One of Tigger's kittens is trying to die!?!

[levi68]

His poor wee bum is so sore. It's just dripping out of him.

I got him to take a half and half mixture of pumpkin and development kitten food mixed with KMR. About 1.5ml

Would it be advisable to take him off KMR for 12 hours and just give homemade electrolytes to give his system

a break?

I've always believed that he was more than a runt, I think Tigger was bred twice and he was premature when born. He was lacking

fur on his legs and belly. When I was giving some wet food earlier tonight. (I just started to try them on it as they are 3 weeks on Sunday) I would put a wee bit on the roof of their mouths. His siblings have teeth breaking thru but he still feels more like gums.

 \

Thank you Stefan Z, I have given some homemade electrolyte and bought some pedialyte but could only find apple flavor and he hated it. I have the room very warm and he's on a pet safe heating pad.

the other three are doing really well and gaining. I want Ben to live!

 

[bentliy]

Good luck!! Get well soon, Little Ben!!

 

[StefanZ]

I have used Oral Rehydration Solution on cats and kittens many times, always with good results. The recipe I use is the UNICEF one. . .2 tablespoons (6 teaspoons) of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt per quart of water. Dehydration is the biggest problem with diarrhea, so hopefully that will help him. . .poor little guy

.

Interesting. I though MY recipe was the standard one used in the world of people in need.

I see your UNICEF recipe is at least twice as concentrated as mine. As it is quarter of liter, not gallon either...

Looking at the Wikipedia article, I see that.  Although they propose to sink somewhat the concentrations, esp on  sugar, ie glucose, and common Na/Cl salt...

I must analyse it more. Probably I must allow bigger dosages, but I suspect they will be somewhat lower then yours.

Thay say sugar in several places, and it is possibly different sugar sources, including common sugar, may work, but best IS  glucose (ie dextrose):

"in the presence of glucose, sodium and chloride became absorbable during diarrhea"

An alternative are some commercially buyed waters, gased or not, but containing different salts.

If gased, let the coldioxide out before you use it.

Add of course some glucose for best measure.

 

[orientalslave]

<snip>

. As it is quarter of liter, not gallon either...

<snip>

I suspect they ment a UK quart which is 2 imperial pints (not the smaller US versions) - 1/4 gallon - just over a litre.  2 US pints would be just under a litre.

 

[Willowy]

Sorry, it just said a quart, I assumed 32 ounces. Whether that's what they meant or not, I don't think an ounce of water one way or the other will make too much difference, hopefully. Anyway, that's how I always mix it and it works .

The only difference I saw between that and Stefan's recipe was less salt, plus I don't know how much a soup spoon holds , so maybe more sugar too. Maybe more salt is an older recipe? I saw they called it "low-osmotic" recipe.

But, no, definitely not a quarter of a liter! That would be too concentrated.

 

[levi68]

He made it through the night! I was up once to feed and when I went in this morning he was the first to come "running". (a staggered walk actually )

His diarrhea seemed better, it's not dripping out of him. He has his sparkle back and eagerness to eat. Good Lord I hope this continues!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

He made it through the night! I was up once to feed and when I went in this morning he was the first to come "running". (a staggered walk actually )

His diarrhea seemed better, it's not dripping out of him. He has his sparkle back and eagerness to eat. Good Lord I hope this continues!

Yay!  You're doing such a great job with this little family

.  And how is Tigger?  Is she still improving every day, as well? 

 

[levi68]

Thank you Sally! He was trying to hard to fade on me last night. His tiny little nose was cold and he just seemed like he was giving up. His weight stayed the same overnight at 6.25 oz but I am hoping we will see him start to climb again now that his diarrhea seems a bit better.

Tigger is doing awesome. She will make a full recovery and I'm amazed how well her tummy is healing.

Here's a pic I took yesterday.

a333.jpg

• levi68
• Mar 9, 2013

 

[kris78]

It's great to see the wonderful job you're doing with Little Ben. I think he's going to end up owing you his life!

Stefan, since you're giving so much advice about the pedialyte, I have a quick question. If you need to give this to a kitten, how to do you do that? With a tiny syringe and just drip feed it to them? Or do you need to be more forceful? Or even tube feed it to them?

 

[StefanZ]

Stefan, since you're giving so much advice about the pedialyte, I have a quick question. If you need to give this to a kitten, how to do you do that? With a tiny syringe and just drip feed it to them? Or do you need to be more forceful? Or even tube feed it to them?

The answer is yes.   

Usually it is no big problem as long as they still manage to eat or drink, ie use the same way as you do give them kmr or water, the same way you give pedialyte.  If they are a little older they can drink themselves, perhaps from a little spoon you hold to them.

In more serious cases you are more forceful yes.

The fluid the vet injects is essentially a pedialyte.

Tube feed is useful in many difficult cases, IF you really know how to do it. As it is dangerous and risky if you dont know exactly.  The problem is, very few "knows how". It seems even many vets dont know.

Anyway, if you do often rescue small kittens or sick animals, it pays very well to find someone who can show you how to tube feed, learn it by heart, and also have all the gears ready.  Even if you must pay for the instruction some. 

It will spare you much trouble and save lives.  You will not need this often, but in the cases you need... Big difference.

Knowing how to inject fluids is another alternative. Having suitable injectors too. 

Observe the fluids you do inject should be sterile. I dont know if I would dare to inject in my homemade pedialyte, even if I did cooked it up. 

Good luck!

 

[shaidy]

Hi there! I was just reading this thread, and I can definitely say I'm learning a lot from you guys!

although I am sorry for little Lewis, I would like to know what has happened to the rest of the babies? 

And i praise you for your big heart!

 

[mamabirdy]

Shaidy if you click on Levi69 name on the thread, it will bring up a list of where she has posted and the top one is called Ben's progress report. This was posted 15 days ago and tell us how things are going.

 

[shaidy]

Shaidy if you click on Levi69 name on the thread, it will bring up a list of where she has posted and the top one is called Ben's progress report. This was posted 15 days ago and tell us how things are going.

Thanks for the tip

 

[laurasorphans]

Hope the babies are all okay now!