Foster Kittens Not Eating

[riley1]

Hi All,

I have not been on for awhile. Anyway, I picked up 4 fosters about a week ago for socializing. They are about 10 weeks old. When I brought them home they seemed a tad skinny. I feed all cats either canned or raw. My last group was just like this and they ate at least 3 5.5 oz cans of Kitten Chicken Soup. These new ones would hardly eat any wet food at all. I gave them KMR & they really liked it but needed solid food so I gave them Evo Dry. They ate a little more of this but not enough. Now everyone has watery diarrhea probably from all the food changes. I have never had this happen with kittens. I will call the shelter for help tomorrow but wanted to ask if anyone could weigh in on this.

 

[Columbine]

Try to find out what food they were eating before - it always helps to start with the familiar and do a gradual switch, especially with kittens (as I'm sure you know ). Maybe try a cheaper (lower quality) wet food for now, as that'll likely be close to what they're used to. The most important thing id to get them eating first - you can worry about quality later

Their being so skinny and having diarrhoea is concerning though. My first though is worms, so definitely find out if they've been worked recently too.

 

[StefanZ]

Also give pedialyte, bough or homemade with this watery diarrhea a must. Can youget raw goats milk?

 

[riley1]

Thank you both! This morning they had all vomited the Evo all over the floor. Although I had tried Tiki Cat Chicken earlier, I have been giving them 1 minute to eat , take away for 20 minutes, etc. They are eating this and have kept it down. I will use it to get thru the crisis but way too expensive for the duration. Talked to the shelter this morning. The kittens and their fecal samples have an appointment tomorrow at one. I am going to get some pedialyte now. Wish it came in smaller bottles and kept a little longer! I can get goats milk but not raw. Am very familiar with vomiting, etc but the not wanting to eat has me stumped. This has never happened before, especially with canned food. Thanks again! I appreciated your speedy responses.
Now that I am just a foster and not an employee I don't have access to their medicals. I would hope that they had been wormed/vaccinated on arrival as they were kept for a 7 day stray hold. Will let you know.

 

[Sarthur2]

R riley1

You can freeze pedialyte in ice cube trays and take out what you need when you need it.

Have you tried Fancy Feast pate style wet food and Purina kitten chow?

Some kittens just do better on these plainer, less expensive brands that still have good nutritional value. Raised mine on these and never any problems.

 

[riley1]

Thanks for the tip on the Pedialyte - that's a good idea! Yes, I tried them on two favors of Fancy Feast that have good profiles for protein, fat and are low carb. Today, they ate Tiki Cat all day long. I give them a couple spoonfuls every 2 hours. Just a bit ago I mixed Tiki Cat with the Chicken Soup and they were not pleased. Will try the Fancy Feast tomorrow. Just can't feed them Tiki Cat for the duration. About $3.60 for a 6 oz can.

 

[StefanZ]

Canned goats milk is good it too. Although not the same potential edge