Two Homeless kittens sick

If you can get some pasteurized goat’s milk or goat’s milk yogurt your kittens will benefit from it. I’m sure they are eating solid food so any good cat food at this point would be great, wet or dry for the nutrition. It sounds like they may have worms which they would need to see a vet to get a prescription. You could also try to get worm medicine online for your kittens. Please don’t think that you are doing anything wrong, you saved these little babies and are trying to give them the best start you can in their little lives. Sometimes even with the very best of care and vet checks, little kittens still die. Without a vet having seen them, I am only guessing about the worms. There could be other reasons for their lack of play and swollen tummies. Keep us posted.

Most kittens/cats are lactose intolerant, meaning cow’s milk upsets their tummies and gives them diarrhea. I don’t know how old the kitten formula is, but in your case it might be better than the cow’s milk. The powdered formula does take extra minutes to dissolve in water, and it doesn’t smell like cows milk, it has a buttery smell and richer thickness. Any fluids into these kittens would be beneficial. Still try to get some pasteurized goat’s milk if you can. Crunchy food soaked in kitten milk to soften it the kittens would probably eat, just don’t leave it out for too many hours if they don’t eat it because it will grow bacteria and make your problems worse. Some canned wet food if you have access to it might help, it has vitamins that the kittens need. Also, see if the kittens are covered with fleas or lice and try and get them off the kittens, they can be fatal if the kittens are covered with them. They can make them anemic by sucking on their blood. Good luck with these babies, I know you are trying as best you can with limited resources!

Messybeast: http://www.messybeast.com/handrear.htm

Glop recipe 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, but it must be properly thawed before serving as cold food will cause stomach upsets in young kittens.

For other recipes, click the pink ‘glop’ tag.
Youtube videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctfhMJUdxZA

Best of luck!

Farah, please don’t blame yourself for whatever is happening to these kittens, you are doing the best you can under the circumstances. The diarrhea is troubling, but since I can’t say what’s causing it, I can’t help much. Please keep them hydrated with water and hopefully pasteurized goat’s milk. I can’t stress the goat’s milk enough, it helps kittens immensely because of it’s gentleness, it’s full of good gut flora especially needed for these kittens who have diarrhea and are losing valuable nutrients because of it. I don’t know if heat could be a factor for kittens, they need to be kept warm but it sounds very warm there.

If you have some kind of ointment or vaseline you could put a little on the kittens behind. It protects it from moisture and will help the skin heal in between bowel movements. Maybe it won’t be so painful each time it has to go. Make sure you clean them well after they go and dry them and then put on the ointment.

I’m so sorry Farah. Poor little things. Just keep doing what you are doing, especially with the fluids, they need it to stay hydrated. What country do you happen to be in? Please don’t think you are troubling me, I am a rescuer at heart no matter where you are located. If you were near me, I’D DRIVE TO WHERE YOU ARE AND HELP YOU!! Good luck and sending healing prayers to you. Keep us posted.

I would think it would be more helpful to just give her water and kitten milk. The food probably just feeds the diarrhea. Anyway, she needs the liquid to stay hydrated. Remember, sometimes even with the best of care and even vet care, we lose kittens. It’s called ‘fading kitten syndrome’ and there is no explanation for it. Seemingly healthy kittens can be fine one moment and gone the next. I know how helpless you feel, please know that TDK is here for you with many others who have tried raising kittens with problems.

Farah, you are doing the very best you can for Lucy and even if you could get her to a vet, they often cannot help tiny kittens this young, so please don’t feel bad about what you are doing for her. The heat could be a factor, sick and very young kittens are unable to regulate their own body temperature, but they are originally desert animals (from your part of the world) and since Maluce is doing well, I suspect it isn’t really that which is the problem. I think all you can do is follow your instincts with her, feed her what she seems to need, comfort and love her and keep her safe and quiet and pray for her. Please look at the messybeast website, it may help you, if it is hyperthermia (that she is too warm), it does give some imformation on that. Bless you for being kind to these little ones, and please keep yourself safe too, it is very hard to hear of good people being in danger anywhere.
The website again is: http://www.messybeast.com/handrear.htm

Something that may help her — instead of mixing her formula with water, you could try mixing it with pedialyte. You can make pedialyte at home, this is the recipe:
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.

Your kittens are so adorable, thank you so much for the time, effort and love you are giving them. It is so hard to rear baby kittens even in the best of circumstances, you are doing a wonderful job Farah. The trouble with the difference in stool is that it should probably be tested by a vet because they could have parasites, worms or the coccidia and giardia (bear with the spelling there, lol). The worms can be treated fairly easily, but I think a vet visit may be required for the other ones. I know that for safety reasons you can’t do this, and maybe someone else here can contribute as to whether there is some kind of home remedy for these parasites. I just don’t know if there are. The best thing you can do is what you are already doing, warmth, love, keeping them fed with food and milk and pedialyte. They seem determined to survive, and I am praying that they do!! Please keep us posted!