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- Jun 15, 2016
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I found a mamma cat and 6 babies (7, but one had already passed) about 10 days ago. I'm guessing about 2-3 weeks old now. Their eyes are open and they are wobbling about a bit. They react to sound.. I don't see any teeth.
Mamma was not in great shape. Very friendly and obviously had a home at some point. Also very obviously about starved to death. As of about 10 minutes ago I know that she has what I assume are roundworms. She eats a lot. Litter box is normal, no diarrhea or the like. She isn't drinking anything but I am mixing canned kitten food with KMR and she is lapping that right up - she was so dehydrated I had her on fluids for a time, but these last two days have been able to stop. The babies fight bottle feeding, but she just wasn't producing enough milk. Thankfully she seem to be doing a better job now and is actually washing them as well - they were pretty dirty. That's an understatement. They were filthy and caked with grime and smelly and as much as I tried to clean them, it was upsetting to her and I was in constant fear of hurting them. They look like kittens now instead of little aliens.
The littlest guy of the bunch is worrying me. Something seems to be wrong with, for lack of knowing exactly what the problem is, his bum. He is eating, though I sometimes remove the larger kittens and leave him and the other runt alone with mamma for a while so that they get to eat. Otherwise the mafia gangs up and won't let them eat. Then he just - stopped eating. When I went to clean him up I noticed some sort of - swelling, maybe? I guess it could really be a bunch of caked mess under his tail (goodness knows I did have to clean a lot of caked feces/dried hair/etc.. from his tail) but I don't think so. He does not have an imperforate anus (I did some google research) - and he did poop while I was cleaning him, after which he decided to eat. That swelling is still there, though. There's some white something that could be pus or could be.. poop? Though his poop was brown when he went on the towel. I'm afraid to touch it much for fear of hurting him but I did soak it in some warm water and while I guess it looks... less angry, it certainly is still there.
It is a 45 minute drive to an emergency clinic. I'll take him if it seems an emergency, but right now he is nursing and mamma is giving him a good bath.
If he needs to go...
Do I take him alone? Is he going to be OK away from her for that long? Obviously I don't really know what I am doing, here.
They were seen at the vet when I first found them - mamma was felv/fiv negative. Nothing scary on the bloodwork other than from what I've read, the values that were off show some serious starvation. She just seems very young, very small and very very underweight.
Any ideas why he would develop a bump/lump/swelling.. thing under his anus? None of the others have. I couldn't honestly say if it seems to hurt him. He crawls around a bit less than the others, but he's also half their size. He's the cuddliest of the bunch and the one I've become attached to the most (if you don't count mamma) and I'm pretty worried about him. Do you think he is OK to wait until morning, or do I need to try to get him to an ER?
Mamma was not in great shape. Very friendly and obviously had a home at some point. Also very obviously about starved to death. As of about 10 minutes ago I know that she has what I assume are roundworms. She eats a lot. Litter box is normal, no diarrhea or the like. She isn't drinking anything but I am mixing canned kitten food with KMR and she is lapping that right up - she was so dehydrated I had her on fluids for a time, but these last two days have been able to stop. The babies fight bottle feeding, but she just wasn't producing enough milk. Thankfully she seem to be doing a better job now and is actually washing them as well - they were pretty dirty. That's an understatement. They were filthy and caked with grime and smelly and as much as I tried to clean them, it was upsetting to her and I was in constant fear of hurting them. They look like kittens now instead of little aliens.
The littlest guy of the bunch is worrying me. Something seems to be wrong with, for lack of knowing exactly what the problem is, his bum. He is eating, though I sometimes remove the larger kittens and leave him and the other runt alone with mamma for a while so that they get to eat. Otherwise the mafia gangs up and won't let them eat. Then he just - stopped eating. When I went to clean him up I noticed some sort of - swelling, maybe? I guess it could really be a bunch of caked mess under his tail (goodness knows I did have to clean a lot of caked feces/dried hair/etc.. from his tail) but I don't think so. He does not have an imperforate anus (I did some google research) - and he did poop while I was cleaning him, after which he decided to eat. That swelling is still there, though. There's some white something that could be pus or could be.. poop? Though his poop was brown when he went on the towel. I'm afraid to touch it much for fear of hurting him but I did soak it in some warm water and while I guess it looks... less angry, it certainly is still there.
It is a 45 minute drive to an emergency clinic. I'll take him if it seems an emergency, but right now he is nursing and mamma is giving him a good bath.
If he needs to go...
Do I take him alone? Is he going to be OK away from her for that long? Obviously I don't really know what I am doing, here.
They were seen at the vet when I first found them - mamma was felv/fiv negative. Nothing scary on the bloodwork other than from what I've read, the values that were off show some serious starvation. She just seems very young, very small and very very underweight.
Any ideas why he would develop a bump/lump/swelling.. thing under his anus? None of the others have. I couldn't honestly say if it seems to hurt him. He crawls around a bit less than the others, but he's also half their size. He's the cuddliest of the bunch and the one I've become attached to the most (if you don't count mamma) and I'm pretty worried about him. Do you think he is OK to wait until morning, or do I need to try to get him to an ER?