My 3 week old kitten wont feed properly im syringe feeding her. Also not pooed since i got her 6 days ago . Been to the vet today who gave me some laxative and an injection to help her lungs. has anyone heard of this before as im quite worried now. She has gone very quiet and slept constant. I have had trouble keeping her awake to feed her and still no poo. I live in Turkey and the vets here are just learning. I have tried stimulating her. The vet took her temp and on the thermometer there was a little poo on the end but t looked very dry and hard.
Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Cats & Kittens
kitten not feeding or pooing properly
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Are you keeping your kitty warm enough? If they are too cold they cant digest their food.
I would suggest you stop trying to feed him at the moment, and just focus on getting him to perk up a bit.
First off, make sure he's warm - a heating pad, or a hot water bottle would be good - just make sure he has room to move away from it if he gets too hot.
I've added a tag for you in the top right corner for home made pedialyte - its a rehydration mix that you can give him to help with the constipation, and to help stabilise his blood levels of glucose & electrolytes. If you click on the tag, it will take you to other threads that have the recipe for it on them.
Lastly I would suggest you give him some honey or syrup, just a tiny smear on his tongue, as an initial boost to get him going. If this goes well, and he perks up & takes at least 10ml of the pedialyte over the next 2-3 hours, you can try feeding him his normal KMR. How much was he eating before?
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I put a hotwater bottle wraped in a towel in her bed , i put a towel over the box to kee the heat in. i can only get her to take food from a syringe and that is s fight but i give it to her very slowly.She is only taking between 5 and 6 ml but saying that I could only get her to take 2ml on Saturday.
When you say 10ml 0f pedialyte do you mean in the syringe with nothing else. Sorry but i dont want to get it wrong. will she be ok missing her feed.
Many thanks for this advice
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Yes, just pedialyte for now, nothing else. Give it to him slowly, 2 ml every 30-45 mins, and see if he starts to perk up. 5-6 ml of KMR isnt horribly bad, it means he is at least getting something in. How did you come to think he is 3 weeks old? Are his ears up, is he walking ok, are there some teeth starting to come through?
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I asked the vet and he said about 3 weeks but she is very tiny. Her ears are up and you can just feel tiny teeth.She walks very shakily.
I dont know how long she was without food when I found her. She was found in a haystack with 4 other kitens. 2 had died and the other 2 died the night after. I have had her 6 days now.
She wont take the bottle at all.
I will try the formula now. Hopefully she will perk up. -
I would venture a guess that she may be a bit younger than what the vet thinks. As long as she is eating consistently, even if it is less than what she should be eating, thats good (not the worst-case scenario). Do you know what kind of bottle you are using? You get open-topped bottles, with very big, long, thin nipples - all the milk in the bottle goes into the nipple when you are feeding, where you can control the flow of milk with the amount of pressure you put on the nipple with your finger, and then you get closed-top bottles, that are basically just a nipple, and the kitten has to do all the work to get the milk out. I have found that kittens that have been with mom for a few days prefer closed-top bottles, if that helps you at all?
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If the nipple on the bottle is hard, there is no way the kitty will want to suckle on it. Do you guys have royal canin cat food in Turkey?
My guide that I use is what I have learned from experience so far, but I'm in South Africa, cats here tend to be smaller than in the USA (have no idea about Turkey though?). Birth to 7 days 1.5 ml every 2 hours. Week 2: 3-4ml every 3 hours. Week 3: 5-6ml every 3-4 hours. Week 4: they can at this stage eat as much as 10-15ml every 4 hours, but that is the age where I start weaning them onto solid food.
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Cats here are also smaller than they are in the UK . So perhaps I am expecting her to take too much. she has about 4-5-6ml every 3 hours .
I think I have seen that cat food in one of the vets. we do have a lot of vets but some are quite worrying.
I have given her the Pedialyte she nearly ate the syringe took 2 ml no problem , couldnt believe how quick she took it . Is it the sugar !!i will give her some more in about 30 mins. My husband is nursing her at the moment he is dropping on his feet with me getting up every 2-3 hours through the night.
Your help Skyron is much apreciated. She still hasnt poo but you can see her bottom bulging ahe is trying. it will be 7 days tomorrow.
how long now do you think I should wait to give her some milk ?
Would you give her anymore of the laxative in the morning that the vet gave me. have you ever heard of vts giving an injection to help thier lungs? That one worried a little. -
Injections for lungs, without any symptoms, like fever, or coughing? Nope, never heard of that. Lets hope it was just a steroid and nothing major. If she was eating those amounts before, you can feed her again in 2 hours.
If you can get to a vet that supplies Royal Canin, they make a kitten milk, powder sachets that come in a big fat pink tin. That big fat pink tin also comes with a bottle in it, the open topped ones. If you can get hold of it, I'm sure it would make your life a whole lot easier.
I have never used a laxative on a cat before. I prefer to use more natural methods for constipated kitties. My first step is always to up their fluid intake and give less food for a day and see how it goes. If her bum is bulging, you can try to lubricate her bum with a bit of petroleum jelly, see if that helps to move things along. I'll add another tag for you, the triangle method. The other tdkers have had some success using that method to get kitties to poo.
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my little kitten didnt want to feed in the night and she sounds very wheezy in her chest. going back to the vets but feel awful for her if its more injections. Do they work ? Im worried its something I have done , got food into her lungs. She has gone vry lethargic again. i made her food with the Pedialyte this morning. She did do a poo which is good news.
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When you feed her, do you keep her on her tummy? Kittens have to eat with their feet pointing down. If you hold her on her back (like you would a human baby)she can get the food into her lungs.
Posted 6 months ago by CheetahBoysmommy #
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I just rescued a two weeks old kitten 2 weeks ago, so I know how it is. I was worried about everything. He wasn't pooping regularly either, but he seems pretty healthy now that he's about 4 weeks old. I can't really give you suggestions since I'm new at this too, but I hope your kitty will be okay. Good luck.
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Thank you. I have just tried to feed her she would only have 4 mls by syringe. Its breaking my heart to see her like this she just seems to be going downhill. I do feed her on her tummy but she just doesnt seem to want it. She had an injection for her lungs yesterday. do you think it right to take her back and he will probably give hersomething else. I dont want to keep hurting her but dont want to lose her
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If you are unsure, then I'd take her back to the vet. I don't think you are hurting her. You're just trying your best to save her. I don't know what that lung injection thing is though. Maybe some other people here would know better.
My old cat that passed away not too long ago had Chronic kidney failure. I had to give him a liquid injection daily to hydrate him and at first, I thought I was hurting him, but he eventually got better and seemed healthy for another 3 years. Sometimes, you gotta make them uncomfortable temporarily in order for them to get/feel better in the long run. I think if she pulls through this, she will be okay. It's not like you'll have to give her an injection forever, so don't feel bad. You're trying to help her.
What did the vet say about her lungs? If you are feeding him on his tummy and not on his back like a baby, then it shouldn't get into her lungs. Maybe you should also ask the vet what can cause liquid to get into her lungs. Also ask him how that injection is helping? :( From my experience with cats the most important thing is to get them to eat, so as long as your cat starts to eat, she should be okay. It's just hard because she's weak right now. She's still eating a little, so she's fighting, so let's hope that she will pull through.
Regarding the constipation, mine didn't poo for days as well. He was eating a lot though and was urinating fine. I tried stimulating and it didn't work. I added a few drops of fish oil and he still didn't poo, but from researching through this website, I tried the triangle method and it worked and he pooped a lot. I think the running water also really helps, but afterwards you have to dry her butt very quickly. When they're young, they get cold extra easily. Mine was shivering >_<. I only had to do that method one time though.
And the vet said my kitten also got gas from bottle feeding so I had to burp him. I also added a few drops pediacare (which is something to help with gas for human baby) and I think that helped him with gas. I'm just randomly telling you things that happened to my kitten since I just adopted a young one as well in case your kitten also has similar problems.
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I decided to take her to the again as I was worried about the wheezing and how lethargic she was. It was a different vet today he gave her more vitamins and a antibiotic injection. He said there didnt semm to be an infection on her lungs. Its very difficult to comunicate here as I dont speak much Turkish.
I tried to ask about the injection that she was given yesteday but he didnt really understand what I was talking about. Very frustrating. He put drops in her eyes and cleaned them . All he said was she is so tiny and needs her mum.
I managed to get another feeding bottle to try her with but the hole doesnt seem big enough. She did have ago though, ended up feeding her again by syringe. Should I try to make it bigger?. I am going to keep feeding her every 2 hours. Its funny when the vet gave her the vitamins she really perked up again. I shall just have to wait and see ,its so worrying perhaps I am too much.
Thank you again for your reply i keep rushing to the computer to see there is any replies of help. -
Hi, Sue, I imagine the injection for her lungs was a steroid but it's impossible to say really. Yes, if the hole doesn't seem big enough, make it bigger. I don't think you're worrying too much at all, it is very hard to raise these tiny babies expecially when the rest of the litter has already died. It is very very sad but sometimes we can't save them no matter what we do.
But she does sound like she is a fighter, all I can suggest is keep trying.
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Have we given you these kitten sites to help?
This one has a very good section on feeding:
http://www.kittenrescue.org/pages.php?pageid=15And these others are also very good.
http://feral-kitten-rescue.blogspot.com/2008/10/feral-kitten-how-to-story.html
http://www.messybeast.com/handrear.htm
http://www.fanciers.com/cat-faqs/orphans.shtml
http://www.feralcat.com/raising.html -
My little kitten has got through the night tried to feed her every 2/3 hours but she doesnt want it tries to keep her mouth tightly shut. I am managing 5ml but its a atruggle. she is still very sleepy all the time . i am keeping her warm and giving her lots of cuddles. My husband sits with her on his chest she really snuggles up. i have made up more pedialyte should i put it in her food every feed? she doesnt seem dehydrated her skin seems to snap back but then again i have never done this before and could be wrong.
she doesnt cry for food. the vet told me to just keep trying to feed her .Its been a week today since i got her and she is still fighting. -
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My little baby wouldnt take her feed an hour ago and has just gone to sleep. She just seems to have given up we are cuddling her and keping her warm I dont know what else to do. I feel terrible i have tried evrything. Should i leave her alone , she is all floppy and limp. Do i try to wake her or do you think has she had enough . Sorry for asking such a question but i really dont know what to do now.
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Floppy and limp is a very bad sign indeed, combined with not eating. They may not be able to save her but I would be taking her to an emergency vet (if you can find one in Turkey) right now. I am so so sorry but it sounds to me like she is slipping away. I think you need to prepare yourselves for the fact that you may lose her. Keeping her warm and comfortable and cuddled and, if it's possible, trying to keep her going either with KMR or by stroking honey on the roof of her mouth or sugared water, is all I think you can do at this point, if no vet is available. Even if a vet is available, he or she may not be able to do much.
The only other thing is, do you know of another cat who's had kittens recently or still has them? The vet is right, she needs a mum and if you could find a foster mum who was willing to accept her (just pop her in with the other kittens), and feed her, that would be her best chance. I'm sorry, I don't know what else to suggest.
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I have just come back from the vet with my little kitten, it was the worst experience of my life.
He said I had got milk in his lungs and that one side was not working properly. I asked him what to do because he wasnt breathing right. He said he could treat him, so another 2 injections which I wasnt sure about. He put one into in his back leg . The poor little mite screamed and when I looked blood was pouring out of his leg. He did stop the bleeding and then told me to get another bottle to feed him with not a syringe, he then told me to go to another vets to get one as he didn't have one.
Within 5 mins I could hear my kitten meowing really loud. Stopped the car across the road from the other vets jumped out and could see him trying to get out of the box. when I pulled him out he was gasping for air, he couldnt breathe it was terrible. His stomach was all swollen too.
I ran across the road to the other vet and asked him to please help him . I asked him could he put him to sleep quickly so as to put him out of his pain. He didnt have time to do anything as he died.
It looked like the first vet had injected through into his stomach.
I am absolutely devastated that I put him through that.
I wish I had kept him at home where he was nice and warm and being cuddled.
I will never forget the look on his little face.I would like to thank everyone on here for their advice and helpful information.
I really fell in love with my little Pumpkin. RIP.
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Ohmigod, I am so, so sorry. I am horrified. If I had had any idea that any vet would do that to him, I would never, never have advised you to take him there. Never. Please forgive me. I feel terrible. That poor little mite. I'm so, so sorry. I wish he had been able to slip away at home with you too.
That is not adequate vet care. I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry.
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