inactive and not eating regularly

hi, my 10 week old female, Bengal kitten (i just brought her home on the 12th) is not eating very much. i try to feed her small portions of soft food 3 times a day but she doesn't eat much but a few nibbles and maybe a few licks and then she just turns away. by the end of the day she doesn't even eat 3/8 of a 3 oz. can of iams kitten formula. how much should she be eating? i was also wondering, is it ok to leave the soft food in her tray all day? when should i clean it out since it gets kind of crusty on top after a few hours of just sitting there? i do remove the top part but i leave the rest, is that ok?

i leave dry food (also Iams kitten food) out all day incase she might want some, but she doesn't touch that either. i even tried soaking the food with KMR with no luck. i also tried just giving her the KMR with a bottle (very hard to do!) but she swishes her head left and right to avoid the nipple.

she is very thin and sleeps alot and is not very active (she looks very fragile too, especially her back end). she can sleep in my lap for most of the day without moving around or waking up. she is so tame i am getting nervous.

the breeder i got her from didn't mention anything about illness, but i do think she was the smallest from the litter. she cries and cries and has to, absolutely has to be in my arms at all times.. which also worries me a little since she should be a little more independent at 10 weeks, right?

what do you all think... is my kitten just REALLY laid back or is she sick? should i take her to the vet now or wait until the 18th when her next shots are due?

it has been almost 10 years since i've raised a kitten, so sorry about all the dorky questions. i just hope i am being paranoid and that there isn't anything wrong with her. thank you for any advice.

Please take her to the Vet now! It sounds to me like you have a very sick little one there. Kittens can fade very quickly - and you do not need to go through that, not does the kitten. I hope and pray you will make out ok. Please let us know!

i attached a picture of here... since i just might be crazy about her weight aranoid3 does she look thin to you all also?

she'll be 10 weeks old on the 18th and i'll be taking her to the vet first thing tomorrow morning. she just ate a little and i gave her some more KMR, i hope she'll be alright.

Hi
I really can't give you any advise. I just wanted to say that your kitten is very adorable, but she looks frail to me also. I hope you can get some definite answers about her health tomorrow. Please let us know what you find out.
Good luck!

A vet trip is a good idea. Going by the pic, it looks as if she has a poor coat which could indicate some parasites or an illness. With Kittens, they really should not be taken away from thier moms earier than 12 weeks. Some kittens eat more than others, but in general a healthy kitten that age would eat about 3oz of wet food a day. With some breeders, it is hard to tell unless you have been to the house and around the other cats to see the condition.
I would take her tomorrow and get her checked out, they can fade very fast even at that age if something is wrong. Please be sure to let us know how it goes.

i took her to the vet this morning and the doctor said that nothing appeared to be wrong with her, just that she was underweight. to be on the safe side they drew some blood and i will get the results of that on Friday. she did have tapeworms, which they gave her some medicine for. she also had low blood-pressure which made it hard to draw blood and low body temperature. i bought her a heating pad to lay on to make sure she keeps the heat up since she's so thin that's hard to do. the vet also gave me a syringe to feed some high-calorie food suppliment with (she took down an entire syringe full about 4 hours ago and i'll be feeding her again soon).. that will hopefully get her a little more plump. i will keep giving updates until she is all better.. i hope that will be soon!

btw, the kitties coat looks a little odd(poor) because she is going through the "fuzzies" stage that Bengal kittens go through at around 9-10 weeks of age. in a couple more weeks the fuzzies will be gone and her coat will look beautiful. the vet told me her coat looked good and her skin was in great condition.

also, thanks so much for the advice. this is a wonderful community and i am so happy to have found it.

my kitty just went diarrhea, and i was wondering if i should start to worry? or do you think this is from the oral meds given to her for the tapeworms? or could it be from the high-calorie food suppliment i gave her and she is adjusting to the new food? man.. i am getting really paranoid now again i can't stand that i have to wait until Friday to get back the results of her blood work.

someone please ease my mind...

p.s.
mods, maybe this should be moved to health&nutrition... thanks

More than likely it is either or both. They both can have that effect on a cat. If it keeps up for more than a whole day, I would call the vet to see if she should stay on the suppliment. Make sure she is drinking plenty as well. Lil ones can dehydrate pretty quick.
It sounds as if maybe she just got off to a bad start. She may have been the "runt" of the litter and I am not sure what kind of breeder you got her from. If she has tapeworm, she had fleas. It may just take some love and care from you to get her back on track. However, the blood work will tell you how she is. Do you know what test the vet ran?

after i brought her home i started thinking "what have i done!" because many of the things i saw at the breeders home should have made alarms go off in my head. the worst thing was that she would let the mother out of the house (actually when i went to pick the kitten up the mother wasn't even in the house). the breeder had put the flea remover on the back of her neck the same day i took her home also and the fleas were still everywhere! now she is very clean and won't ever get fleas again (she'll be an indoor only cat).

the vet is checking to see if she has FeLV, if she doesn't and is in better shape she is going to be vaccinated against that. i am crosing my fingers very hard.. i pray she will be ok

I can't stand breeders like that......

Just thought I'd share..

*smiles*
Ken

Oh My!!! That has got to be one of my biggest peeves with some breeders. How can they call themselves human??? At least this kitten was lucky and got out of there alive. If nothing else, you will be able to educate people on what to look for when buying a pure breed cat.
I hope her test comes back Neg. I am sure it was just general lack of care. I can't beleive they let the mom cat outside!! Now Ive gotten myself all worked up!! I hope she is okay, I am sure she will be fine, you seem to be a very compasionate cat person. In your hands, how could she not grow up to be healthy and happy.

C - please keep us posted on her progress. You and kity are in my thoughts and prayers.
Deb

i took her into the vet today and the results from the bloodwork were negative. they gave her the FELV and FVRCP today. her weight is getting better and she now has an appetite. she's still a little calm.. but she has been playing alot more. things are looking great. thanks everyone for your support and advice. i'll keep everyone updated on how she is doing, she goes to the vet again on 2-9-02.

C - I am glad that things are looking bettter for you both. See? Good thoughts from TCS really do work!!:tounge2: