Kittens And Deworming

[LisaBLee]

Hi!

I'm fostering a few singleton kitties again. One of them had rice/seed looking pieces in his poop which I read is the sign they have tapeworms. I took him to the shelter vet 3 days ago and they gave him his second dose of dewormer. His appetite has continued to be healthy and he had regular poop and then diarrhea again this morning, but nothing in there. My question is how long does it take for the second round to work. His hair is still shabby (he came in flea ridden over 2 weeks ago) and his skin feels thin (you can feel his ribs) but otherwise he is very active, purrs and eats well. His stomach feels round/full and then not. Is there's anything I can give him to supplement his recovery? He's eating royal canin wet and dry kitten food. I don't see him drink a lot of water, but still change it daily.

 

[Alejandra Rico]

The breeder of my cat Freya gave me some cans of nutritional recovery food which can be eaten by cats of any age. It is wet food which can be easily put into a srynge to feed a weak cat, but that smells so good that any cat would want to eat by themselves if they are vi en the chance.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

As far as what little I know on the topic of dewormers, he should already be worm free from last week's deworming, unless he has become reinfected already. Is he flea free at this point? Which dewormer did they use? (that could be the issue here )

 

[LisaBLee]

I'm not sure what kind of dewormer, but he had tapeworms and I brought a stool sample when he got his second dose. Today he had diarrhea 3 times and I washed his foot. He was playful in the morning and then seemed a bit lethargic so I gave him some non flavored pedialyte. I'm not sure if the diarrhea is because I started giving him wellness kitten food and maybe his stomach is reacting to the change in diet or maybe because I left the wet food out for a few hours for him to nibble on throughout the day. I was planning to see how he is in the morning and wasn't sure if I was being too worried or if this might be normal. The vet told the foster coordinator he looked fine when I brought him in on Friday but I know kittens are very sensitive.

 

[danteshuman]

I think they do smaller doses on little kittens just to play it safe. If he isn't drinking/eating well try meat only baby food (maybe even water down if need be) and unflavored pedialite if need be for a day. If it isn't getting better by 24 hours I would be calling the vet. When I was raising 2 wee kittens from about 10 days on they were de-wormed twice at such a young age. They also got bloody diarrhea. Weird as it sounds feeding them the baby food with baby rice cereal mixed in help (well first it was rice cereal plus formula but you get the idea )

 

[LisaBLee]

Thank you! I'm taking him to the vet today because he still had diarrhea this morning and I noticed a speck of blood.
He's so small for his age and I don't want him to get worse so I don't want to take a chance. Thank you so much for your advice! I'm going to buy him some baby food for when we get back.

 

[danteshuman]

I swear that baby rice cereal plugs em right up

 

[LisaBLee]

Thank you! I just got back from the vet where he received fluids and metrizidinole and ponziruil. I'm going to pick up some baby food and the rice cereal as that will surely help him.

Thank you!

 

[LisaBLee]

i previously posted about my foster kitten who had diarrhea for two days. He came in with fleas and went through both dewormers and had been very active and playful until the diarrhea. He was also lethargic, which is why I took him to the shelter vet yesterday. They gave him fluids and prescribed ponazuril and metronidazole. When he came back he was very weak. I supplemented his kitten food with baby food (chicken and broth only) and non flavored pedialyte. The diarrhea has stopped but he's still weak this morning, but eating and I've given him pedialyte again. Am I just too concerned or Is this weakness expected? Should I just let him rest and continue to give pedialyte. He walks to his food, by very weakly on unstable legs. I'm surprised the vet let him go home with me so weak, but want to trust they know what they're doing, but it is a shelter and I know they're busy. Any advice? I've written to the foster coordinators but they're not always quick to respond.

 

[Sarthur2]

Make sure he continues to get plenty of baby food and pedialyte. He needs it to replace fluids.

The meds should help resolve the diarrhea.

I hope he gets stronger soon. Keep us updated. Poor little fellow!