Kitten Care Questions

[alli-kat]

Good morning!

I hope I post this is the correct section. I have a few questions in regards to my kitten and needed some MORE advice...I'm just so uneducated at this.

Ok, I've made some really great progress with my kitten, BUT I think he was given away TOO soon. He's probably only a month old. ANYWAYS, my issues are as follows;

He has been dragging his butt all over my bed and I'm running out of streakless

blankets. It's SO gross. I have a vet appt on the 15th, but is there something I can do to help him until then? Last night I took a warm/wet washcloth and wiped his behind and tried to get him to relax but he continues...Just FYI, he had his first bowel movement (I saw in his litterbox) on Tuesday. When inspecting his stool, it's small but doesn't seem to have any worms...

Also, he drinks his milk out of a bowl, but he won't touch water, hard food, or any of the wet foods I've tried...is that normal?

 

[junior67]

I will let the more experienced answer the rest of the questions. But are you giving him cows milk?????/ That is not good for a cat expecially a kitten. go out and buy some KMR for him or some goats milk.......

not sure on the other things, sorry.

 

[alli-kat]

Originally Posted by junior67

I will let the more experienced answer the rest of the questions. But are you giving him cows milk?????/ That is not good for a cat expecially a kitten. go out and buy some KMR for him or some goats milk.......

not sure on the other things, sorry.

Oh no, lol, sorry I didn't make myself clearer. I'm feeding him the kitten formula from Pet Smart. I think it actually might be called KMR like you mentioned...white can?? Pop top? He LUVS that stuff.

 

[tnr1]

Originally Posted by Alli-Kat

Good morning!

I hope I post this is the correct section. I have a few questions in regards to my kitten and needed some MORE advice...I'm just so uneducated at this.

Ok, I've made some really great progress with my kitten, BUT I think he was given away TOO soon. He's probably only a month old. ANYWAYS, my issues are as follows;

He has been dragging his butt all over my bed and I'm running out of streakless

blankets. It's SO gross. I have a vet appt on the 15th, but is there something I can do to help him until then? Last night I took a warm/wet washcloth and wiped his behind and tried to get him to relax but he continues...Just FYI, he had his first bowel movement (I saw in his litterbox) on Tuesday. When inspecting his stool, it's small but doesn't seem to have any worms...

Also, he drinks his milk out of a bowl, but he won't touch water, hard food, or any of the wet foods I've tried...is that normal?

1 month is still a bit young...so I would stick with KMR and perhaps make him some kitten glop:

http://www.kitten-rescue.com/what_to_feed.html

Most kittens have worms..but if he is only a month old, they won't give him a dewormer until he is older (around 6 weeks).

Gaye would be a good person to PM about his issue with dragging his bum on your blankets.

Katie

 

[amyscrazy]

I've heard of dogs dragging their bottoms, but not cats

It could be worms or maybe he is having difficulties having BMs, he is young and his mom would normally still be helping him.

 

[loralei83]

as to using your blankets for toilet paper....he is young as all have said, and it could be hes indeed having problems with bm's. Have you tried, every time hes finished with a feeding, taking him to the litter box and wiping his little bottom with a damp cotton ball, (for 60secs) because low and behold that works. The mommy licks their bottoms to get their bowels to move, and if they dont have a mommy then they have no one to teach them...or to wipe their lil bottms...also this tells them where to go when they need to do a poo or a pee. (If you do this, it gives them a signal to go...i dunno why...its wierd...but it works!

I tried it on my abandoned 5 week old lil kitten, Harbor, after reading something about it online and it works! it really does! So, just a suggestion!...who knows it may work?

Good luck with the washing of the blankets!

 

[gayef]

Cats will drag their butts for many reasons ... but most of the time, it is due to hard stool, to intestinal parasites or other digestive tract upset.

When you take him in on the 15th to meet and see his vet, request a thorough exam including fecal for all known intestinal parasites including giardia and coccidia (although his symptoms don't really point to either of those IMO) and to discuss his vaccine schedule, nutritional needs and whether or not your vet would be comfortable with pediatric neuter.

While he is there, they should:

Weigh him
Take his temperature
Examine his coat for evidence of fleas or other skin disorders
Check for proper hydration
Examine ears for evidence of mites, yeast or bacteria
Examine his mouth for abnormalities and to determine age based on dental development
Examine eyes for signs of occular issues
Examine nose and nasal passages for indication of inflamation or infection
Examine genitalia for abnormalities
Listen to his heart, lung sounds and bowel sounds

They should also suggest a nutritional plan based on his weight/age, what to feed, how much to feed and how often to feed.

They should recommend a vaccination schedule which includes the normal "kitten series" of shots to include Rhinotraceitis, Calici Virus and Panleukopenia. These normally begin at the age of around 6 weeks old and repeat every 3 weeks until they are 12 weeks old. If Rabies is required by local ordinance in your area, they will tell you when he will be at the minimum age to receive that. I normally don't vaccinate for Rabies and the others mentioned above at the same time, instead, I schedule the Rabies for a week to ten days after the 3rd/last kitten vaccine -- a lot of kittens have a little reaction when both are administered at the same time and doing it this way helps to minimize that risk.

 

[alli-kat]

Thanks for all the advice! I just assumed he was wiping his but AFTER he already pooped but, I have plenty of cotton balls so...I'll start doing that. I notice when he's about to poop he does meow while he's sitting in there like..it's painful. Of course I'm such a germaphob and...hope my gloves don't bother him

 

[alli-kat]

Originally Posted by gayef

Cats will drag their butts for many reasons ... but most of the time, it is due to hard stool, to intestinal parasites or other digestive tract upset.

When you take him in on the 15th to meet and see his vet, request a thorough exam including fecal for all known intestinal parasites including giardia and coccidia (although his symptoms don't really point to either of those IMO) and to discuss his vaccine schedule, nutritional needs and whether or not your vet would be comfortable with pediatric neuter.

While he is there, they should:

Weigh him
Take his temperature
Examine his coat for evidence of fleas or other skin disorders
Check for proper hydration
Examine ears for evidence of mites, yeast or bacteria
Examine his mouth for abnormalities and to determine age based on dental development
Examine eyes for signs of occular issues
Examine nose and nasal passages for indication of inflamation or infection
Examine genitalia for abnormalities
Listen to his heart, lung sounds and bowel sounds

They should also suggest a nutritional plan based on his weight/age, what to feed, how much to feed and how often to feed.

They should recommend a vaccination schedule which includes the normal "kitten series" of shots to include Rhinotraceitis, Calici Virus and Panleukopenia. These normally begin at the age of around 6 weeks old and repeat every 3 weeks until they are 12 weeks old. If Rabies is required by local ordinance in your area, they will tell you when he will be at the minimum age to receive that. I normally don't vaccinate for Rabies and the others mentioned above at the same time, instead, I schedule the Rabies for a week to ten days after the 3rd/last kitten vaccine -- a lot of kittens have a little reaction when both are administered at the same time and doing it this way helps to minimize that risk.

Thanks! I wrote that checklist down for when I got to the vet. I hope he doesn't have anything serious! It makes me mad how his former owners obviously didn't make an effort to take care of him. I noticed last night a flee on him and his ears look a little dirty. I've only had him for a few days and as I read the threads I see just how he wasn't cared for properly.
Despite his itching though, he's a VERY good kitten. Plays, uses his litterbox, cuddles. I can tell he's still such a baby because before he goes to sleep he cuddles up to my neck and sucks on my ear, like it's a nipple. Feels weird but he purrs like mad

 

[penthilisea]

OK- simple bed solution. Put an old sheet on top at all times. If you have to go to the thirft store and buy some do it. At this age you can diagnose and treat but not really train in these matters. Good luck!

 

[katkisses]

Maybe he is releasing his anal glands??? Good luck at the vets!

 

[njangel021]

For feeding I really don't know what the kmr or whatever is I just use the evaporated milk with warm water and baby rice cereal I've never had any problems with that and it helps kittens gain weight and is probably cheaper then the other stuff and kittens love it.As for the dragging of his butt I'm sure its nothing serious and hopefully the vet will be able to figure it out =) Good luck and lots of hugs and kisses to the baby

 

[alli-kat]

I had Emmit's Vet appt last night and it went pretty well. He's about 6 weeks old and weighs 1lb 6 ounces. Dr.Dave says he's big for his age. Anyways, he has earmites

but other than that he's very healthy! I had a question though about the deworming med. Dr.Dave said to cut the pill in half, put some butter on it and basically shove it down. He even demonstrated using a pen to push it down. Now, I didnt' do it last night because I felt he went through enough with all the shots, but is there a more effective way to get the pill down? I just know he's gonna put up one hell of a fight.