Please Help, Baby Kitten Always Hungry.

[catsknowme]

I have had best results with goat milk, especially raw goat milk. I think that the pasteurized milk has less enzymes and probiotics.
I am wondering if the worms are complicating things. Since the smell has improved, it sounds like you are on the right track in using the dewormer.
Are you keeping the formula at 100°F? If it gets chilled, it can cause more gas plus indigestion. I keep the bottle wrapped in a warmed rice/cornmeal sock (our lows are in the 40s).

 

[CatsFan4Life]

I've never seen raw goat's milk sold around here, the pasteurized stuff has only become common in the last couple years. Don't think we have canned even.

I did find him crawling around an area with a lot of feral cat feces, who knows what he picked up. Yuck.

I usually sit cross legged while I feed him with a syringe and tuck the bottle of milk behind my knee so my body heat keeps the milk from cooling as quickly. It doesn't take him long to polish it off so I don't think it cools too much.

 

[catsknowme]

Our body temperatures are lower than cats and kittens. Some of my bottle babies were more flexible in the temps. My current tiny is believed to have been.a preemie and is very susceptible to cooled milk so I think that is making me more hypervigilant. Also, she is 33 days old and still needs her warmed socks and her carrier covered with heavy towels although it is on a heated dog pad.
Your kitten in very beautiful, btw

 

[CatsFan4Life]

I don't have a way to accurately test the temperature to get a perfect 100 degrees unfortunately. I just try to aim consistently for warmer than my body temp but not too hot. It only takes him a minute or two to finish eating. Could it really cool that much that quickly? The two babies I raised right before him didn't seem to be bothered by the exact same methods and they were only a week older...

Aww, she sounds delicate and adorable. What color?

Thanks, he's been an adorable surprise.
I wasn't expecting another bottle baby so soon. Just with he was doing better and would let me sleep some.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Just with he was doing better and would let me sleep some.

I wish so too - for both your sakes.
I can only offer my wishes to you that you start to see things begin to turn around for him very, very soon.

 

[CatsFan4Life]

Thanks. I really appreciate everyone's help today. Hopefully I'll have better news for you tomorrow FeebysOwner.

Hopefully the last dewormer dose helps and we also see a good poop again soon.Fingers crossed.

 

[FeebysOwner]

 

[catsknowme]

Ugh...the frequent feedings are rugged indeed. Fortunately, I am retired so naps are how I survive. My tiny was called Bella previously but now answers to Trini or Tilly - I am pushing for Tilly. She's still very scrawny but vet didn't expect her to make it to 10 days.

 

[StefanZ]

I'll give him the last dose of dewormer tonight and see how that goes. I haven't seen any obvious side effects, but it could be causing the constipation and/or gas.

Unfortunately the soonest I can buy anti-gas medicine for him is Tues/Wed as I can't drive and live pretty far outside the nearest town. I need to get a ride in with someone else and that's the soonest they're going in.

any sense to me.

Can you ask families around whom have or recently had human bottle babies? The chance is good someone will have some simethicone left or still in use, and can give you some. You dont need much, just a couple of drops a couple of times each day.

The minerale oil you can give every meal if necessary, till it works. Half this when it begins to work...
Someone mentioned olive oil. This is useful here too, but minerale oil is more potent, so you dont need to use both...

My guess is he could have more food than the average amount. The problem is the constipation, being constipated you cant give him as much as he wants, because it will become even worse...

Idea: some probiotic? Add a little unflavored full fat youghurt into his goats milk? And or if you can get raw goats milk?

Good you are giving the full serie of the dewormer. Some excess isnt dangerous, so treat it extra long as for giardia as you do. Even if for worms its ok with the shorter serie.

And yeah, many vets arent good with small weak kittens. Probably because they are used if there are serious problems they either die or are pts, so they dont get much training either... But when there is a diagnose or a very visible nned, yes, even they can help out. Exactly as yours.
So, in many cases, the best bet is either to find a rescuer living nearby, or a friendly forum such as ours...

 

[StefanZ]

Sorry, no dill or red raspberry leaf.
) I've read that goat's milk already has beneficial bacteria for their stomach's in it?

I was originally diluting the milk with 1/3 clean water because I was concerned it would be too rich when he was clearly unused to eating much. (Based on being nothing but bones.) Then I switched to Pedialyte when the diarrhea got worse. I've been slowly cutting out the Pedialyte since the diarrhea stopped.
..

This is very true for raw goats milk. That is why raw goats milk is best.
You use pasteurized whole milk, which is OK to use, as good as most kmr, but doesnt have these potential additional plusses of clean, hygienic raw goats milk...

I see your thinking is very sound.

 

[catsknowme]

If you have fennel or chamomile tea on hand, you might be able to consult an online vet.

 

[CatsFan4Life]

Aww, Tilly is adorable. Such a pretty tabby girl.

Was just off feeding/deworming/weighing him. His weight's up again tonight, another 50 grams (approx.) Was difficult to get an exact amount as it's an old spring scale and he was super wiggly. Not sure how much is true gain and how much is food/poop/gas. His belly is still huge.

Had a bm though! I'll include a pic at the bottom for catsknowme .

Unfortunately no friends/family with babies. The simethicone will have to wait until Tue/Wed when I can get into town. The only chamomile tea I have is the powdered stuff in tea bags, not the good whole ones... (Don't those vets need to be paid? I don't have a credit card...)
I can also buy some yogurt then. Something like Activia with the added cultures? We do have Source in the fridge, but those are fruit flavored. Thanks for the compliment, I try to do a lot of research in my spare time.

 

[catsknowme]

Poop looks good to me!! You can use the bagged chamomile as well. I bring the water to a boil, remove from heat and add the bag, cover and steep for 5-10 minutes, until fragrant. I dilute teas to a half dose for kittens and kids under 7 and administer at only a few drops at a time. This is not medical advice and I have no professional knowledge - it's just what I have done to try to help feral kittens in a rural area with few resources (the nearest WalMart is 140 miles away, the nearest commercial airports are over 200 miles away). Fortunately, my vet was raised on a Pacific NW ranch & grew up using herbs (my dad's people were healers) so IMO she is more familiar with traditional medicine than most.

 

[Sarthur2]

Hello there!

You are doing a fine job with this kitten, and also getting some good advice.

The yellow poop suggests coccidia, which is a nasty parasitic infection. Albon for 10 days is good for it, but 1-3 doses of ponazuril will kill it more quickly. Are you able to get either at a tractor supply or from a vet? In the meantime, continue with the fenbandazole. It is helping.

Your little guy sounds about 3 weeks old. He cries for food all the time because he needs it to grow on. When you see him begin to cut his baby teeth, you will know he is at 4 weeks.

Because he is so hungry, you can make a mixture of either Gerber plain rice cereal and goat milk, or Gerber chicken or turkey meat baby food and goat milk, and give him this. He will eat less and it should hold him longer. Once he has his milk teeth he may learn to lap it on his own from a flat dish.

For constipation, I recommend a drop or two of olive oil mixed with each meal, and if necessary, cut a sliver from a glycerin suppository and insert it. It will usually bring on a bowel movement within a few minutes. However, kittens naturally have round bellies until their bodies begin to elongate as they grow.

As for growth, kittens should gain about 4 ounces minimum each week, and weigh about one pound at one month, two pounds at two months, and so forth.

Keep up the great job and let me know how he is doing today!

 

[Jcatbird]

That poop was a nice size. Hopefully he is improving. You have done a fantastic job and you have lots of new ideas to work with. I hope you got some rest! I’ll check back later to see if anything has changed.

 

[CatLover49]

I have a baby kitten I've been raising for a week now after a feral mom rejected it. It's eyes are open and it's just starting getting it's bottom cleaning teeth in, so 2-3 weeks old?

The problem is he's always hungry. I can feed him 8 mils of goat's milk and he'll be crying again an hour or two later. A couple more mils then another small break, and so on. He looks like he swallowed a tennis ball. I'm legitimately worried about overfeeding him and rupturing something since he's so tiny.

He hasn't had the best health either, hence why the mom probably rejected him. He had terrible chunky yellow diarrhea, but that's gotten better since I started him on liquid fenbendezole. He's had two doses so far. Tonight will be the third.

Now he's constipated if anything. I've added a couple drops of mineral oil to his milk, but haven't been sure how often to repeat. He did poop this morning (yellow with a solid brown poop), but what's going in isn't matching how often what's coming out.

He's also extremely thin, all bones (only 150-200 grams) and has green eye discharge occasionally. I've been treating that with colloidal silver and it's slowly improving. Otherwise, he's become a tiny ball of milk seeking energy. The dewormer really increased his energy AND his appetite.

What can I do to help him be more comfortable? Am I feeding too much or too little? Sorry for the long post, just wanted to be thorough in case any small detail matters.

I have a baby kitten I've been raising for a week now after a feral mom rejected it. It's eyes are open and it's just starting getting it's bottom cleaning teeth in, so 2-3 weeks old?

The problem is he's always hungry. I can feed him 8 mils of goat's milk and he'll be crying again an hour or two later. A couple more mils then another small break, and so on. He looks like he swallowed a tennis ball. I'm legitimately worried about overfeeding him and rupturing something since he's so tiny.

He hasn't had the best health either, hence why the mom probably rejected him. He had terrible chunky yellow diarrhea, but that's gotten better since I started him on liquid fenbendezole. He's had two doses so far. Tonight will be the third.

Now he's constipated if anything. I've added a couple drops of mineral oil to his milk, but haven't been sure how often to repeat. He did poop this morning (yellow with a solid brown poop), but what's going in isn't matching how often what's coming out.

He's also extremely thin, all bones (only 150-200 grams) and has green eye discharge occasionally. I've been treating that with colloidal silver and it's slowly improving. Otherwise, he's become a tiny ball of milk seeking energy. The dewormer really increased his energy AND his appetite.

What can I do to help him be more comfortable? Am I feeding too much or too little? Sorry for the long post, just wanted to be thorough in case any small detail matters.

U said he has green eye discharge..he needs to see a VET cause of every thing else u have said is wrong with him also..ASAP

 

[Sarthur2]

Terramycin antibiotic eye ointment, available over the counter except in California, will cure the green eye discharge.

 

[Willowy]

I was going to suggest adding some Gerber chicken baby food to his milk, plus a tiny pinch of baby cereal to firm things up, but I see someone has already suggested that, so I'll just second that suggestion . At this age he's old enough and it might keep him full longer.

Keep his eyes clean and the infection may clear up on its own. If it goes on too long you'll need terramycin though. Whatever you do, don't let his eyes crust over! Clean them as often as necessary to prevent that.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I hope you are starting to see some hopeful signs that your baby is improving , and I also hope you managed to squeeze in some sleep time!

Update us when you get the chance!!

 

[CatsFan4Life]

This is not medical advice and I have no professional knowledge - it's just what I have done to try to help feral kittens in a rural area with few resources (the nearest WalMart is 140 miles away, the nearest commercial airports are over 200 miles away).

Sounds like we're kinda similar then, both trying to do our best for ferals with limited resources.

Sarthur2
I understand baby kittens need lots of food to grow (not my first bottle baby), but his demanding is far outweighing what his tiny body can handle. He won't let what's in his stomach digest for an hour before he starts wailing again. I've tried holding him (doesn't want to be held, mom was feral) and stimulating him in case it's a stomachache, but nothing seems to calm him other than more food. He looked like he swallowed a tennis ball yesterday he was so bloated. I'll try adding a little rice pablum to his milk next time and see if it helps him feel more satiated.

CatLover49
I'm usually pro vet, but she won't be any help with a tiny baby kitten. I recently brought her two three week old's that suddenly crashed at night and she couldn't even tell me why it happened other than it sounded like they were hypoglycemic and my rubbing corn syrup on their gums saved their lives. She said I wasn't doing anything wrong raising them, and didn't have any further advice. That's why I came here because there are several members who've raised a lot of bottle babies and probably know a lot more than her. I'm going to try getting some eye medicine when I get into town soon, but it's hit or miss if they'll give me anything.

W Willowy I don't let his eyes crust over, as I know the puss and pressure builds up and can damage the eyes. Feline chlamydial conjunctivitis is common in the ferals here, especially the kittens and it's something I've battled for many years. His eyes are slowly improving. I think his immune system just needed time and good food to start working.

FeebysOwner
I did manage to get a little sleep at 7 this morning. Nearly had a breakdown at 4 though.

His belly slowly goes down now between feedings, which is good as it didn't yesterday. The bm he had might have unclogged something... I've had to ignore his crying a few times, which I hated. He still wants food WAY more often than is healthy for him, which still has me torn between possible worms causing it or Starving Kitten Syndrome. He shouldn't be hungry an hour after I feed him as I make sure he gets a lot. I've been letting him eat until his little belly gets pretty distended then stop him before he hurts himself. I'm hoping the deworming helps and am considering adding another 2 days just in case his infection is that severe.