Protruding Rectum And Seemingly Uncontrolled Bowels

[AdamR]

Hello Everyone, I foster litters of kittens. Or let me rephrase that... I have fostered litters twice now. My recent litter came from the shelter and it was 4 kittens, about 1.1 lbs - 1.6 lbs in weight. They didn't come with a Mom. Unfortunately I didn't get any of the paperwork for them instead, it was given to the person who manages the fostering organization. I just say that because I'm not sure what shots they have been given or if have have been given dewormer. That being said, I do plan to get dewormer for them tomorrow.

Here is the problem - One of the kittens has a rectum that is protruding. I suspect this next part is related but I can't be 100% sure. That is, she poops and pees all over the place. Sometimes in the litter box, but more often outside of the litter box. I have tried all the tricks, (move box away from food, get rid of soft surfaces, change litter types, I have thoroughly cleaned her and her surroundings every night to try and give her incentive to stay clean, ) but none of it makes a difference. A few more notables - I have found feces in her food bowl and her water bowl. I have witnessed her poop and she doesn't seem constipated or in any pain when she does poop, on the contrary it's like the poop just comes out without her control. She doesn't have diarrhea. Last one, other then this behavior she is a completely normal friendly kitten. She plays with her brothers and sisters and was one of the first of the litter to warm up to me. Unfortunately I had to separate her because I wanted to be safe and make sure whatever was going on with her didn't spread.

Does anyone have any ideas on this? I'm trying to get her into the vet but I have to go thru the fostering organization which puts me at their mercy. If anyone has thoughts I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

Adam

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Welcome!!
Have you had the opportunity to get this kitty in to the vet? Can you take the photo and talk to them, and try and impress upon them that this needs to be taken care of as soon as possible?

 

[white shadow]

.
Hi Adam and welcome to the forum !

Have you had the opportunity to get this kitty in to the vet?

...I'm trying to get her into the vet but I have to go thru the fostering organization which puts me at their mercy

Could you elaborate a little on exactly what you mean by 'being put at their mercy'...?

There's a member with lots of experience in dealing with these agencies Jcatbird - perhaps she can offer you some advice....once we know what your hesitancy is?

She really needs Vet attention for this - and soon!
.

 

[Jcatbird]

A AdamR I hate to be alarming but this should not wait. If you want to keep info private you can private message any of us. I don’t know which agency you are dealing with or even where you are. It would help to know a little more. This kitty needs a vet. Many groups have to go through the proper channels to get funding for vet visits. It can mean paperwork and waiting. The funding may be short too. Many groups are strained to their limits today by overpopulation and even trying to rescue animals from recent storm areas. I would contact them and make sure they understand that this cannot wait. If you can do it you could offer to pay for it yourself. That would probably make it so kitty can go now. I am glad you separated the kitten from the others. That is a good practice any time someone is sick. I can only guess what the problem is because I am not a vet but I can tell you that I would not wait. Call them, text them, do whatever it takes to get help for this baby and do it right away. The longer you wait the more complications that could arise. I am so sorry you are dealing with a sick baby but I am glad you are helping kitties. It is a great thing to do. One other precaution, make sure you wash you hands and all food dishes thoroughly. I also use one set of clothes when handling a sick cat and change before handling the others. You can get a set of hospital scrubs or a protective coverall used for painting that will easily slip over your other clothing. It makes things easier. If you are going to continue working with fosters it might be worth it to you.
I am glad you came to TCS. It is a great place to get help and information. Welcome! Please let us know what happens with the kitty. Write back if you need more info. @white shadow thanks for the heads up here. I hope we can help.

 

[AdamR]

Yeah, I guess what I meant by "at their mercy" is that I'm trying to avoid a bill. I have no problem spending some money on them but I can't spend hundreds of dollars on them. I know the agency has a clinic that they go thru and I think they get discounts but I do not know the details.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Yeah, I guess what I meant by "at their mercy" is that I'm trying to avoid a bill. I have no problem spending some money on them but I can't spend hundreds of dollars on them. I know the agency has a clinic that they go thru and I think they get discounts but I do not know the details.

If you were to speak to the vet in person, tell then you're working with XYZ rescue and this kitten needs attention ASAP they might be willing to contact the rescue coordinator and get something done.
If you're comfortable with the rescue and the people who are running the financial bit, you might ask them about going now, and having them pay you back later.

Have you shown the rescue people the picture? That looks very painful but like other said, you're pretty awesome for taking them in and caring for them.

 

[AdamR]

Thanks Everybody. I did bring her into the vet yesterday. Luckily (I didn't know this before) the Director of the organization owns a clinic, so they took care of everything. The diagnosis was that she has bad Coccidia and roundworm. They gave me medication to give to her and to the other cats because they suspected they had it too, they just weren't showing symptoms of it. Hopefully they will get better soon. Does anyone have experience with Coccidia in kittens? By doing google searches you get very mixed messages about it, ranging from really bad, to a common thing that you just need to treat and then not worry about. I guess the main things I'm concerned about is if it is all over my house now. Right when I got the litter I put them in my room and they pooped all over. Then I put them in the bathroom and they pooped all over. In both cases I cleaned but I'm not sure if the stuff could still be alive living and breeding in my carpet.... I hope not. Also, we have a house cat, which hasn't been in contact with the kittens and really hasn't even been on the same floor (maybe once or twice they have) but in general they haven't been in contact or close to contact. I guess I wonder if small remnants from when they pooped in my room could be enough for him to contract it. Like I sayI cleaned it up well, and you wouldn't know that kittens pooped all over the place, but I'm not sure how hardy parasites can be. So if he goes in my room is he at risk....

I know these are hard questions and they all depend on a lot of variables. The one problem I worry about (and in most cases it's simply a problem with human nature is) the people I'm working with essentially say, "don't worry about it, just give them the medication", which obviously I'm doing. But I worry that they are just being nice and not trying to scare me, especially because this is all volunteer work being done. And hopefully I have nothing to be scared about. BUT, if this is a serious thing, I want to know exactly the severity of it, so I can combat it. Anyways, I've rambled enough, if anyone has experience with this, I'd love to hear about it (good, bad or ugly). I know this site has some articles on it too, so I'll check those out also. Thanks Everyone!

Adam

 

[Jcatbird]

Yes. Have had kittens with Coccidia. Like you, I read all the ups and downs. I treated every cat that had come anywhere near anything. Ten cats . It did end there. I scrubbed everything and changed air filters in AC. I don’t know if I was just lucky or if I got all the contamination. My understanding is that treating all possibly exposed cats helped. Old, young and weaker or sick cats are at highest risk. I was told to watch carefully for loose poop after treatment. I was very careful to change clothes before handling other cats. I used Clorox to clean and I also used Alcohol. Not at the same time. Never mix cleaning chemicals. Very dangerous. I finished up by spraying everything with Lysol. I have no idea if any of that helped. It made me feel better though. I made sure to keep litter boxes clean. All poop was removed immediately from the house. Sealed and taken away from the house. I had an entire litter that had it. Rescues like yours. I had never experienced it before but it can be very serious. Catching it early helps. I think if you feel good about your clean up, medicate all properly and watch for any repeat symptoms, you will be okay. Just keep it in mind if any future illness shows up and make sure your vet knows about it if a cat gets sick. I also got new litter boxes after everyone was clear of the illness. Roundworms can be bad too. I hope everone got treated for that as well as other possible worms. Worms are a common problem. You can have the kitten retested after treatment to make sure it is okay. I got mine retested before they were allowed to be adopted out. I would never let a sick kitten get adopted. I don’t know how young you take kittens for fostering but having them tested early for worms and common problems might be good. I isolate all new arrivals until testing just to keep the other cats safe and stop having a mess on my hands. A snap test is a good idea. I hope the medicines clear everything right up like it did for the kittens here. I will hope to hear that all is well very soon.

 

[AdamR]

If you were to speak to the vet in person, tell then you're working with XYZ rescue and this kitten needs attention ASAP they might be willing to contact the rescue coordinator and get something done.
If you're comfortable with the rescue and the people who are running the financial bit, you might ask them about going now, and having them pay you back later.

Have you shown the rescue people the picture? That looks very painful but like other said, you're pretty awesome for taking them in and caring for them.

Hey Bruce, thanks for the reply. Yes I did send that exact picture to them. We did get her into the vet. Bunches of roundworm and coccidia was the diagnosis.. :/

 

[1 bruce 1]

Hey Bruce, thanks for the reply. Yes I did send that exact picture to them. We did get her into the vet. Bunches of roundworm and coccidia was the diagnosis.. :/

Oh the poor kitten. But most kittens have usually one or the other at some point (it's been the rare foster kitten that came to us without a load of soon to be evicted "renters")!

 

[AdamR]

Thanks! That is good to hear! I have done an extensive amount of cleaning and am continuing to do so. The one cat, that I posted the picture of and who seems to have had it worse, continues to not use the litter box. She actually seems to use everything but the litter box. But then doesn't use the litter box for a bed. So she just lies in her feces. I'm really hoping that changes soon. Today, for the first time, I noticed worms in her stool. I'm sure the behavior is attributed to the coccidia and roundworm. Now I just hope it can be reversed...

Thanks Again Everyone!