Tiny Kitty Advice

[Newkittymom84]

Today I brought home a tiny kitten that my brothers friend found in his neighbors back yard. I have no idea how old she is but she is very tiny and underweight. I weighed her on my baby scale and she is only 7 oz. Her eyes are still very blue and it only looks like she has 4 teeth. I stopped by the pet clinic on my way home and I was just told to give her kitten formula and nutri cal (vitamin supplement). I didnt ask if I should bottle feed her but she does lick milk from the bowl but Im not sure if its enough or not. They vet gave me terramycin to put in her eyes every morning due to some discharge that she had. I do not think that this clinic was very experienced in caring for kittens this young/small as they couldnt even tell me how old she might be. She was covered in fleas so when I brought her home I immediately gave her a bath and then combed her with the flea comb. I did give her some canned kitten food and she ate it just fine. Im not use to caring for kittens this young so Im looking for advice on how to properly care for her. I do have another 5 month old kitten that Im keeping separate right now due to not knowing the health of the new kitty. Any help/advice would be appreciated.

 

[Sarthur2]

The kitten sounds about 5 weeks old since she has teeth and can eat on her own. However, she sounds terribly underweight.

Give her wet food and kitten formula every 2-3 hours for now. Have dry kitten chow available to her 24/7. She needs to eat as mych as she wants.

She needs to weigh at least one pound as soon as possible.

Does she use the litter box?

Thank you for taking her to the vet and for saving her! We would love to see a picture!

 

[Newkittymom84]

This is a picture during her bath. I was trying to show how skinnybshe is but it doesnt show well. When I pick her up I feel her bones.

 

[Sarthur2]

She's tiny, but should begin gaining quickly with frequent feedings.

Do you have a dry picture?

 

[Newkittymom84]

The kitten sounds about 5 weeks old since she has teeth and can eat on her own. However, she sounds terribly underweight.

Give her wet food and kitten formula every 2-3 hours for now. Have dry kitten chow available to her 24/7. She needs to eat as mych as she wants.

She needs to weigh at least one pound as soon as possible.

Does she use the litter box?

Thank you for taking her to the vet and for saving her! We would love to see a picture!

I am using a little foil pan with litter in it as a litter box because she is too small to get in and out of a regular size box on her own. I have put her in it several times but I have not seen her go she just jumps right out. She went poop during her bath earlier today.

 

[Newkittymom84]

Here she is after having a bath and being fed.

 

[Sarthur2]

It's good to use a small pan. She will catch on soon! Keep putting her in. She may be slightly dehydrated as well, but will overcome that soon too!

 

[Sarthur2]

She is beautiful!

 

[miagi's_mommy]

She’s cuter when dry! Thanks for helping her

 

[StefanZ]

You have done everything nicely so far. So its just to proceed!

And yes, she is around 5 weeks. Which is good news of course. The bad news is she is underweigh. But this you know.
Btw, goats milk is good as supplement, and also, cheaper than kitten formula. So use the kitten formula you have, and when its used up, you can proceed with goats milk.

I would need more of good pics, but its not impossible she is a point and white. If so, it would explain her blue eyes...
Having that much white in the face makes the masque isnt easily visible. Is her tail darker than her body? Ears too?

 

[rubysmama]

I searched for this thread after reading your intro message. Thank you for taking her in and caring for her. She is adorable.

 

[Newkittymom84]

You have done everything nicely so far. So its just to proceed!

And yes, she is around 5 weeks. Which is good news of course. The bad news is she is underweigh. But this you know.
Btw, goats milk is good as supplement, and also, cheaper than kitten formula. So use the kitten formula you have, and when its used up, you can proceed with goats milk.

I would need more of good pics, but its not impossible she is a point and white. If so, it would explain her blue eyes...
Having that much white in the face makes the masque isnt easily visible. Is her tail darker than her body? Ears too?

I will definitely be going for the goats milk after her formula is gone. I cant imagine that one can will last very long. She is eating alot of the can kitten food but hasnt shown any interest in the hard food that I put out for her this morning. This picture is showing her color more. I was told that "pointed" cats usually have blue eyes but Im not really sure what that means. Yes her ears and tail are darker than the rest o

f her.

 

[Newkittymom84]

Here is another picture trying to show her color. When I part her fur and look down closer to her skin her fur is pure white in most spots like it started darker but is growing out more white, is that possible?

 

[StefanZ]

Starting darker going to be white hints she had a fever coat as infant. But now Im pretty sure she is a point or "siamese mix"

 

[Willowy]

What a cute little poof! She'll be a longhair, and yes she's pointed. Not a high-contrast point like show cats, so she'll get darker as she gets older, but definitely pointed.

Make sure she always has dry kitten chow and fresh water available. 4 times a day give her some canned food mixed with formula/goat milk to make a mush, as much as she'll eat. You can also leave a dish of formula/goat milk out, but milk does spoil quickly so only give as much as she'll drink in a couple hours. As long as she's eating well she'll be fine . She's lucky your brother's friend found her!

Keep bathing and combing her to get the fleas off. If the fleas get really bad get some Capstar, crush the pill and put just a tiny amount of the powder in her food or milk. . .they say kittens over 4 weeks old can have a whole pill but that just seems like too much :/.

 

[Newkittymom84]

What a cute little poof! She'll be a longhair, and yes she's pointed. Not a high-contrast point like show cats, so she'll get darker as she gets older, but definitely pointed.

Make sure she always has dry kitten chow and fresh water available. 4 times a day give her some canned food mixed with formula/goat milk to make a mush, as much as she'll eat. You can also leave a dish of formula/goat milk out, but milk does spoil quickly so only give as much as she'll drink in a couple hours. As long as she's eating well she'll be fine . She's lucky your brother's friend found her!

Keep bathing and combing her to get the fleas off. If the fleas get really bad get some Capstar, crush the pill and put just a tiny amount of the powder in her food or milk. . .they say kittens over 4 weeks old can have a whole pill but that just seems like too much :/.

Thanks for the advice. I havent seen anymore fleas since the first bath but I will keep checking her. She still has not shown any interest in the hard food but is eating the can food several times a day. Her poop is not solid so Im looking forward to her starting on some hard food. We have been taking her to the litterbox and she will stay in for several seconds but does not go in there. She is like my shadow and follows me everywhere that I go and when I stop for a minute she gets on my foot and will try to go to sleep.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Hard food does not necessarily coordinate to a properly formed stool. Has she been dewormed? Checked for parasites?

 

[Sarthur2]

Agree. She needs worm and parasite meds and her stool will form. Vet can easily take care of this, even though she is too young for vaccines yet.

Wet food is better for kittens than dry, but you can soften the dry by soaking it in kitten formula.

 

[Newkittymom84]

When I had her at the vet she said that she was too young to be dewormed but she did have too look up something to come to that conclusion. Like I mentioned before I do not think this clinic had experience with kittens this young. They also said it was not necessary to check her for parasites at that time. They said to bring her back in 1 month for further evaluation but I will not be taking her back to that specific vet because it is not near my house. I did purchase a dewormer from the vet that they said I could give her when she is 6 weeks. Do you think its ok to give to her now? Its called WormEze and its a liquid but it says for kittens 6 weeks and older.

 

[Sarthur2]

I've not heard of that dewormer. I do know that even tiny kittens can be safely dewormed and treated for parasites. There are several medications that are safe for pregnant and nursing moms and young kittens, especially when they need it.

I suggest that you see anither vet who has experience with kittens.