There Might Be Something Wrong With My Kitten

[usthcd]

Hi folks,
I'm fostering an orphaned newborn. She's probably around 16 days old now, has opened her eyes and began teething. She was found alone in the dumpster on day 3 and we got her around day 5. She was doing extraordinarily well, eating a lot, gaining weight steadily, showing a lot of strenght and alertness, opened her eyes on schedule etc.

2 days ago she suddenly stopped eating and had been refusing to nurse since then. She seems to be trying to chew the nipple for a few secinds, then she pushes the bottle away and spits the formula. After 3 missed feedings (9 hours) we took her to the vet, she got IV fluids, glucose and a mild antispasmodic (she had bloated abdomen, painful to the touch).
Noew I'm able to trick her into swallowing a little food by putting her to sleep and dropping some milk in her mouth, but that is all. She lost a little weight.

One theory is that, since she's teething, she's biting instead of suckling while nursing, so swallows a lot of air, giving her a belly ache every time she eats. Does that make sense? Do you see other possibilities? We were able to draw few drops of blood from her and the results were good for liver & kidneys.

 

[artiemom]

Can you get some goats milk? or some unflavored pedialyte and mix with KMR formula for kittens? That would be the best to give, every 2 hours or so..

Has she pooped yet? She could be constipated, or even have worms. The distended belly is usually indicative of worms.

Can you get a small feeding syringe from the Vet or even get a kitten set up from the Petstore...

Keep her warm...

StefanZ @talkingpeanut Sarthur2 can you help advise?

 

[usthcd]

Thanks - I'm already adding pedialyte & prebiotic drops to the formula. I try to feed her every 1 hour (as I can only get really, really tiny amounts in her, around 1-2 ml at a time). She's getting subcutaneous fluids once a day to prevent dehydration. I'm constantly massaging her belly with warm gel pack, I just work and rub her with one hand all the time. I'm checking her temp few times a day, she's mantaining steady 38 C and sleeping on a warm water bottle.

She's good right now - in terms of managing symptoms and preventing further decline, but I really want to discover what's happened to treat the cause. She's only 250 g, isn't she too small to deworm?

 

[artiemom]

not certain about kittens. That is why I paged some experts.

If she is constipated, I think you can add a few drops of olive oil to her formula.

How old is she? She may be too little for worming, but not sure..

She does need the KMR formula. It is needed for nutrition.. you can add some to her wet food also, if she is eating it.

You are doing such a good job with her.. so loving and caring.. I am hoping our people will come along soon to help out..

hopefully she will continue to thrive.. wishing you the best...

 

[Sarthur2]

No, she's not too young to de-worm if she needs it. Worm meds are also very mild.

Is she pooping at all? You can add 1-2 drops of olive oil to her formula to soften her stool.

You can also add drops of infant simethicone to help dissolve gas.

What brand formula are you using? Is it powdered or pre-mixed?

Is she having any trouble breathing?

 

[usthcd]

Deworming first thing tomorrow it is - thank you.

She's pooping, but the poop has changed - smells bad, is a little more loose, coming out in very small portions. I wouldn't classify that as a diarrhea just yet, but it's not a pretty, clean, solid bottle-baby poop she used to make.

I'm using Royal Canin, powdered.

No trouble breathing, infrequent sneezing due to a sudden temperature change (when taking her out of her blankets to pee/poop). I noticed her panting twice in last 10 days, both when the temperature of surroundings was too high.

Other than (1) not eating and (2) the belly, she (3) sometimes shivers when falling asleep. She already started walking but (4) is back to crawling now. I'd say she went back about 5-7 days in terms of development (activity, alertness, responsiveness) since she stopped nursing.

 

[Sarthur2]

She sounds as though she is not feeling well or digesting well.

I suggest de-worming and a course of Albon or Clavamox.

Between the two she should begin to feel better.

 

[StefanZ]

If she swallows air and get belly bloated and aching, simethicone is the answer. The same as for human babies. 2 drops. pr 1 drop a time, as she eats so little at a time. U usthcd

Simethicone in such low doses is completely harmless, so you can give it anyways.

 

[usthcd]

I think she might be feeling a little better today. She's eating, not much and definitely not enough, but at least she's getting that 5 ml of food every 2 hours. Between IV drops, glucose, antispasmodic, electrolytes, prebiotics, heat pack on a belly, massages and everything else, I think it's working... She's still very weak, but at least she's not loosing any more weight. Even my dog got involved - he's now responsible for licking her belly after every feeding and he treats his new job very seriously.

StefanZ - I just bought the simethicone, thank you!

Sarthur2 - I called the vet to make an appointment today, but after a brief conversation we scheduled for next week. She insists it's a bad idea to deworm her now, when she's so weak. We want to wait a few days, give her time to regain strength. Does this make sense to you or would you advise otherwise?

 

[Sarthur2]

I think your vet is overly cautious.

The bloated belly and runny, bloody stool are VERY concerning and indicative of parasites or intestinal bacteria.

Parasites are different from worms. Parasites cause awful problems when they attach to the intestinal walls. Bloody diarrhea is a symptom.

Albon is very mild, and will fight infection AND parasites.

I think you should try it. It may make all the difference.

 

[usthcd]

Sarthur2
Thanks, luckily we didn't have any blood or diarrhea. Stool is fine, normal-colored for a bottle baby (mustard yellow). It's coming out irregularly (it was one big poop a day before, now it's more like 2-3 tiny poops a day) because the feeding schedule is now off, but the amount of poop per day is the same. The consistency is slightly runnier which I think is caused by the fact we're giving her more liquid formula now to keep the hydration levels up. I wouldn't say there is anything concerning about the poop.

She's definitely bloated, I just gave her some simethicone and let you guys know if it's getting any better.

My vet said also she wants to order a special mild dewormer she doesn't have in stock right now, hence scheduling a visit later next week. I live in central Europe, sulfadimethoxine has been unavailable in my country for a few years now, it has a very bad rep. She'll probably want to use pyrantel.

 

[usthcd]

So we have a progress...

Last night, just a few hours after I spoke again to my vet about deworming and again we agreed to wait a few more days, a HUGE pile of HUGE worms came out of the kitten. I mean really huge, the biggest one was over 3 cm long. I've seen roundworm and tapeworm before, it was none of these - thick, long, brown. I took one of them and brought them to the vet, she didn't know what they were either.

We dewormed the baby immiedately alongside with the rest of the pack. Yesterday right after the worms came out, her belly was much smaller and softer, she lost 3 g and is feeling much better now, more active and alert. So this crisis is hopefully over now.

I'm very concerned about other thing: the shivers I mentioned before. They are so strong I can't tell if it's just a bad dream or a seizure. Her paws are shaking in spasms, it lasts from 30 sec to 2 minutes and happens almost every time she is falling asleep. I know some parasites can cause neurological symptoms, including seizures, if the infestation is bad enough. Am I being paranoid?

 

[Sarthur2]

I think she should be treated with antibiotics. Parasites can cause infection and other problems. It's better safe than sorry.

And no, she's not too young for antibiotics either.