2-3 Week Old Kitten Yellow Stool / 5 Week Weaning Question

[BlazenlyObvious]

So a little backstory, a man was selling week old kittens (5 of them) for money to random people (which is illegal) and I was able to get ahold of the last 2. Unfortunately Landis passed away last Tuesday but her sister, Elizabeth, is still alive.
We’re estimating she is about 2 and a half weeks old. Her eyes opened a few days ago and she’s been crawling since we first got her. She is able to see us as she crawls to us and starts to purr when we give her attention.
We took Elizabeth into the vet Thursday night because she was having bloody diarrhea and that’s what Landis had before she passed away. The vet tested her for a certain disease (I forget the name) and her results were negative, though the vet said there is a chance it could be negative because the disease hasn’t spread enough yet.
Elizabeth was (and still is) bloated. They gave me two different medications, one twice a day and one once a day. They’re supposed to tackle worms and coccidia as well as reducing diarrhea (she still has it a good bit but since the treatment it hasn’t been nearly as bloody at all).
However after feeding her tonight we put her back so she could sleep and when we checked on her a few minutes later there was yellow stool on the heated penguin we give her. It was still runny but more solid than her diarrhea.
From what I’ve read, this could indicate coccidia or possibly giardia, which the vet said was highly possible.
I want to call the vet in the morning to ask for advice. I’m just curious as to if anyone had any advice to give currently, as I’m very concerned for this kitten.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'd go ahead and take her back in in the morning, WITH a stool sample, if you can collect a fresh one. This does sound like either coccidia or girardia, both of which are very common in cats and kittens. They can be killers, and this little girl is very young, but she has people who care deeply for her, and are willing to do whatever is possible.

If this isn't already on your radar, she is way too young for weaning, and should be getting KMR (kitten milk replacer) every two hours by bottle, around the clock. You will also want to invest in a kitchen scale and weigh her daily.

HEY, StefanZ , @Sarthur2, @Kieka, abyeb , I know I've forgotten more than I have told this kind soul! What else can they be doing to help her? Would mixing the KMR with pedialyte be a good idea?

 

[BlazenlyObvious]

I’m going to call the vet in the morning to see if I can bring one in, as we went to an emergency vet since it was late at night.
The emergency vet did give us medications to give her, she said it would help with the coccidia, works and diarrhea.
I’ve dealt with coccidia before and it wasn’t fun. Dehydration, lack of appetite, no fun. She ate during her last feeding but didn’t want to suckle as willingly as previous feedings, so if this continues during her feedings I will be extremely concerned.
We are feeding her with KMR and got another can from the vet when we visited. I prefer the liquid over the powder for sure.

 

[abyeb]

Thank you for rescuing this kitten! I think that giving pedialyte and KMR would be a good idea. She is too young to be away from mom, which is why she needs to get the KMR, and the pedialyte will help against the dehydration that can result from diarrhea. How much KMR is she getting each day? Ideally, she should get 8 mL of KMR for every 6 oz of bodyweight daily. You should also weigh her every day, to make sure that she’s growing at an adequate rate, which can be hard with the diarrhea. Around 10 g of gain daily would be a good goal. This article has more info: Weighing Newborn Kittens (and How This Could Save Their Lives)

As Mamanyt1953 said, there can be several causes for diarrhea in kittens, including intestinal parasites like coccidia and giardia (and tapeworms, roundworms...), basically there’s a lot of possibilities. Let us know what the vet says tomorrow.

 

[BlazenlyObvious]

This is the first time I’ve heard of pedialyte so I’m curious as to what it is and how I’d get it?
I agree she’s too young to be away from her mom, and without any siblings too it’s rough.
She’s getting an average of 35-50 mL a day depending on how hungry she is.
I can’t seem to get an accurate weight on her because she is constantly crawling around, so the scale won’t give me an accurate number. When we took her to the vet on Thursday she was 4.25 ounces.

 

[StefanZ]

Yes pedialyte in diarrheas is essential. Bough or homemade. Lost salts must be compensated.

If youcan get raw goats milk its a good alternative.

Most here prefer powdered KMR over the premade, but if the premade works well for you so...

Dosage. 8ml/ oz a day. So a kitten of 300g like yours has 11 oz. Gives. 80-90 ml kmr or goats milk a day. Given every seconx hour, in healty kitten you may take it every 3 hours....

 

[StefanZ]

Ps 35-50 you mention is prob too little!

 

[war&wisdom]

You can put her in a bowl with a soft towel to weigh her so that she can't crawl away. If you haven't already, check out the Kitten Lady's videos on YouTube. She gives tutorials on how to care for very young kittens.

 

[BlazenlyObvious]

Ps 35-50 you mention is prob too little!

She’s about 4.8 ounces (was 4.25 on Thursday) and the vet informed me that she’s supposed to be getting around 6 mL every 6 hours. I have actually been feeding her too much, hopefully feeding her the correct amount will help her.

The vet gave her a dose of deworming to tackle different worms like hookworm or ringworm since the medicine we have is mostly for giardia and coccidia. She told me that it definitely looks like coccidia and she might need more medication after these 6 days are up.

I also received medicine to help increase her appetite since she hasn’t wanted to suckle during her feedings, part of this problem might be because she was eating too much.

 

[StefanZ]

Ok so she is smaller than I though and your dosage is good.

Yet she is smallish for a 2 week and very underweigh if 3 weeks.
But she perhaps had a very low birth weigh?

If necessary you can give her more often down to every hour.

If you buy pedialyte take the flavorless for babies.
It contains salts and glucose sugar. Dilute some.

Or you can simply use a good minerale water as the salt source. You see on the label it contains different salts.
Dilute.
In a pinch you can begin with adding a little of v
Common kitchen salt.

 

[kashmir64]

My personal favorite for young kittens is powdered KMR. The pre-made tends to give them diarrhea. I have found the best combination is 1 part KMR to 3 parts goats milk. Raw is best, but if you can't get it then pasteurized is good also. You can get this at Walmart. She needs to be fed every 2 hours, round the clock. Make sure it's warm, but never microwave. Warm up the bottle under hot running water or over the stove (like you would a baby bottle for humans)
Wash her bedding every day in HOT soapy water, or she can reinfect.
I would also invest in a tube of probiotics for when all the meds are done. Bene-Bac plus is a good one.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

This is the first time I’ve heard of pedialyte so I’m curious as to what it is and how I’d get it?

The pedialyte, like the goat's milk (which may be in the baking section) is readily available at Walmart, or any store that carries baby supplies. It's essentially baby gatoraid, without added colors or flavors, it correct electrolyte imbalance caused by diarrhea. It will come in a square-ish clear plastic bottle. I'd go with the powdered KMR...more hassle for you, but better for the kitten, and can be mixed with the pedialyte instead of with water.

 

[BlazenlyObvious]

She's now roughly 4-5 weeks old and I’m curious as to what I should do when I need to start weaning her off milk and onto wet food.
When I got her I think she was only a few days old, and if that’s the case she should almost be reaching her 5th week. She likes to run around but shows no interest in playing yet.
She also has really bad liquid diarrhea. I am getting a fecal test done tomorrow by my vet. She has received treatment for worms and coccidia but I feel as though the coccidia did not go away. She is very sore and inflamed because of the diarrhea. She also cannot use the litter box yet, even though I started trying to train her.
I tried introducing wet food to her today and she wasn’t interested, even if I mixed it with her formula. KMR and we use the liquid formula since it’s what the emergency vet gave us.
I was just hoping to receive some advice on how to properly wean her off her milk, and if she’s even old enough?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Poor baby, I'm glad she has you. Here are a few short articles that may help

Weaning: How To Get Your Kittens To Eat On Their Own

Hand Rearing Kittens

Fading Kitten Syndrome: 11 Things You Need To Know

Weighing Newborn Kittens (And How This Could Save Their Lives)

Kitten Development Stages - Illustrated Guide

The Essentials of Kitten Nutrition

 

[GoldyCat]

For the diarrhea you might consider changing the formula. I've found that the powdered KMR is less likely to give the babies diarrhea than the ready-to-feed formula, even though they're supposedly the same thing.

You can add a little pumpkin (plain, not pumpkin pie mix) to the formula to help firm up the stools. I've heard that plain yogurt also helps, but I've never been able to get any of my cats to eat it.

To transition to wet food, try mixing a soft pate food in with the KMR but still give it in the bottle. You can also use baby food that is just meat, no added salt or garlic. You may have to cut a larger hole in the nipple for the thickened formula.

Good luck with your baby.

 

[BlazenlyObvious]

For the diarrhea you might consider changing the formula. I've found that the powdered KMR is less likely to give the babies diarrhea than the ready-to-feed formula, even though they're supposedly the same thing.

You can add a little pumpkin (plain, not pumpkin pie mix) to the formula to help firm up the stools. I've heard that plain yogurt also helps, but I've never been able to get any of my cats to eat it.

To transition to wet food, try mixing a soft pate food in with the KMR but still give it in the bottle. You can also use baby food that is just meat, no added salt or garlic. You may have to cut a larger hole in the nipple for the thickened formula.

Good luck with your baby.

This is what I was trying to do but it kept getting stuck, I’ll cut a larger hole I just am worried because this is the lasts nipple I have (my cat likes to steal the bottle when I’m not looking and broke the other cap I had) but I really need to start getting her to eat some solid food.
I’ve heard the powder was better so I’ll keep that in mind for next time, it was more convenient for me to have the pre-mixed formula especially since I struggled with having it fully mix together.

 

[BlazenlyObvious]

Hi!
Poor baby, I'm glad she has you. Here are a few short articles that may help

Weaning: How To Get Your Kittens To Eat On Their Own

Hand Rearing Kittens

Fading Kitten Syndrome: 11 Things You Need To Know

Weighing Newborn Kittens (And How This Could Save Their Lives)

Kitten Development Stages - Illustrated Guide

The Essentials of Kitten Nutrition

Thank you so much!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Looks like you're in good hands! ALL of the information I was gathering, Furballsmom and GoldyCat already gave you!

 

[ArchyCat]

A problem with the liquid KMR is that it can spoil.

 

[Furballsmom]

How are things going?