Rescued Kitten recovering

Why are you worried about dehydration if she’s been to the vet and is now eating well, and especially since she was only slightly dehydrated when the vet saw her? I would think the pale pink gums would be more due to the flea bites (anaemia) and the malnutrition. What kind of food do you have her on? I would recommend a good quality wet food plus some weekly raw liver to get rid of the anaemia. I wouldn’t give her sugar water for no reason, it will only rot her teeth and cats have no sweet taste buds so she won’t even be tasting it. If you feel she needs a supplement, then look for Nutrical at the pet store, it is a high-calorie, vitamin etc food for sick and malnourished cats and kittens, and if she doesn’t like the taste, you can mix a little into her wet food. I would also give her a little plain pro-biotic yoghurt to offset the tummy upset that the antibiotics might cause.

Try the tent test to see if she actually is dehydrated — 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. Are her gums dry and sticky? Are her eyes sunken? If not, then I doubt she needs pedialyte. You have done a wonderful thing in rescuing Teacup. Please let us know how she gets on.

Yes, as Kit says, the Nutrical is the best way to go. Pedialyte will not help her put on any weight, it’s just water with electrolytes added. The yoghurt will help her put on a little, as well as helping her tummy (maybe a teaspoon a day or a little more). And, as I suggested, to help with the anaemia, a meal of raw chopped liver a couple of times a week will help a lot. (Mine loves chicken livers.) You could also look into feeding more raw food, I give mine a meal of wet food a day and a meal of raw food and they love it. Goats milk (canned, from the baking aisle at Walmart) is a great treat for a weaned cat as well as for bottle-feeding kittens, it is rich but, unlike cows’ milk, cats don’t have a problem digesting it (although don’t go mad on it, it’s so rich it can sometimes cause diarrhoea). More treats: if you happen to be roasting a chicken, you can give her some small (boneless) pieces of the meat (make sure there are no cooked bones in it or anywhere near it, you don’t want her to choke) and I have been known to give cats grated cheese, some won’t touch it but some love cheese as an occasional treat.

Get her a bell ball, she’ll love that and she’ll be able to follow the sound.

Teacup is such a cute name! Thanks for saving her life! My cat is blind- hence my avataar, and he gets around great- hopefully Teacup’s vision will heal but even if it does not she will have a great life. The bell ball idea above was great and also the crinkly mylar balls are a big hit, plus just about any toy according to my cat Magoo. The only fail is the laser pointer! 🙂