WORRIED.. Is he okay?

[lckitten]

I got a kitten on Monday, was told he was 8 weeks old and eating dry food, was given a supply of his food and his vet records. Monday night he was fairly playful (at times and at times he slept) he ate just a couple little bites of the cat food, Tuesday morning he was playful,  he still ate fairly little, only a couple bites and I moistened it up a bit to see if that helped, it didn't. We also went to the vet Tuesday where it turns out he's closer to 4-5 weeks but the vet said he seems very healthy, worm test and FIV test came back neg.,  he received his first dose of vaccines (which he had also received the Monday from the lady we got him from, but our vet wanted to give them again.) Tuesday night he wanted to play a bit and when we got home I gave him a little canned cat food as our vet said if I was worried about him not eating to do this. 3 hours later I he threw up and then in the morning he spit up clear liquid, I called the vet they said it was probably just changing the food and from being at the vet on Tuesday. My sister checked on him a few times while I was at work, said he was sleeping and one time nibbling a little food, when I got home he spit up twice more (clear liquid) and I took him back to the vet. A tech looked at him said he looked healthy and gave me some good kitten chow and milk replacer to try. I got home and offered him both and he turned up his nose at both, I gave him a few mL of kitten formula through a syringe they gave me at the vet and he hated that. The rest of the evening he seems to have gone downhill (or maybe Im overreacting) He hasn't eaten or drank anything that Ive seen since Ive been with him aside from one or two licks of water and the formula I gave him and now has just wanted to sleep and be in the dark, no purring, no playing. Is he just tired and sad and needs a little love and time? or is he sick?

-- To add: I recently lost a cat I had for a very long time and loved very very much so it is possible I am just over worrying..

 

[stewball]

I'd say keep nagging the vet. I've never had trouble with new cats not eating even when hiding behind the sofa for a couple of days.

 

[kstonya]

Can you get a bottle and place milk in it? The syringe can be difficult to use as the kitten can not suck it. As he just wonder also having 2 shots in 2 days of the same med has knocked him down some. Of course the visit probably stressed him but I would be concerned about the med so close together. Do you have the record of the dose on Monday and showed that to the vet on Tuesday? I would definitely nag that vet Hopefully he will not charge you again as the meds need a longer time between doses. I would try some glucose if the kitten will not drink the milk. some canola oil I think is what read earlier. I will see if I can get a response from a couple of the advisors.

 

[catwoman707]

I am highly concerned about a 4-5 week old kitten getting even one shot, let alone 2??! WOW. That is overdosing the poor baby.

Your vet, sorry for this but is dead wrong!

If he truly thinks the kitten is only 4-5 weeks old, why would he even think of vaccinating him, yet a cat any age should NEVER be given 2 vaccines in a row. I am shocked at that....

Were you given actual vet records from the lady who you got him from??

Okay as for the behavior now, he is going to die if you don't get him syringed every few hours until he is stable, and right now he needs syringed kmr every hour to get him rehydrated. His behavior is exactly that, he is going downhill due to dehydration. It happens so fast with young kittens.

Do you happen to know his weight? This is very important. Kittens do not know that they have a very small amt of fluids and skipping one day is huge and he is dehydrated, and is in serious danger so get started, whether he likes it or not, stay on it and if need be wrap him up like a burrito snugly so he has no choice.

Hold him upright and squirt small amts into his cheek area. Be careful not to shoot too much into his mouth, you don't want him choking or inhaling any.

Let me know what his weight is.

Your vet makes me feel angry.

 

[StefanZ]

 
I got a kitten on Monday, was told he was 8 weeks old and eating dry food, was given a supply of his food and his vet records. Monday night he was fairly playful (at times and at times he slept) he ate just a couple little bites of the cat food, Tuesday morning he was playful,  he still ate fairly little, only a couple bites and I moistened it up a bit to see if that helped, it didn't. We also went to the vet Tuesday where it turns out he's closer to 4-5 weeks but the vet said he seems very healthy, worm test and FIV test came back neg.,  he received his first dose of vaccines (which he had also received the Monday from the lady we got him from, but our vet wanted to give them again.) Tuesday night he wanted to play a bit and when we got home I gave him a little canned cat food as our vet said if I was worried about him not eating to do this. 3 hours later I he threw up and then in the morning he spit up clear liquid, I called the vet they said it was probably just changing the food and from being at the vet on Tuesday. My sister checked on him a few times while I was at work, said he was sleeping and one time nibbling a little food, when I got home he spit up twice more (clear liquid) and I took him back to the vet. A tech looked at him said he looked healthy and gave me some good kitten chow and milk replacer to try. I got home and offered him both and he turned up his nose at both, I gave him a few mL of kitten formula through a syringe they gave me at the vet and he hated that. The rest of the evening he seems to have gone downhill (or maybe Im overreacting) He hasn't eaten or drank anything that Ive seen since Ive been with him aside from one or two licks of water and the formula I gave him and now has just wanted to sleep and be in the dark, no purring, no playing. Is he just tired and sad and needs a little love and time? or is he sick?

-- To add: I recently lost a cat I had for a very long time and loved very very much so it is possible I am just over worrying..

Agree with te others.  I do sometimes read about kittens getting in troubles after ONE usual vaccination - laying motionless and barely breething.  Two in a row?

Vet errand, asap.  They do perhaps have an antidote something to lessen the impact...

I will read more thoroughly later on,   I must go away in a minute.  Back in one hour.

 

[Sarthur2]

I agree with catwoman - it's the shots. Please follow her advice to save your kitten!

 

[catwoman707]

Oh and something else I forgot to mention, what vet tests a 4-5 week old kitten for fiv??! That's nuts.......felv MAYBE, but not fiv. 

Also after the first 12 hours or so of syringing kmr, try offering him some chicken baby food warmed up and diluted with water a bit.

 

[StefanZ]

 
I got a kitten on Monday, was told he was 8 weeks old and eating dry food, was given a supply of his food and his vet records. Monday night he was fairly playful (at times and at times he slept) he ate just a couple little bites of the cat food, Tuesday morning he was playful,  he still ate fairly little, only a couple bites and I moistened it up a bit to see if that helped, it didn't. We also went to the vet Tuesday where it turns out he's closer to 4-5 weeks but the vet said he seems very healthy, worm test and FIV test came back neg.,  he received his first dose of vaccines (which he had also received the Monday from the lady we got him from, but our vet wanted to give them again.) Tuesday night he wanted to play a bit and when we got home I gave him a little canned cat food as our vet said if I was worried about him not eating to do this. 3 hours later I he threw up and then in the morning he spit up clear liquid, I called the vet they said it was probably just changing the food and from being at the vet on Tuesday. My sister checked on him a few times while I was at work, said he was sleeping and one time nibbling a little food, when I got home he spit up twice more (clear liquid) and I took him back to the vet. A tech looked at him said he looked healthy and gave me some good kitten chow and milk replacer to try. I got home and offered him both and he turned up his nose at both, I gave him a few mL of kitten formula through a syringe they gave me at the vet and he hated that. The rest of the evening he seems to have gone downhill (or maybe Im overreacting) He hasn't eaten or drank anything that Ive seen since Ive been with him aside from one or two licks of water and the formula I gave him and now has just wanted to sleep and be in the dark, no purring, no playing. Is he just tired and sad and needs a little love and time? or is he sick?

-- To add: I recently lost a cat I had for a very long time and loved very very much so it is possible I am just over worrying..

Some love is surely advisable. Carry im at your chest if you can, talk softly...  Make perhaps a stuffed animal companion - ideally from fleece, and with some warming device inside - perhaps a sock filled with rice, and microwaved about 5 minutes .

But the main fault at this moment, he is surely dehydrated, and he is starving...  So you must forcefeed him.   Tummy down, head up, in the cheek corner of the mouth, cautiously so he manages to swallow properly.  Burp afterwardsö.   Wrap him up in a towel if he fights against...

Some homemade pedialyte (or even bough pedialyte) is good, but begin with common water, and during the time make do some homemade pedialyte.

If yo can get real glucose sugar = dextrose, good, but if not, you can use white caro syrup (Karo) or even honey - tey too contains much glucose sugar.

And  kmr / goat milk, whichever you do have...   As skissed earlier...

The kittens mentioned in my earlier post had it roughtly similiar, and they made it.  But its apparent on the werge, on the itself threshold of death.

And as he already earlier ate and drank pretty little, his reserves are very thin.   So you must fight on vigorously.

Ah, one thing more.  Be sure he has it warm and comfortable - meaning not just some bedding or home made jacket, but a warming pad (or you Cangaroo carrying at your chest).

The sick and weak are always freezing, no?   They dont even need to be kittens.

Good luck!

 

[lckitten]

Hi all, thanks for the advice. The records weren't from a vet just one of those "my health history" things. He woke this morning bright and alert but still not eating. I called the vet and they asked me to bring him in for them to try and get him to eat today and possibly be rechecked by the vet and see what else is necessary. The vaccine was FVRC I believe? I could have gotten my letters mixed up... He really seems okay, aside from not playing anymore and not eating. Still alert has good color, moist gums, etc. I've used this vet practice for years, always used a different vet though who recently left. Thinking of moving to his practice after this. He was GREAT, not sure what's happened since.

 

[Sarthur2]

I would think twice about taking this kitten back to this vet. He sounds like he may be on the mend and will hopefully begin eating today. Have you been syringing anything into him for hydration?

 

[StefanZ]

Hi all, thanks for the advice. The records weren't from a vet just one of those "my health history" things. He woke this morning bright and alert but still not eating. I called the vet and they asked me to bring him in for them to try and get him to eat today and possibly be rechecked by the vet and see what else is necessary. The vaccine was FVRC I believe? I could have gotten my letters mixed up... He really seems okay, aside from not playing anymore and not eating. Still alert has good color, moist gums, etc. I've used this vet practice for years, always used a different vet though who recently left. Thinking of moving to his practice after this. He was GREAT, not sure what's happened since.

Yeah, it surely the usual "core" vaccin.  As he had wakened up and seems OK, its good, but if he doesnt eat nor drinks, you must forcefeed him NOW, as said earlier...  He must get going, be reminded how to eat...

The rule of thumb of eating, if we talk about  kmr / goat milk for kittens, is 8 ml /OZ=30g a day.  Thus, if he weights, say 450 gram = 1 pound, it will give let me see; 15 Oz, ie about

120 ml of kmr or goat milk every day.     Say you give it  every 4 hours,  its  20 ml 6 times a day....

So its not enough to give him  a couple of ml and think its oK...   It may be enough to get him to survive a while, it may perhaps be enough to remind him how to eat, but itsn by far not enough to get him to thrive...   Every day he gets lesser then the equvalent of 120 ml  kmr or goat milk, e gets weaker...

So getting fluids and food into him is imperative now, 

 

[lckitten]

Hi all, got him back from the vet last night, his spirit was better. They gave him nutrical, fluids, and some formula, as well as a shot of cortisone to counteract the vaccine if that was it. He essentially is a syringe baby right now getting about 2 tsp of formula an hour, he needs 21 tsp a day (2 tbs formula per four oz body weight and he weighs 1lb 2 oz) I would like to lessen the frequency of the feedings but am not sure how much his tiny tummy can hold at one time. He's in good spirits walking around and purring. Any ideas how to convince him to do solids as he still refuses... He is staying with the vet this weekend as I have to leave town for a funeral (unexpected, i didn't get a kitten knowing I would have to leave)