear into the warm (not hot) stream to help them along. They will not poop every time- obviously this method only works if you clip your fingernail down. Also it is a given but wash your hands well with antibacterial soap, before and after using this procedure. I just found it is easier than using a cotton ball, because you can feel what you doing and see when the kitty is ready to go.

It's looking bleaker....

The kittens back legs and tail are so limp; is it possible the kitten is paralyzed? I thought that my mom had gotten him to pee, but I don't think she ever did. No pee or poop.

He's still hanging on, but is there really anything we can do??

Why hasn't the kitten been seen by a vet?

It is the weekend, so we can't take the kitten to the vet now. It is really hard to get into our vet's office because it is the only one in town (and for miles around), so it may be a while.

The kitten is still alive, and surprisingly, when my mom was feeding it today, it's tail was moving and his back legs were twitching a bit. We were really excited. He's becoming more vocal and squeaks when you pick him up. We also think he has been peeing, because the towel he was one was damp and his anal area was wet - which is even greater news, and this is without us even stimulating him.

Do you have any advice as to what we can do before we get him to the vet? Anything to help him out would be great.

Just be sure to feed him KMR, keep him warm and dry- he very likely is peeing on himself, and without a momcat to help out urine scald is a danger. I use one drop of dawn liquid soap and run their rear area, tail, back legs and tummy, then wash them off with warm (not hot) water dry them, and wrap them in a towel that has cycled in the dryer to stay warm, cuddling them till they are completely dry.

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply, our internet was down.

We lost the little kitten Sunday night. He was a true sweetheart and he will be missed, but we are thankful for the time we had with him. Thank you so much for all the help hissy, I really and truly appreciate it.