Help! 3 month feral kitten with bad smelling grey poop!

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  • 19 November, 2015 at 5:40 pm #840705
    mari
    Participant

    Last night when I was coming home from crossfit I happened to notice this tiny little balled up thing at the end of the driveway. What do you know, it happened to be the little calico I’ve been trying to catch for a month now. It took me about 10 mins for me to catch her and she put up a fight. I put her in crate with food and a toy for the night. Needless to say when we woke up in the morning there was the worst smell we’ve ever smelled. The kitten completely destroyed the crate with feces in every inch of it. This is when I notice it was a pasty grey almost diarrhea like, and the smell was like a rotting tuna sandwich. I tried saving the crate but the smell just completely enveloped it, so I now have to throw it away. I have now moved her to a bigger crate with food, water, a litter box, toys and blankets. I had to wash her because she was completely covered in feces. At this point I can’t tell if she’s sick or just very sad she’s no longer with her feral mommy. But I’d never experience a cat with grey smelly stool before… Has anyone? I fed her royal canin baby cat food, it can possibly be high in fat content, so I am trying the wet food that I feed my adult cat and my 7 month old kitten.

    If you guys have any tips or suggestions I’d be so greatful, I have a long road ahead of me with socializing as she’s not at the ideal age for taming feral kittens hopefully in 3 months I can put her up for adoption.

    20 November, 2015 at 12:03 am #840723
    mari
    Participant

    Update: poop has now changed color to light brown from gray, but it still smells horribly. Kitten has now taken to sleeping in litter box :/. I have now washed her twice today from laying on her on poop that was smeared across her body and changed her bedding for the second time. I currently have her wrapped in a warm towel trying to warm her up because she was absolutely freezing, which has helped tremendously but I really don’t think she will make it through the night it looks like she’s been sick for a really long time and it maybe the reason her mom abandoned her 🙁 [code][/code]

    20 November, 2015 at 12:46 am #840728
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Mari, do you have any idea approximately how old this kitten is? If she is eating wet food, then she must be at least a couple of months old, maybe older. She may be a small kitten or the runt of the litter and now that you are caring for her she is getting the nutrition she needs. She most likely has worms and could have other parasites and fleas too. The bathing will help with the fleas though. I am going to post links for you on general kitten care. If you can, get some goat’s milk at the grocery. It would be very good for her immune system. You can find it in the refrigerated milk section, or in the baking aisle in cans. The canned is condensed, so add water 1 to 1. If she should become lethargic, rub some honey or syrup on her gums to perk her up and then feed her. Remember, she doesn’t know what a litter box is, so you could take her poops and bury them in the litter. Make sure you get plain, unscented clay litter for her until she is used to using the box. Once she figures out what it’s for, she won’t lay in her box. I think that I would probably try and get her to the vet for a checkup ASAP. Keep us posted on her progress!
    http://messybeast.com/handrear.htm
    http://www.safehavenforcats.com/newborn.htm

    20 November, 2015 at 2:36 am #840731
    mari
    Participant

    Hi kittyzee, thanks for the links!

    She’s about 2lbs so I’m assuming she can be about 10-14 weeks, or like you said probably a little older. I noticed her probably about a month ago with her mom, she was a pretty feisty active kitten, she must have been at least 6-7 weeks old at the time. It was also my first time ever seen the feral mommy. I do think she has parasites due to how foul her stools smell. I can also see rice like pieces which are worms if I’m correct. I have kitten formula from my previous rescue, will that work for the time being until I get to a health food store to buy goat milk? I am going to talk to my boyfriend about getting her to the vet as I’m currently not working but I think we will be able to get her in as he knows I’m very passionate about rescuing these little ones.

    She seems to be weak as notice about 30 mins ago she has no control of her bowel moments which saddens me. Although she did use the litter box for its purpose in going to pee so that’s a little progress. She’s also purring now that I hold her closely to me, I will take that as a mini victory 🙂

    20 November, 2015 at 3:15 am #840732
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Yes, the white flecks in the stool are definitely worms. They can be so bad as to make her anemic. If her gums are very pale, then you need to make sure you get her to the vet sooner rather than later. The kitten milk should work fine, she just needs a good worming and some good food and care. Thank you for stepping in and caring for this little one. So many never get the love and care that this one was lucky enough to find!

    20 November, 2015 at 4:51 am #840734
    mari
    Participant

    Update she’s now using the litter box. But still laying in it. I’m taking her to the vet first thing in the morning. She’s a bit dehydrated so I’m going to be syringe feeding her with formula so she can get some hydration.

    20 November, 2015 at 2:18 pm #840737
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    I think that’s a good idea, I was wondering if she may be dehydrated. Let us know what the vet says too!

    20 November, 2015 at 3:38 pm #840740
    mari
    Participant

    At the vets office but vet won’t be in until 8:30 which is another 55 mins! They are trying to make me go to the emergency when I’m here because of the rescue group >:( I’m pretty upset I would have gone to my regular vet for my pets instead but I trusted the rescue group because they were interested in getting her into their adoption program. I don’t know if this little one will make it for another hour, I’m appalled there’s no vet techs to start Iv meanwhile the vet gets here 🙁

    21 November, 2015 at 1:20 am #840761
    mari
    Participant

    It’s now 5:17 pm in California, and it’s been an exhausting 11 hours with this kitten, the vets visit was un informative and frustrating, they didn’t even give her anything to ease her tummy or reconstruct her stomach lining like the vet I normally go to. She was so weak she couldn’t even lift her little head for hours, when I came back from running errands after leaving her alone for 2 hours, I thought she was dead because she was just staring until i got close and she blinked, I then fed her, and she started trying to lift her head, this is when I decided I would feed her 2 ccs every hour which helped so much! She’s now sitting up! I take that as a victory compare to 6 this morning. she’s a fighter 🙂

    21 November, 2015 at 3:15 am #840762
    JerseyJoan
    Moderator

    Hi Mari, may your little one keep fighting. Sending lots of good vibes your way.

    21 November, 2015 at 4:34 am #840766
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Mari, bless you for sticking by this kitten’s side, you are her true angel. If she should pass, she might as well be with you who have cared for her so well. Put some honey on her gums, it may help keep her sugar up while you try to get some food in her tummy. Anything liquid in the side of her mouth so it trickles in. Don’t force it as you don’t want her to aspirate it into her lungs. Sending healing light to you and your baby.

    21 November, 2015 at 12:51 pm #840773
    jcat
    Participant

    Mari, really foul-smelling stools often indicate the presence of particularly nasty parasites called giardia and/or coccidia, and these have to be tested for separately from ordinary parasites so make sure your little one is tested for these. Feeding her little and often is great, keep doing that. You’ve got lots of great advice above, I agree that goats milk would be great for her. If you have a good pet store nearby, get some Nutrical for kittens, it is a nutrient paste for sick and malnourished cats and kittens, you smear it on her gums. It is better than Karo syrup or honey to keep her blood sugar from crashing because it also keeps her going longer-term. I think if I were you, I would also be taking her to your regular vet as s/he sounds more experienced with wee kittens. I’ll look up some links for you on dehydration etc just in case you need them. Best of luck and thank you for helping this wee one!

    21 November, 2015 at 12:53 pm #840774
    jcat
    Participant

    The tent test is to test for dehydration:

    Tent test: pick up a good pinch of kitten’s skin at the neck and let go.If it snaps back immediately, she’s hydrated okay. If it takes a little time to go back down, or, worse, it stays up in a ‘tent’ shape, she needs fluids, such as pedialyte (from the supermarket, children’s aisle) or home-made pedialyte below.

    Note, in the United Kingdom, pedialyte is called Dioralyte. Also known as rehydration salts.

    Home-made pedialyte: (from World Health Organization)…no preservatives so short life-span

    * 1 cup water (boiled then cooled)

    * 2 tsp sugar

    * 1/8 tsp salt

    * 1/8 tsp baking soda

    * (this Pedialyte formula gives needed electrolytes & some sugar for energy)

    Combine all ingredients and warm slightly.

    Make new after 24 hours.

    Also if you have questions about socializing her, click the pink tag on socializing for lots of good advice. The messybeast site and the kitten-raising video on youtube can also be very helpful:

    21 November, 2015 at 1:01 pm #840779
    jcat
    Participant

    Oh, and for heating, a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel and popped in her box is a good idea, but make sure she has plenty of room to get away from it if she gets too hot.

    21 November, 2015 at 11:27 pm #840799
    mari
    Participant

    @jerseyjoan thank you so much


    @kittyzee     thank you, she’s now luckily eating on her own but and I’m now feeding her every 2 hours, she’s able to move around and even used the potty with no diarrhea, the poor little thing is nothing but skin and bones but she’s fighting, I even brushed her fur this morning and she absolutely loved it she even got her meow back!


    @jcat     thank you, I believe you might be correct on the parasite everything I’ve read on it is exactly the symptoms this little one has. I just can’t believe how fast she went downhill in 24 hours. She’s definitely doing better now she’s weak but she’s moving around a bit now and eating on her own and that’s what counts. I hope tomorrow she has more strength it her. The vet tested her for giardiasis now just waiting on the test results that I should have gotten this afternoon but their so unorganized and terrible there that I might not know until tomorrow! It’s very frustrating! I currently have her on kitten goop consisting of pedyalite, kitten formula, and critical care food I got from the vets office, i have purchase goats milk so I will definitely be giving her that. Thank you so much for the advice! I do have her in her own crate separate from my resident cats she has warming pat I previously purchased for a kitten I rescued a few months ago, so she also has room to move away if she gets too hot. I have to make a trip for food and litter for my resident cats so I will make sure to get the nutrical for her today!

    21 November, 2015 at 11:31 pm #840800
    mari
    Participant

    P.s. She had her first bowel movement since Thursday and it was not diarrhea! It was s normal poop!

    22 November, 2015 at 2:34 am #840803
    JerseyJoan
    Moderator

    Great news all around! Feeding every 2 hours seems like a good plan.
    PS: yay for poop!

    22 November, 2015 at 2:52 am #840804
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Aww poor baby! But sounds like she may be feeling better and I know that you will feel better when SHE does!

    22 November, 2015 at 10:24 am #840809
    mari
    Participant

    She is doing much better she’s up an about and eating with an appetite 🙂

    22 November, 2015 at 10:32 am #840811
    jcat
    Participant

    Fantastic! That’s great news! 😀

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