New foster mama-to-be and questions!

[lexlovescats]

One last question- I keep my apartment at about 76-78 degrees F during the day and turn off the A/C at night because the desert cools off pretty nicely at night. At the lowest, it gets to be around 70 in my apartment at night, but typically 73-74. Rosie has been taking longer breaks with the kits and they've been sleeping in a little kitten pile. I keep a SnuggleSafe in the nest warm at all times just in case, but is there any possibility they could get chilled during her hour-long excursions to the cool bathroom tile? Will they cry if they're cold? I can always turn off the A/C entirely and allow my apartment to get up to 81-82 F, which is manageable because that's where I typically keep it during the summer, but not the preferred option of course.

 

[Sarthur2]

Supplementing the little guy with the bottle seems to be helping him so continue with it. I'm all in favor of supplementing to boost a kitten's growth. It's why they make formula and bottles - not just for orphans. He seems to be hungry and needs the nutrition.

Your apartment temperature sounds fine both day and night. It's normal for moms to take breaks, and excellent that you have a heat source in with the kittens.

Gains are terrific! Do keep weighing as #2 is your runt, but all sounds well! Keep up the nice job! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

 

[lexlovescats]

Kitten #2 has gained another 10 g over 12 hours. I'm so glad he's finally catching up to his siblings! Thank you for the reassurance. I know he's clearly hungry if he's guzzling down 6-10 CCs at a time and I feel so bad I can't devote enough time to actually feed him every two hours like I should. He already looks so much healthier and fuzzier, and seems to have his energy up significantly.

 

[Sarthur2]

What great news! [emoji]128571[/emoji]

 

[lexlovescats]

I left my KMR out over night, probably for twelve hours. Should I throw it out to be safe? Or if it still smells okay, should it be fine?

 

[Sarthur2]

Do you mean the can of powder? Or a can of pre-mixed? Or a batch you mixed up that you left out?

 

[lexlovescats]

It was the whole opened can of dry powder.

 

[Sarthur2]

It will be fine! [emoji]128077[/emoji]

 

[lexlovescats]

I barely recognized the little one I've been supplementing this morning! He seems to have grown a whole half of a kitten over night! Thank you everyone for all of your support and answering my incessant questions.

In other news, my rescue just reached out about four two week old kittens. I told them if no one steps up in 24 hours, I'll take them on so they'll at least have a mother figure in their lives. I'd plan on rotating a few times a day but leave Rosie's six with her most of the time, and focus on bottle feeding the four. Obviously, I don't know if this will be a for sure thing, but if it is, kittens about two weeks old can eat every 4-6 hours, right?

 

[Sarthur2]

I suggest every 4 hours, but it depends on what shape they are in. If they are behind and having issues they may need to eat every 2 hours for a couple of days.

You're a saint! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

 

[lexlovescats]

Alright guys, super urgent question right now. Update on the babies: all six are thriving and HUGE. Big thanks to everyone who answered my initial questions! My question tonight, however, is that my mama cat seems VERY sick out of nowhere. She's had multiple watery poops and has puked at least twice. This last poop-splosion was pure liquid with visible blood. She (along with the babies) received their first vaccinations yesterday. Could that have caused this? Do I need to take her to an emergency vet ASAP? Her ears are hot to the touch and she seems soooo out of it. I'm super worried.

Edit to add: No signs of mastitis. I can hear her belly rumbling. She is visibly in some sort of discomfort. Even her favorite chin scrubs did not provoke a purr. I'm keeping the babies away from her for now. Could this be her calcium by any chance? I'm going to likely be running to my local 24 hr pharmacy to get unflavored pedialyte. I'll also see if they have pumpkin. I just can't tell if this is an emergent situation.

 

[ashade1]

No diarrhea from the babies? What color is it? Is it very smelly? I would definitely try plain pumpkin! I have never heard of vaccines causing diarrhea... sounds like a parasite to me but I am not sure why it would have come on so suddenly.

 

[lexlovescats]

No diarrhea from the babies. They're all as crazy as can be. It's pretty stinky (but hers are normally pretty bad) and a lighter brown than normal tinged with blood. I have Albon and Panacur on hand, though I'm hesitant to start that if it's just an infection. I have some Clavamox as well, but I was under the impression that is for URIs mainly.

 

[lexlovescats]

I could post a picture but it's pretty nasty. I've texted my volunteer director with my rescue to ask what we should do... at 1:30 AM. Oops.

 

[ashade1]

Albon is actually an antibiotic so it wipes out a lot of bacterial GI stuff. Usually with diarrhea I do a round of Panacur and Albon. It is just strange that it just started randomly... Do you have any metronidazole? I believe I used it in a cat that had diarrhea once too. Were there any diet changes? Anything she could have gotten in to?

 

[lexlovescats]

Good to know about the Albon, thank you! I don't have any metronidazole and what is so unfortunate is that I tossed an entire bottle of it a few months back. I had been taking it myself and had a severe reaction to it because I used mouthwash after taking it. Check out "disulfiram reaction," if you want to know how bad it was, haha.

So now I feel like an idiot, but I'm hoping she'll do well the rest of the night. She's had some water at least! I changed food about a week ago, could this have come on all of a sudden from that? I did a somewhat-slow introduction the first two days.

 

[ashade1]

Hmm... I am not sure. I am going to wait and see what everyone else says when they come on. I don't think that it is anything to be immediately freaking out about, but I think she may need to go to the vet soon. It sounds like maybe she was exposed to something at the vet... a parasite, panleuk... something. I definitely would keep her away from the kittens for now!

 

[Sarthur2]

lexlovescats

It sounds to me like she has had a reaction to the vaccine. It does happen. I would get her to the vet to be assessed ASAP.

She needs to stay hydrated. She sounds like she has fever. The vet can give her sub-q fluids, an anti-diarrheal, and an NSAID to bring down her fever. She may or may not need Albon.

Do not give her any people meds!

If it is from the vaccine, and I suspect that it is, it needs to run its course in her system. This can take awhile. She should also NOT get this vaccine again ever.

Which vaccine(s) specifically was she given?

In my experience, when cats have a reaction, it's just like this and very debilitating.

 

[lexlovescats]

Thank you both for your kind words and advice. I do believe it was a reaction to the vaccine (it was whatever combo kittens get the first time around), however, I'm nervous because I think my rescue will still want to give her the second. Regardless, she's feeling better and has been eating and drinking like normal, though her BMs have not returned completely to normal yet. We're going to give her and the kittens a five day Panacur regimen as well. They turned six weeks old today!