sick kitten

Tagged: fortiflora, Kitten, messybeast, Pedialyte, sick, tent test, URI, vomiting

This topic has 13 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 5 months ago by Anne.

Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)

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2 November, 2013 at 10:21 pm #792869

Anne
Participant

I went to the shelter today to find a playmate for my rescue kitten. There were a few healthy ones but a black raggedy looking one stood out. I did a foster to adopt for him since he is sick. The shelter is paying for his vet care til he is well again. He has conjunctivitis, and upper respitory infection and is being treated for lice. They hydrated him at the vet as well since he is dehydrated. He threw up twice since.picking him up this afternoon. Im worried about the vomiting. We were in the car with him more than i would have liked. Hoping its just my bad driving but im just sick about him.

2 November, 2013 at 11:13 pm #792882

prairiecat
Participant

Hi Anne,
My heart also would’ve gone out to the little one that needed extra care and love. It’s been ages since I had a kitten, but below are some links copied from another thread, that I also gave to Armanda, who posted today under the topic “New 3-4 week old kitten”. Don’t know how old your baby is, but hoping this may give you some helpful information: the on-line vet link might help, since we are going into Sunday and regular vets/shelters might not be available to offer advice. If the links don’t come through, you can find the original post under the “Chat” button at the top of the screen: go to “Cats and Kittens” and look for a thread called “Links for raising kittens”:

Here is a list of helpful links that will help in raising kittens, orphans, newbies!

http://www.cat-health-guide.org/kitten-care.html

http://messybeast.com/handrear.htm

On-line vet link too:

http://www.free-online-veterinarian-advice.com

2 November, 2013 at 11:41 pm #792885

jcat
Participant

Anne, you are an absolute sweetie. Dehydration is the main problem with vomiting kittens, as the centre told you, it’s good to have some pedialyte on hand (you can buy in the infants aisle at supermarkets or make your own, I’ll give you the recipe) and to know the tent test for dehydration, I’ll give you both those links.
I am quite sure with your one-on-one attention, he will soon perk up. It is amazing what a bit of tlc can do.
Here is the pedialyte recipe:

2 November, 2013 at 11:52 pm #792887

jcat
Participant

Sorry, Anne, this isn’t working. Adding the pedialyte tag, seeing if I can get to it that way…

2 November, 2013 at 11:54 pm #792888

jcat
Participant

That did it!

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:
(formula 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.

3 November, 2013 at 12:13 am #792893

JerseyJoan
Moderator

Hi Anne – I can’t offer much advice but will say you are awesome for reaching out to the baby who needed help. Best of luck.

3 November, 2013 at 1:48 am #792915

Anne
Participant

Thanks… He did drink some water but then threw up… They told me if he doesn’t start eating by tomorrow than I will have to bring him back and they will treat him there. He’s supposed to be 3 months but I think he is older than that. The staff at the mall location didn’t seem to know he was sick until I pointed it out… sad.. plus he was in with healthy kittens.. I sure hope they don’t get sick.
The pedialyte recipe is great thank you! Taking care of “healthy” orphaned kittens is a breeze compared to this guy. I tried feeding him from a fork.. he wouldn’t take it. I wonder if he might like baby food? I could run to the store and get some. He is so thin.

3 November, 2013 at 2:17 am #792916

JerseyJoan
Moderator

Baby food is good, steer clear of ham; get chicken or turkey. Also, you can try a bit of plain yogurt. Poor kitty. I wonder how much of it is nerves, between being at the shelter, then new (but better) surroundings…

3 November, 2013 at 2:24 am #792919

Anne
Participant

He seems to be in love with my daughter. I’ll try the chicken and get him some plain yogurt. I’m hoping it’s just nerves and he’ll settle tomorrow.

3 November, 2013 at 2:42 am #792924

jcat
Participant

Apparently (I’m not in the US) Gerber stage one, pure baby food, no onion or garlic or other additives is the best. You could also try some Nutrical high-calorie paste, just smooth a little on his gums, no big lumps, nothing he could choke on. Warm the food gently to make it more appetising but if he has a URI, he probably can’t smell it at all, which makes them reluctant to eat. Stinky fish, like tuna, might help get him eating again but plain pedialyte and Nutrical paste will keep him going for the present. You don’t want to persist too much with food if he just keeps on throwing it up again, give his wee system a chance to settle. The Messybeast site has good advice for vomiting kittens and kittens with gastro. I’ve added the tag. The URI tag and vomiting tag also will have good advice.

3 November, 2013 at 3:53 am #792934

Anne
Participant

He seems to be vomiting the meds up… it’s not stopping him from showering my daughter with attention though. He just loves her. Will see how he is tomorrow and am going to look at the tags now.
Thanks very much Jcat

3 November, 2013 at 3:58 am #792938

Chaos
Participant

To help him eat and breathe easier you can put him in the bathroom with a hot shower misting the room. Cats won’t usually try to eat if they can’t breathe right. Try to get him to eat with his meds, it will help him keep them down. Try boiling some chicken or microwaving his food to get him interested. You can also dip your finger in the food and put a little on his tongue so he can get the taste.

3 November, 2013 at 7:11 am #792950

snowkitten
Participant

Awwww… poor kitty. As the kit been tested for parasites? Does the kit have diarrhea too, or just vomiting? If diarrhea is involved, it could be worms making the poor kitty sick.

There can be some really nasty metabolic imbalances that come from vomiting for too long. I hope the shelter does not take the kit back, because he sounds like he could really use your love and tlc. What has always worked for me with real bad vomiting is this: Start out with a 24 hour clear liquid diet to allow the stomach time to heal (ex, only pedialyte and water and broth), THEN advance to a bland diet for the next 2 to 3 days (ex, rice and chicken), THEN advance to soft foods (ex, moistened dry food or high protein canned cat food), THEN regular diet for kitty.

I know rice has little nutritional value for cats, but it is meant to allow time for the stomach to heal so the vomiting will stop, so that is okay. It is okay to continue pedialyte for the benefit of electrolytes even when the kit advances to bland foods- I always do that. The vomiting always stopped for me by the third day when using this diet. Just make sure you do not use canned broth, because it has garlic and onion powder in it which is poisonous to cats. Always check for that in broths. If you cannot find broth that does not have this, then you can make your own by boiling chicken in water & giving kitty the water.

I hope kitty gets better soon. Sending lots of love his way, please let us know how he is doing.

3 November, 2013 at 11:37 pm #793025

Anne
Participant

Kitty has been treated for parasites, worms and fleas, lice. They treated lice with advantage.. I think thats ok for fleas but lice? My personal vet would use revolution.

I got the nutri cal and gave him some of that and had to hand feed him his food. What I did was put some in his mouth with my fingertip. Had to do that a couple times and then he was eating the remainder of it off my finger. Went to the bowl and ate some out of there too.

I talked to someone at my local petstore and he told me my kitty came from a hoarding situation. No cruelty was involved she just got in over her head. She was trying to treat on her own but was not successful. I think he got the uri at the shelter. I was told he was in the room with many sick kittens.

I am praying now that this wont be a recurring problem. I should get stronger in the coming days. Ill be taking him to my personal vet after this is finished with the shelter.
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