Sick two week old kitten! Need advice

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  • #837813
    Samantha
    Participant

    Hello I’m fairly new to being a cat mommy. About 9 days ago I found two kittens that seemed about 8-9 days old and about 40 yards from them found a much smaller ginger kitten who was maybe 5-6 days old.
    I’ve been taking care of them, keeping their kennel clean and warm, feeding them kitten formula(dry that you mix with water), cleaning their eyes of gunk, etc. The two older ones have been fine however the ginger kitten isn’t doing well.
    The past two days he’s been acting lethargic and sneezing and coughing, he still has a big appetite and is energetic for food but that’s about it. I’m really worried it might be asthma because when I moved him up to my room(which is immaculate due to my own allergies and asthma) he seemed to be doing better. Two days ago he was super energetic, still can’t walk, but still was all over the place. I don’t have the means to drive 100 mile round trip and pay for a vet right now.
    If anyone could please advise, it would be much appreciated. I’m very worried about him.

    #837820
    Buttons
    Moderator

    Kittens are so fragile 🙁 thank you for taking them in ..

    The runt of the litter will always have a harder time.. The lethargy is worrying if you can rub a little honey on his gums it could help give him a little energy . These is always a good thing to do in an emergency situation to it helps with shock.

    I know you say you have them on formula but is there any way you could get your hands on Goats milk? It has to be pasteurised . And store bought one or even the canned goats milk would do.

    It’s full if much needed nutrients one of the most important is an amino acid called L-lysine. I’ve treated kitten as young as 3-4 weeks old with
    L-lysine powder but your little one are so young there might be enough in the goats milk to help. It’s an immune booster and helps with weight gain. You see the sneezing you mentioned could in fact be Feline herpes virus which is incredibly common in feral cats and kittens And
    L-Lysine helps to hinder the virus .

    #837838
    Samantha
    Participant

    Thank you so much. I recently bought honey so I’ll try that!
    I’ll look into buying goats milk and see where carries it, it’s so difficult to find things when you live out in the country.
    I already love them all so much, Dagger(the runt) especially has stolen my heart.

    #837840
    Buttons
    Moderator

    I find the more you have to help the the more attached you can get ..

    It’s hard work rearing kittens just know that you are doing everything right. And be prepared if anything goes wrong . Which unfortunately can happen but like I said keep honey close at had if you notice any of them getting lethargic .

    Keep up the good work and when then get to +8 weeks things will get easier and the risks will reduce dramatically.

    #837857
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Concats on rescuing these wee kits, Samantha! If there is a store somewhere close, the Goats’ milk is in cold milk section or concentrate in baking aisle. The concentrate is mixed 1:1 with water. If this is not possible, purrhaps a neighbor raises goats. Straight from the tap is the best you can do. BTW-Buttons is our resident fur mom and knows so much…because she’s been there.

    Do keep us informed, please.

    #837859
    Samantha
    Participant

    I’m going to ask my neighbor down the road if I can milk his goats. And if not I checked and the market in the town over carries goat milk.

    He was more energetic today, and seemed more hungry than normal (I feed them every four hours) and he also seemed to be a bit more aware rather than being still and stare at nothing. I’m still going to get the goat milk though 🙂

    #837864
    Buttons
    Moderator

    If your only option does turn out to be fresh goats milk make sure to pasteurise it. http://m.wikihow.com/Pasteurize-Milk

    Unpasteurised goats milk can contain high levels of bacteria and toxoplasmosis which is not good for young kittens so you’d have to pasturize the milk yourself if it’s not store bought …

    #837889
    Samantha
    Participant

    I’ve noticed the other two kittens have started sneezing and having more eye gunk than normal(i clean their eyes every time they wake up). Would it be best to separate the runt from them until his health improves?

    #837896
    Buttons
    Moderator

    Honestly I don’t think it will make much of a difference . It sounds like they all have Feline herpes ( often mistaken for cat flu) your doing the right thing by cleaning their eyes.

    If I’m working out the dates correctly I’d say they are nearly 3 weeks old now.. I’ve treated kittens as young as 4 weeks old with L-lysine . If the eye discharge gets worse and looks a greenish/ yellow colour then there’s probably a secondary bacterial infection. This is what happens when a cat/kitten get a herpes flare up and it’s then that you need to get L-Lysine into their system so it can control the herpes virus.

    Like human herpes as soon as the virus is in their system it never leaves but the flare ups tend to die down once a kitten reaches a year or two old and after that it’s only times of stress of illness that may cause a flare up.

    In the mean time the naturally occurring L-lysine in the goats milk might help but ideally getting the L-lysine in the health food shop would be good.

    500mg once daily for young kittens (4 weeks or younger) you can divide that between two bottle feeds and when they are all over 5-6 weeks of age I would give 500mg twice daily. Most L-lysine you can buy is already in 500mg capsules that you can just pull apart and sprinkle the powder into the milk or into wet food and mix in.

    Feline herpes flare ups can reoccur several times in a short time period so the last thing you want to do is let them get to the point where anti biotics are need ( yellow pussy eyes) and any time a kitten has to take antibiotics you need to replace the good gut flore that the antibiotics kill off again goat milk and goat milk yogurt is amazing for that too. With out mother cat they have been left with very little good gut flora and that’s extremely important in helping with neutrition obsorbtion .

    #837897
    Samantha
    Participant

    thank so much for all your help! I’m going to go to the market today to get the goats milk. I won’t be able to actually get the L-lysine capsules till the end of the month when I go into the city to do my monthly shopping.
    I’m pretty sure they’re almost three weeks, the bigger two have mastered walking and their pupils are starting to show as well as their teeth are starting to come in(barely though) Dagger(the runt) is getting better at walking and seems a lot better than he was a few days ago. His pupils aren’t quite showing yet, but he’s getting better at walking 🙂 and he’s been coughing less.
    I’ve also been bathing them, one at a time with luke warm water. I use kitten shampoo and make sure to dry them thoroughly before putting them back in their kennel. They all seem happier and more energetic after.

    #837898
    Buttons
    Moderator

    Sounds like your doing a great job keep up the good work and get the L-lysine when you can

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