Constipated Kittens

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  • #838877
    Tatyanna Johnston
    Participant

    I live in the country, with barn cats that we feed everyday. One day, my grandpa saw four young kittens alone. We can’t figure out who’s the mom because she disappeared, so I took them in. Comparing to other pictures online, they look to be maybe in between 1-2 weeks or 2 weeks. I have them in a small dog kennel with a bed, blanket, training pad, and heating pad. Every night, I play hours long purring sounds for them. I try to feed them every 3-4 hours, however, when I’m gone at college for a few hours, I’m not able to.

    I started with feeding them puppy formula, because that is all we had at the time and I raised up my previous two kittens with it. Last night (10/7/15) I went to Walmart and got PetAg Pre-made milk replacer that is stored in the fridge for 14 days. I’ve been feeding them that since. For some reason the bottles won’t work for them, so I have been using little syringes, feeding them 4-6 ml at a time each (not sure how much I should). I feel like I probably feed them around 5 or 6 times a day. I make sure the formula is warm before feeding. After feeding I burp them and then use a warm wet cotton ball on their bottoms. The biggest one will poop a little bit, however, I have yet to see the other three poop. I tried giving them 2ml of formula with a tiny bit of olive oil earlier today. I just recently tried putting a tiny bit of petroleum jelly on their anuses. I don’t know what else I should do?

    Also, one of them are very small and never feels warm. I have the heating pad but he still feels more cool than the others. He is a little shaky when he walks too, i don’t know if this is because they are still young and he’s the runt or what. They all actively meow throughout the day and move around quite a bit though.

    Please help me out. I don’t like feeling as if I’m going to pop them with all this intake and no outtake.

    #838878
    Tatyanna Johnston
    Participant

    Also, they meow A LOT. At night, right after I feed them and do the cotton ball thing and put them away, they meow so much. Is there a reason behind this or is it just normal?

    #838882
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Hi Tatyanna, thank you for rescuing these little precious babies. I am going to post some links for you to answer lots of questions that you have. They are FULL of info and I have used them many times in hand rearing my kittens. I live on a farm too, and have saved countless kittens left abandoned by their moms. A hint for you–go to the grocery and get some goat’s milk. In the cold milk section of the grocery or the baking aisle in cans. The canned is condensed so add water 1 to 1. It’s cheaper than KMR and does not constipate like the KMR or cause diarrhea. You are doing good adding the olive oil. I will also post a link for you on the triangle method of pooping a kitten. Many have found it to be helpful.
    http://messybeast.com/handrear.htm
    http://www.safehavenforcats.com/newborn.htm

    Helping a kitten to eliminate


    I did the same as you as putting them in a dog crate with all of the necessities. Make sure there are no drafts around them. I used a cardboard box and a heating pad wrapped in a towel. Kittens have to be kept warm or they cannot digest their food. Sounds like you are doing everything right–please keep us posted on how you and they are getting along.

    #838899
    Tatyanna Johnston
    Participant

    Today I checked on them and noticed there was poop in the crate. It was a orange-ish color. I cleaned all of them off, fed them each goat milk, and put them back. Turns out, as I was cleaning them off, the runt was pooping and it was more of a goo rather than toothpaste texture.

    #838905
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    It’s probably the result of the olive oil, which has got things moving along. Keep them on the goat’s milk and things should even out and they won’t be constipated from the KMR now. Keep an eye on the color of their poop, after they have been on the goat’s milk for a day or so, should be a pale yellow/toothpaste consistency. If it stays orange, you may want to call the vet and ask about it. It might not be a cause for worry but just to be sure. While you were cleaning the little runt, you probably stimulated him and he pooped for you!

    #838933
    Tatyanna Johnston
    Participant

    So, from what I see, they peed and pooped on their own, at least one or two did. Does this mean that I can start not stimulating or should I continue? Also, a more serious note….

    The olive oil has really worked for the runt, however I noticed today, he pooped on his own. When I went to clean him up, he pooped a little more, then at the end of his poop, blood starting coming out! 🙁 Is this because of diarrhea maybe or something else? I can’t afford to go to a vet, and I know you aren’t able to tell me exactly what’s wrong, but is there anything I can do to help the poor thing? Such as changing the ratio of goats milk to water to try and stop the diarrhea or using a salve on her bottom or something?

    #838934
    Tatyanna Johnston
    Participant

    I have a feeling the little one might not make it, but if there is anything I can do to help it with whatever time it may have, I’d like to know…

    #838944
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Tatyanna, I really don’t know why your kitten has blood in her stool, that’s why I would recommend a call to the vet or a visit. They can check the stool and blood, look your kitten over too. It may be something as simple as parasites (worms) or some other parasite such as coccidia or giardia. For sure most kittens have worms, they get them from their mother. At this point, as young as they are, I would still stimulate them to pee and poop, better to have a kitten going that getting constipated and not be able to go. I wouldn’t change the ratio of the goat’s milk either, if you are using the condensed feed him the 1 to 1 ratio which is the strength of regular whole goat’s milk. Make sure you check out the links on caring for kittens as there are things in these links that will help you.

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