2 DAY OLD KITTEN HELP!!! PLEASE!!

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  • #806081
    Catie
    Participant

    So I got this kitten through work. A mans dog had attacked and killed the mom cat and kittens, only 2 survived. By the time he got to my work, one had already passed away, leaving is with one kitten. Dr said they were 2 days old. No one was going to take him, so they were going to put him down! So I took him, but I have never owned a kitten/cat in my life, especially not such a young one! I have been feeding every 2 ish hours or so, have a heating pad to keep him warm, and have been stimulating him to go pee and poop after meals. I’m worried thought because he is urinating, but so far has not pooped. His belly seems to be big and somewhat tight. When I stimulate his but, he cries a different cry, like he is pain. I think he may be constipated? I’m unsure what to do, because I know he needs to be fed, but if he isn’t eliminating, should I still be feeding? He ate on his own and is moving around well, so he isn’t lethargic. I would just feel ten times better if I could get him to poop! Any help is greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

    #806082

    Hi Catie, welcome to The Daily Kitten. I don’t have any experience with kitties this young, but here are some bits which I can suggest which you can look at until other members come online and can offer their suggestions/remedies/advice:
    1) Use the tags added to the post to look for similar posts (there are tons of “kitten won’t poop” posts) so you might find something there.
    2) The triangle method

    3) Have a look at this great site about hand rearing kittens
    http://messybeast.com/handrear.htm

    #806087
    jcat
    Participant

    Hi, Catie, bless you for looking after this little one. His little tum was probably empty when you got him and he won’t be pooping much on milk as he needs all the nutrition from it to grow on so don’t panic yet, it may just take a little time for his digestive system to kick in again. If it doesn’t happen in the next 24 hours, then we can start worrying again. His tum will be bulgy when he has fed, partly because his tum is so tiny and partly because he almost certainly has worms (but is too young to be treated for it yet). As long as his tum is not hard and rigid, he should be all right but if you think it is hard, get a vet to check him over. Click on the tags ‘orphans’, ‘constipation’, ‘poop’ and ‘messybeast’ for heaps of advice on bringing up young ones. Also click on this video, it will give you all the basics about looking after tiny ones, including a clip on toileting:

    What are you feeding him? Kitten milk replacement (KMR) is the best but the powdered kind does seem to constipate kittens. You can dilute it more and try sieving it before you give it to kitten, or you can try the canned liquid KMR (but this is more pricey). You can also try canned goats’ milk (in the baking aisle at Walmart etc) or an emergency glop recipe:

    http://www.hdw-inc.com/glop.htm
    http://www.all-about-cute-kittens.com/kitten-formula.html

    The easiest way to try to deal with constipation is to dilute the formula. You can also try adding a drop or two of mineral oil or vegetable oil (eg olive or rice bran or canola) to the formula. You can also try running luke-warm water (not too hot) over his little bottom. At only a few days old, I would hold off on trying the triangle method for now, he is so tiny. And I’ll also give you the link to ‘Chaos’s Guide to Constipation’. Best of luck!

    Chaos’ Guide to Constipation

    Oh, and I should mention, the best way to save a tiny kitten is if you know of a mama cat nearby who is still feeding or has just finished feeding a litter of kittens. If you are very lucky, she may accept the motherless kitten as one of her own and feed and take care of him but you would have to make sure that she was happy to accept him and let him feed from her.

    #806088
    jcat
    Participant

    And here are the glop recipes from the Messybeast site:

    ‘If commercial kitten formula is not available, a suitable feed mixture for healthy kittens is 1.6 ml evaporated milk, 1.6 ml cooled boiled water, 1 level teaspoon glucose, 1 small egg yolk (no white at all). One recommended by a veterinarian is 3 oz condensed milk, 3 oz water, 3 oz plain full fat yoghurt, 3 large or 4 small egg yolks (no whites).

    Another recipe for glop from messybeast:

    KITTEN GLOP

    Kitten Glop is a suitable feed mixture for healthy kittens and is also good for lactating queens. Most recipes refer to American brand names which are not understood outside of the USA/Canada. I have converted these to generic terms and noted alternatives.

    Ingredients

    1 envelope unflavoured gelatine

    water per gelatine package directions (approx 12 oz)

    1 12 oz can whole evaporated milk (not skimmed) See notes

    3 tablespoons plain yoghurt (not low fat)

    3 teaspoons clear corn syrup See notes

    3 tablespoons mayonnaise

    1 or 2 raw egg yolks (optional) See notes

    Notes

    If you have canned goat’s milk available, use this instead as it reduces the likelihood of lactose intolerance problems. Sheep’s milk is even higher in fat but not generally available in cans.

    Some recipes use 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons plain yoghurt and omit the corn syrup entirely.

    Clear corn syrup (e.g. “Karo” brand in the US) is a concentrated glucose solution. It contains 15% – 20% dextrose (glucose), a mixture of other types of sugar and may be flavoured with vanilla. Dark corn syrup is made with molasses and is more strongly flavoured. Glucose solution may be used instead.

    Raw eggs can be a source of salmonella. Do not use any egg white in the mixture, it can prevent other nutrients from being digested.

    Kitty vitamins and/or acidophilus are sometimes added. Only add vitamins if the diet is deficient in them – vitamins can be dangerous in too high quantities (hypervitaminosis) and vitamin imbalances affect development.

    Method

    Boil the water and mix in gelatine powder. Add the other ingredients in the following order, mixing well after each addition: half of the canned milk, corn syrup (if used), mayonnaise + yoghurt, egg yolk (if used), remainder of the canned milk. Use either an egg beater or a blender set to low speed.

    Serve the glop at room temperature or slightly warmed since the kittens will be used to warm milk. Warming the mixture makes it more pungent and therefore more appetising. Do not pour back unused portions into the stored mix as it may introduce contaminants.

    Glop sets into a jelly when refrigerated. It can either be stored in the fridge in a covered container for up to 2 weeks or frozen into individual portions in ice cube trays and defrosted as needed. Freezing it is very convenient.

    Note: gelatin, since it’s made from cows hooves etc, is chock-full of protein; it gives kittens the amino acids they need.

    #806110

    hi catie! welcome! i think everyone pretty much covered this already!

    #806112
    Jeankit
    Participant

    Warm welcome to TDK & good luck with newbie kit!
    Here is a past TDK chat/link that has a few links for raising kittens:

    Links for Raising Kittens


    Hope it will be some help in addition to other info already shared.
    Keep us informed of wee one’s progress!

    #806126
    snowkitten
    Participant

    Well there is a ton of good advice on here already, but I did want to add this.

    When I first got Snow at 2 weeks old, I was also stimulating her to pee and poop, but she would not poop. She ended up becoming constipated. I ended up having to bring her in to get an enema, which did make her poop. But I found out that I had been stimulating her to poop incorrectly. I would recommend watching a video online about how to stimulate for poop, or having your vet or someone with hand raising experience to show you how it is done. My mistake was stimulating her too gently. I’m not saying to do it roughly, but when you stroke the anus with a cotton ball, you must do it in vigorous lapping motion to get the poop out. Gentle strokes might work for pee, but it takes much more vigorous strokes for poop.

    Also, running warm water over Snow’s anus always worked to help her poop. If she got too backed up, I would put a drop of mineral oil in her formula and it would help her go, but talk to the vet first about the mineral oil cause your kitten is much younger than mine was, and mineral oil can be toxic. I don’t know how long it has been since the kitten pooped, but if her belly is tight she must be constipated. A kitten should poop every day to every other day. If the belly is already tight, I would not wait too long before bringing her to a vet for an enema.

    Please let us know how she does. I don’t get to come on here too often anymore, but I hope the little one does well.

    #806145
    Catie
    Participant

    Thank you all for the input! It has helped tremendously! Took him back into the vet and gave an enema, he was really constipated! Also gave some fluids and he is doing ten times better! He is eating without being force fed and had 2 more successful poops today. So far so good! Thank you all for your help! And it turns out I wasn’t stimulating his rectum hard enough and the triangle method worked wonders!

    #806204
    Fiza
    Participant

    My kittens name is also snow.. she is about 2 weeks old and i am having the same problem i got her 3 days back and she hasn’t pooped at all since then for how many seconds should i rub the anus vigorously? please help

    #806209
    Fiza
    Participant

    My kitten’s name is also snow.. she is about 2 weeks old and i am having the same problem i got her 3 days back and she hasn’t pooped at all since then for how many seconds should i rub the anus vigorously? please help

    #806217
    jcat
    Participant

    Fiza, there is no fixed number of seconds we can give you. Having said that, I would say at least 10 seconds or until you can tell either that something is going to happen or that nothing is going to happen. Please watch the videos, I am sure they will help. Try diluting her formula a little, that might help.

    #806402
    Fiza
    Participant

    Finally She has pooped ! 🙂 and that was really a got . she was constipated badly the vet gave her a glycerine substitute in her rectum and about 45 min after that she pooped . thank-you all for the help 🙂

    #806414
    jcat
    Participant

    That is wonderful news, Fiza, I’m so glad 🙂

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