Please help me with kitten: possibly feral!!!

I tried posting this in the other feral / stray forum but don't see it. I need help now, please, as soon as possible.

People in my neighborhood must have learned I was foster for kittens. I just got a call asking if I wanted to save a kitten; it was in a cage with an adult that wasn't its mother and animal control was there. I said yes, of course.

I brought the little thing home. It's eys are not blue but not green either. It's ears are ... well, here is a pic of him/her (I don't even want to check just yet, kitty seems so tired and fragile, with some poo or something on here. No terribly noticable wounds.

The sad thing is, when the kittie saw my Pixel, she called out to her. Pixel just hissed and walked away.

Anyway, I am sort of thrown into this now, however willingly. But I need some advice badly. I don't have time to meander around learning here. I need to know what to feed a kitten this age, until tomorrow when I take her to the vet.

And, when I go to the vet tomorrow, I am also picking up nine other cats for foster (not feral). So I just need to know how to get this one to eat and drink before tomorrow. Any advice at all. And, please try to tell the age of this one for me. It is sleeping on my lap or I would give the sex.

That is a very young kitten. Maybe 1 1/2- 2 months? If that, or maybe just small-- you'll probably never get an exact age for it. It's adorable!

See if it will drink KMR, or if it is weaned. It is about borderline age looking, but may be older and just malnourished.

High quality kitten food, try wet and dry. It doesn't look feral if it is it's very friendly. It should be with it's mommy, so who knows how long it's been on its own! Put it isolated from other cats, since you have no idea what it may have. Worms and fleas almost definitely, give it a bath with a tiny bit of Dawn soap and flea comb it until it's dry. But whatever you do, keep it away from all other cats in your household until it has been tested for FeLV and FIV and vetted and given a clean bill of health. And it needs fluids, try Pedialyte diluted with water.

And of course, a site by someone who really knows what they're talking about:
http://www.kitten-rescue.com/

Okay, that is just EVERYTHING I needed to hear. I was definitely going to keep "him" (I checked) away from the others, my own and the nine I get tomorrow.

Tomorrow I guess I will totally blow my budget and get him his shots, arriving early at the clinic where I pick up the others.

Dawn soap, eh?

I was worried I would stress him by bathing him but he desperately needs a bath.

Thank you so much I am so glad you are here. If any other pics will help, I can take more.

Dawn soap does work well if he is indeed full of fleas. If he is just a little dirty, he will probably take care of that himself with grooming.

Try giving him some soft kitten food and KMR. I would guess he is about 6 weeks or so but it is hard to tell. Judging by your hand in the picture, that is my guess.

Keep him seperate from yours until he is tested and vaccinated. Tests aren't always accurate until the cat is a little older though, FeLV is the one you want to watch for, FIV is fine to mix pos and neg cats as it is very difficult to transfer them.

Anyways, He is a cutie with huge ears! Good job taking him in and the vet will be able to answer all the rest of your questions.

If you give him a bath, be sure that you keep him nice and warm - uncomfortably warm to your sensabilities - until he's nice and dry. Warm up some towels in the dryer to wrap him in when you take him out of the bath, and hold him and snuggle him until he's dry. Kittens, and especially possibly compromised kittens (i.e. malnourished) can get chilled so easily, and then you could have a real health situation on your hands. It's really vital to keep the little one warm until he's all dried off.

I will keep him warm. It's 84 degrees here today but feels like ten degrees hotter due to the humidity. And I live in the desert.

Thanks again lovely people. I'll keep you posted. Right now I have to FIND him. He can run, I learned, and he is hiding....

What is KMR, please?

Originally Posted by Vik61

What is KMR, please?

Click to expand...

Kitten Milk Replacement...it's available at most petstores.

Katie

Thank you. I am waiting for a sitter so I can run out and get some supplies.

Do you think I need to stimulate him to urinate, etc? (I've been doing some reading. He's not a particularly young kitten?)





Does this setup look okay. I think maybe I should cut a hole in the top of the box and then tape some plastic screen over it?

I'm sure he can pee just fine on his own. He's only a little smaller if at all than mine was when she came here under similar circumstances, she was the same size as my foot and I wear a women's 7 1/2. She used the litterbox just fine.

He looks comfy in there! Is there a room you can confine him to until he's vetted, rather than a box? He is old enough that he'll want to scamper around and play if he feels okay.

Funny question to ask but being a newbie to this I have an excuse!!

Thank you.

He is sleeping now, under the canopy. He seems to be sound asleep too. I'm sure he had a heckova night, in the cage with that adult cat, poor thing.

This is so reassuring. I'm going to make some homemade pedialyte for now until I can get away to get some supplies. I have syringes, do you think I should use them to give him water? The reason I ask is he has not been eating or drinking at all today. Last night he had nothing either, I'm sure.

Oh and yes, he has his own room, the computer room. My other room is going to the nine kittens I pick up tomorow. I will show up early at the animal hospital and have him seen by a vet, then take them all home. I may keep this one though.

He is eating dry food!

I was worried. As soon as I got about a cc of pedialyte into him he perked up.

But he still only wants to run and hide--and he does the disappearing kitten act very well!

I posted this in two places; apologies! Updates are found in the thread below: I have another from this litter.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91684

Thanks for the link and the update. I'll go ahead and lock this thread so there isn't any more confusion with the two threads.