our dog got ahold of baby kittty- questions...

We live on a farm and have a couple outside dogs.Well,the youngest is at the chewing on everything stage and she got ahold of one of our baby kittens from a litter. We had a new,wild unspayed(obviously....can't catch her yet)female have a litter. My husband found the kitten laying in our yard...ice cold,soggy wet and not moving other than to make these motions with its mouth. We brought him inside, washed him with a gentle shampoo in warm water...couldn't stand all the dog slobber...and put him on a heating pad and blanket and held him.I really didn't think he would make it...but he perked up...so I went to the vet and fed him some kitten formula...wouldn't take a bottle so I used a syringe.......the next day his back foot started swelling up and got all hot so I took him to the vet...the dog had chewed him there...no other injuries. So we got him on antibiotics and I had to soak his foot three times a day in warm epsom salt water and massage it. Well,that didn't work...because his foot started turning black and wouldn't move. Now, two weeks later(think he is about 4 to 5 weeks old) the vet looked at it again and the end of his foot is starting to "slough' off.....more or less,his toes..he will keep his pad on the bottom it looks like. Poor little guy. The vet said that once it sloughs off,if there is bone sticking out or it looks bad,we can trim the bone and stitch it up,but he thought it might heal over and grow some fur on it on its own. He gave him some wormer and revolution for ear mites even though he is really too young. He has really put on weight and loves to play. I have him now drinking KMR and he will munch hard food and some wet. Not drinking water for some reason...He is adorable.He is a blondish tiger type color with blue eyes. Now that he's going to live, I need to name him!!!
I used a tin foil 9x13 pan for his litter box until he can get into a full sized one.
So, I just wanted to give the above before I asked questions.
Has anyone dealt with a foot problem like this? What did you do? How did it turn out? Did the cat learn to walk well without part of its foot? I'd like some reassurance.
Also, how do you get them to start drinking water and get off the KMR? When is it okay to wean them off of it,anyway. He has sharp little teeth that have really "grown in' since we found him. How do you guess age? any hints?
Are there any socialization issues I need to be concerned about since he isn't with litter mates or momma? If you are wondering, we tried various ways to get the mom to take him back,but she refused. Even left him near her nest for two hours with him crying and the dog locked up and she wouldn't take him back...so he is ours. He even goes with me to work...until he's off formula. I was going to try to find him a home....but I'm too attached. We have two cats already inside...I haven't been on this site for quite a while...in case someone remembers me...my two cats that got dumped at our farm...smokie and bagel??? They are doing wonderful and will be 1 next month. Bagel looks at him and if he comes close,will hiss. Smokie,will lounge with him,tap him on the head and gently wrestle with him.....I keep him in the bathroom away from them if I can't watch them since I sucessfully moved their litter box to the basement.yeah!!!!!!
I'd love any advice or words of wisdom.
Also any suggestions on a name for the little bug?

Refresh my memory if I am incorrect.... He should get shots at 8,12 and 16 weeks...with a rabies at 16 weeks. He was wormed almost two weeks ago..when should I get him wormed again? I will get him neutered at 4-5 months like my other male.

THANKS!!!!

I can't help you with the foot--poor little kitty! Lucky he had you to rescue him!

The vet should have given you an estimate of the kitten's age so you know how to handle the weaning.

My kitten was dropper fed KMR at first, then we gradually added in solids. He didn't lap up water at all (I think not having a mama role model was part of that). What I did was add water to dry food at a ratio of about 2 parts water to one part dry food. I also added a little warm water to the canned food and mushed it up. That way I knew he was getting plenty of liquids even when he was done with the KMR. He didn't start lapping up water until he was 3 months old.

Welcome to the "I'm keeping the orphan Club". I had a home lined up for ours since the third day he lived with us. A week before we were going to turn him over we discovered the littermates and made a split second decision to become cat owners. I'm still trying to figure out how they got the calm kitten raised by a wild mother and we got the extra feisty little hunter...

Wow that little guy has sure been through a lot.

Im sorry I cant help, I just wanted to let you know I will keep him in my thoughts

Emma x x

Hi and welcome back to TCS. I do remember you, Smoky and Bagel! Glad you have come back to hang out with us for a while!!

Bless your heart for taking this little guy in and making sure he has a loving forever home!

I can offer no assistance with the foot other than to tell you I will be sending all the positive, healing vibes I can for him -- hope that works out OK for all concerned.

As for the socialization stuff, since he doesn't have Momma around to teach him proper manners, your other cats, once they grow accustomed to his presence, will certainly be his guides. So, make sure he spends a lot of time with them (provided they both have good house manners, that is!!) so he can mimic them and learn from their habits.

With regard to his shots, the currently recommended protocol is to begin the series of kitten vaccines for Rhinotraceitis, Calici Virus and Panleukopenia at 6 weeks, with a booster at 9 weeks and the final booster at 12 weeks. Rabies should be done by 16 weeks, but I always counsel folks not to give the kitten series and the Rabies done at the same time. Schedule the rabies about 10 days to two weeks after the last of the kitten series shots are administered.

Ask your vet about reworming him -- my vet suggests that a second worming treatment be given about a month after the first to catch anything maybe missed by the first treatment.

As for the water, I found that kittens are really interested in a fountain set up. My babies get in the dern thing and all but swim around in it!! Try that and see if you don't get a better response.

Thanks for the replys. We decided to name him Maximus...Max for short.
Thankfully our vet will give me the kitten shots and I can give them myself(except for the rabies that is)...so that I can save lots of money!!Its only $4.00 a shot that way...and I'm very used to giving animals shots so I feel comfortable with it...and giving the wormer too. So technically I won't have to bring him in till he gets neutered and gets his rabies shot.
What age can/do kittens start using a full sized litter box?
As for liquids, I will try starting to add more liquids to the wet/dry food I'm trying to get him started on. He doesn' t seem to like it that way...he likes munching on the hard dry food...so we'll see!

Our two cats that we have have pretty good manners so hopefully they will learn from him. I find it so interesting how the female will watch him but hiss if he gets too close and has no contact with him...but the male will wrap his "arms' around him and lick him but then also wrestle with him...I have to watch he doesn't get carried away!

His foot looks different yet again. It looks like the live skin is slowly pushing off the dead part...like its growing from the inside out and the dead part will just be pushed off. Hopefully it will heal good on its own and not need a vets assistance. For now,we are taking a wait and see. He's still on antibiotics so its not infected or anything. Two weeks ago the vet thought he was about the size of a three week old kitten(so he'd be five weeks now) but thought he was older than his size... so I figure 5-6 weeks???

Thanks.

Hey good job with this little guy! All I can say for advice is if he still isn't weaned off the KMR, just gradually add a little water to it and use less and less KMR until it is eventually all water. You can also use wet food in the same manner.

Thanks for the advice on using more and more water in the KMR. I'm going to be done with the can soon, so I don't know if I should buy another one or try to wean him at the end of this can. I think diluting the KMR will be the ticket!!!
I've read so much about declawing on this site. My vet says that when the end of his foot falls off,it will be like a major declaw...hopefully he won't get "issues" because of this..thankfully its his back foot so that should be better than his front???With declawing they normally take off the first joint(OUCH) but this will be his entire toe area. If it looks too groady when it comes off, he can put him to sleep and clip any bone that is hanging out and sew the end of his foot shut...oh barf. I hope not!!!
I might rename him hop-a-long-cassidy Hopefully he won't have trouble walking or jumping because of it. He walks pretty good on the dead part now...occasionally it seems like he gets off balance..probably due to there being no feeling in that area.

UPDATE! Well, the end of his foot(his toes) fell off last night. Now he has a little red stump that looks really smooth...its not bleeding or anything. Today it has a scab over the end...he's walking on it really well and not bugging it,as in licking it or anything.....so,HOPEFULLY this is all we'll have to do with his foot...I wonder if fur will grow over the end of it and cover it up...anyone have any experience with that?
He is just so adorable and full of energy. He was tearing around the house earlier pouncing,stalking, and chewing on anything(and anyone) he could get his paws on. sooooo adorable. He even can get onto our couch now so I would say that his foot isn't going to slow him down....and our two other cats are liking him better each day. I wonder when it is "safe" to leave him alone with them all day? Right now, if I can't watch him or am gone,he goes into the bathroom with his stuff...otherwise he's loose....any pointers on this?
Thanks!

I have not had the same problem BUT I do have a cat who had to have his tail amputated. The stump was smooth and pink for a long time, I wondered if he would EVER have fur there again, then it came in---all if a sudden! I mean there was fuzz one day and real hair in the next few days and now it has hair like the rest of his body...don't know if this helped or not....

Thanks for letting me know that hair did eventually grow on your cats tail. I hope it does on his foot, it would look better...even though we love him no matter what. The end of his tail is kinda hard...so that may eventually fall off too...darn dog!

You might try the bulletin board at www.handicappedpets.com. I found the site when my Sweetie had her leg amputated and have been just a reader for a while. They can usualy give advice on this type of thing.
Good luck!

Sheila

My Fur nephew Tripod only has three legs, but you would never know it the way he gets around. It doesn't seem to bother him at all.

Thanks Sheilad for the website..i will check it out..and thanks to everyone else that gave advice/encouragement. The end of his tail is going to fall off,but its basically just the tip.