11 - 12 week old kitten...sick?

do they stop playing as much when they get to about this age?
our little josie is kinda acting a bit lethargic, not playing & killing everything & only eating 1/2 of the food i give her. i feed her 2 x's a day - morning & evening.
1/8 cup dry whiskas kitten kibble mixed with 1 oz. of whiskas choice cuts wet food. from the day we got her til yesterday she was eating all of what i gave her both times, every day. now she's only eating 1/2 of what i give her both times. i have no idea if or how much she's drinking but she must be cuz she doesnt seem dehydrated...
should i try feeding her once a day now or does she still need to eat 2 x's?
the only thing thats been different is i clipped the tips off her front claws the other day & a couple days ago i gave her bath since she's not grooming herself and she was kinda stinky. the only pet shampoo we have is dog shampoo but i didnt use alot, barely enough actually but i didnt want to use too much.
i scoop poo every other day & clean out the dissolved pellets twice a week (i'm using a pine pellet litter and liquids turn the pellets to a sawdust basically. theres usually about 2 cups of pellet dust both times, not sure if that means anything but obviously she's drinking water if she's peeing well enough to make that much dissolved pellets) & i wash the litter box with hot water & soap once a week.
the poo doesnt look abnormal - no worms visible (not sure if they would be) & no diarrhea. she has not been outside since we got her and when she was with her mom & littermates, mom is semi-feral and they were outdoor cats.
but even then if something was wrong we would've seen it
THEN right?
theres no fleas or ticks on josie...

The only thing that would worry me is the shampoo. I don't know what kind you used. Perhaps you could re-wash her with a cat champoo or use a little bit of baby shampoo(you should use cat shampoo but better baby than a dog if it's got flea stuff added in). Just make certain to cut the shampoo to use it. 1 part shampoo to 5-10 parts water. Just so it sudses up when used on her, but not so it's sticky. That would wash off any possible bad things in the dog shampoo that's disagreeing with her. Or if it left residue, she could have licked it off her own fur.

Generally, kittens should be energetic and have a hearty appetite. I think I would halve the amounts but feed twice a day still. If she isn't losing weight, but is still gaining weight, doesn't have loose poo, then I'd keep an eye on her. If she doesn't perk up in a day or so, you'd probably want to take her to a vet for a check.

I'm betting it's the shampoo. My kitten (now adult) had a bad flea problem when I first got him but was too young for flea shampoo. Husband recommended using the Blue Dawn dish washing soap to kill the fleas. Can try giving it a bath with that and if she's not feeling better in a day or two, I'd take her to a vet and get her a check up.

the shampoo i used is not even a flea shampoo. its just a regular dollar store basic deodarizing, cleaning shampoo...

I usually recommend baby shampoo for pets if you aren't using pet-specific shampoo (for fleas or whatever). She got have gotten a little shampoo in her mouth and swallowed.

If this keeps up for another day or two, take her to the vet. It's not normal. She may just have an upset tummy from taking in some soapy water.

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Originally Posted by cinderbird

I usually recommend baby shampoo for pets if you aren't using pet-specific shampoo (for fleas or whatever). She got have gotten a little shampoo in her mouth and swallowed.

If this keeps up for another day or two, take her to the vet. It's not normal. She may just have an upset tummy from taking in some soapy water.

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Cinderbird is right on, my cat did the exact same thing and she was ill for a few days cause of ingesting some of the soapy water during a bath. Next time invest in some shampoo formulated for pets or the baby shampoo- the stuff us adults use is much too harsh on young animals (their systems if ingested). Half the amount of food you serve each time just so she doesn't wolf it down only to vomit it back up. If you have a glass bowl for a water dish you can use a sharpie to mark water levels before work to see how much is drunk (sharpie comes off with rubbing alcohol later). Watch the litter box for runs etc...if she doesn't perk up in the next few days, time for the vet.

Hope she gets better!:please:

baby shampoo?! really? crap! i have some of that, man if only i'd thought of it before...
ok well i saw some yellow-greenish discharge comin' from one her eyes this morning and wiped it away with a diaper wipe. i'm gonna keep watch on that to see if it progresses and keep it clean.
my bf gets paid in a couple days so we'll have to see what we can do for a vet visit.
most vets cant/wont accept payment plans from new patients.

I hope all is OK with the kitteh - keep us posted :please:

spoke to someone at a cat clinic & they gave an idea as to what could be causing the eye drainage and gave me a list of other symptoms to watch for while we wait for my bf to get paid in a couple days.
as the day progressed i noticed the poor kitty looking more dehydrated and realized she wasnt drinking anything so i started using a 6 ml medicine syringe to give her water orally.
she's still interested in eating & i'm hoping i wont have to force feed her. i know the water in the syringe is keeping her hydrated cuz she's perked up a bit more then she was.
i just wish we could get her seen with a vet, get this mystery resolved with whatever medicine the kitty might need and then do monthly payments for the treatment but vet clinics just wont do that. :tears:
i understand why but it just sucks.
i seriously do not like the idea that i have a potentially sick fur baby & am helpless & resorting to minimalistic home care.
if i have to i'm fully prepared to blend up the kitty's food into a wet paste, baby food like & feed her that if it comes to it but we do have a couple jars of meat baby food, i just dont think it will have the same nutrients a cat gets from their own specially designed cat food.

The baby food won't have the same nutrients, but you can blend kitten food in your blender and mix it with water to make your own correctly formulated mush. You can also get nutrient paste from most pet stores to add in to give her more calories. The water added won't hurt especially if she's getting dehydrated. You can even get kitten replacement milk to use in the blender instead of water.

Usually eye discharge means a upper respitory infection(extremely common in cats, esp very young kittens). Make sure she stays warm and out of drafty areas(not that most places are very chilly right now, with the hot weather).

i figured as much with the baby food.
gave me some good ideas for dealing with the kitten food. i imagine i'll have to have someone hold her bundled up if i have to feed her that but do i use a medicine syringe like i am with the water & squirt it slowly while making sure she swallows it?
ugh man i really dont want to have to go through all that...but having the info is better then not, right?
arm myself with knowledge.
still hoping the paycheck is enough to work with. :please::please::please:

If she's still eating, just put the water/ground kitten food in the dish and let her lap it up. I used to start my puppies on dry dog food(weaning them) by grinding puppy food in the blender and mixing it with water/puppy milk and they would dive right in. If the kitten is willing to eat, she should eat the mush also. If you get to the point of syringe feeding, you'll have to be very careful since it's very easy to have the kitten aspirate liquids unless you use a feeding tube(and know how to insert it properly so it doesn't go into a lung).

well, she seemed to be swallowing the water from the syringe not really aspirating it, i just gave it slowly with little breaks. i'm gonna keep an eye on her today to see if she keeps herself hydrated by drinking her own water but if i see her looking dehydrated again i'll do the syringes again. she was quite perked up last night though even played with something on the floor for a quick minute.

thanks for all the advice guys. :gj:

:banana: :D
she took a drink of her own water!
i have not seen any more eye discharge after yesterday morning.
could she be on the mend?
i sure hope so...

If she seems a little dehydrated and rarely drinks it would be better to feed her the water/food mix (in her bowl) than to give her water with the syringe. You could even simply change your ratio of dry and wet food so there's more wet than dry. The greatest argument for feeding exclusively wet food is that most (not all) cats won't drink from a bowl on their own and there's enough water in the wet food that they don't need to drink much.

Anyways. . .you definitely did the right thing by calling the vet. Most vets are more than willing to give advice over the phone when people can't come in immediately.

Is she still eating less than normal? That's more worrying than the eye discharge. Kittens are supposed to be voracious eaters, when they go off feed something is wrong. Does she sit in an odd hunched position? When cats have stomach pain they tend to sit in a very distinctive posture. Do some googling to find pictures of it. That might give you an idea of what may be wrong.

Good luck :) I'm sure she'll be all right, even if she needs a vet visit.

she's still only taking 1/2 of her usual amount.
she's not on a wet only or dry only diet, its a mixture of both. i actually do a tad more dry then wet.
i actually didnt know they could get most of their liquids requirements from the wet food, that does make sense though. i know she was drinking the water in the bowl cuz i was having to add more to it.
she rarely sits on her bottom cuz she spends most of her time either curled up or balled up with her legs tucked underneath. i think i have seen her hunched a little when sitting.
do kitties this age know about eating grass to cure tummy aches? could i take her outside and see if she'll nibble the grass or bring some in for her?

Is your lawn treated with chemicals? Grass might help but I would be hesitate to try it right now- less foreign matter the better in the tummy. If the eye discharge is stopping she'll probably perk up in a few days.

My kitty Ember sprained her elbow and did the usual 'curl up and hide out' routine- she barely ate. Took her to the vet for some shots soon afterwards.

Yours probably just didn't feel well with the eye stuff and turned up her nose at food. Now that the discharge is stopped she'll start bouncing off the walls:gj:

we've never treated our lawn since moving here almost 3 yrs ago. i dont know about the previous owners.
i was just thinking is all.
the kitty seems to be feeling better as she was impatient during my prepping her food this morning, doing figure 8's through & around my ankles, standing up and pawing at my legs. i increased the amount just a little but we'll be gone a majority of the day today at a doctor appt out of town. so she'll have the majority of the day to finish her breakfast if she doesnt eat it all in one sitting.
now i have another Q...we plan on letting josie be an indoor/outdoor kitty (out in the day in at night) once she's fixed of course. do we need to take her out before then for supervised outings so she gets to know the surroundings?
i worry she'll get ahold of some bad bug or something & get bit or worse get bit by a snake.
i realize the only sure-fire way to shield her from those dangers is to keep her indoors but i'm a firm believer in that cats should be outdoors at least some of the time so they can climb trees & chase critters & stuff like that.

Awww figure 8s around your ankles is a good sign!:gj: MOMMY FEED ME!!!

How does your neighborhood look? is it a slow street? does your backyard back up to a busy road or a German Shepherd?

Right now going outside for a picnic she can explore a little bit with you keeping an eye on her. She could get use to it but "kitten proof" the gaps in your fence if you have some.

Snakes and Bugs aren't your biggest worry. Right now (and until she's full grown) its going to be the Hawks and Owls. I flew a redtail hawk for falconry and if your kitty is "rabbit" size- its fair game. So until you have confidence in her kitty ninja skills and she clears pass 6lbs, supervise her close by. That'll deter most predators while she learns the ropes of being outdoors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTt7pSav8ts
Just don't make it "easy" like these guys did.

Make sure she all up on her shots and has a bright collar and ID a bell might be a good idea too. Take a few color photos so you'll have them in case she gets lost. If you can, also have her micro-chipped.

If you have cool neighbors show her off so they'll know who she belongs to ;) Helps alot when the cats go on an adventure and scare us furparents half to death and all they did was find a little kid who petted them all afternoon- which is what I did to my poor neighbor once *halo* I'm now the kitty sitter :D

Honestly, my cats (even my rescued outdoor stray) don't miss being outside. Cats adjust very well. Sorry, I just had to throw that out there.

On another note, you could check to see if any clinics in your area accept care credit. It's a card that you can use for vet bills that gives 6 months interest-free to pay off your balance (it's in human med, also). I always tell people that if they use it, they NEED to keep track of when the 6 months will be up and make sure it's paid off before then. The interest rate is quite high and once the time is up you get all the back-finance charges that would have been earned on the balance put on the card right away. So use it, but do whatever you need to do to have it paid off. At least it does give you some time to work with...http://www.carecredit.com/

i think her funniest quirk is that when she meows no sound comes out of her mouth...she clearly opens up to say something but theres no sound. we've heard her meow before but now its like she doesnt feel the need to use her voice.

the neighborhood is not slow, per say but it's definitely not super busy & our house is not too close to the main road leading to the neighborhood.
we dont really have a fence, yet.
behind our house is a small shallow creek down in a ditch surrounded by briars and very tall trees, pine & some others.
kitty ninja skills, lol.
she may be learning something from being around our special needs son, bless his heart he only wants to give her "love" :hug:. he doesnt know his own strength but is learning to "touch nice" (be gentle).
anyways, i'm fully aware that the kitty will need ALL of the shots necessary before she can safely be an outdoor cat. theres other cats out & about in the neighborhood so i'd like to not expose her to any of their potential germs until she's fully protected.
now another question, with outdoor cats in the neighborhood, are their territories usually their homes & properties or do they have ranges like most of the wild critters? i always assumed it was the properties.

kitty update:

she's doing much much better. back to eating the previous amt of food & is regaining her usual spunk.

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

i think her funniest quirk is that when she meows no sound comes out of her mouth...she clearly opens up to say something but theres no sound. we've heard her meow before but now its like she doesnt feel the need to use her voice.

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Hahaha! My Ember does that, its like "Methhh" hoarse whisper. She's 3 now and I dont think she'll ever find her voice. She also LOVES to play fetch with paper balls- receipts are best:gj: LOL I swears she's part dog.

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Originally Posted by mommanessy247

now another question, with outdoor cats in the neighborhood, are their territories usually their homes & properties or do they have ranges like most of the wild critters? i always assumed it was the properties.

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They have territories. Once she's fixed and big enough that shouldn't be a problem. If she pops over your fence any feral cat she meets will most likely scare her off. Its when two feral cats are going at it its a war and neither has "anything to lose", those are the fights you hear outside at night.

She'll stay close to home mostly if you have a good fence. That'll be her turf and she may wander a bit pass that.

You can train her to a bell actually, my neighbor did this. Her cats would be outside and she'd call them over for a treat and ring a small bell (they got use to the noise) so at night she'd ring the bell and call them and they'd be ready for dinner inside. Clickers would work too but I dont know how loud those can be.

Ember isn't allowed outside because she has NO FEAR. She has tried to go out the front door and actually started walking towards a leashed German Shepherd...I swear she would have gone to lick his nose if I hadn't scooped her up. One of our other cats still hates Ember and hisses at her regularly...Ember just gives me a "whats her problem" look. I don't want to see her try to "make friends" with a feral cat...it would be like unleashing a ditzy HS cheerleader onto Jurassic Park:rolleyes:

She does get to go outside... but on a harness and lead... and when its not 108 degrees outside :O

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LOVES to play fetch with paper balls

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little josie too! what the heck is up with that? we buy toys and yeah they play with them but man little josie just has to unleash all her fury on them paper balls.
i'd hate to be the unfortunate critter on the receiving end of that kind of treatment. :weirdface:

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it would be like unleashing a ditzy HS cheerleader onto Jurassic Park

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OMG i almost died doing this!----> :rofl:
i read that right in the middle of a sip of hot coffee & almost shot it out my nose!
i get images in my mind when i read stuff so that makes things all the more hilarious. :P

:rofl::rofl::rofl:
oh man just watching my daughter play with joise this morning...
my daughter crawls on her belly towards josie & i guess it looks like stalking so josie runs at her sideways, with her ears flat on her head, back arched & fur fluffed up & starts "slapping" my daughter in the face.
kittens are such little riots im telling ya.

came down to a flea problem that we were just unable to manage & it resulted in all but 1 of us getting numerous bites with our son being the worst & is covered in 'em. childrens services got called to his school & then they came here saying there would no longer be any allowed direct contact with the cat until the flea problem was taken care of. we'd already had to move her into our garage so really? what kind of quality of life is a young kitty gonna get with that?
being unspayed with no shots, turning her loose as an outdoor cat was out of the question.
so our only last option was to relinquish little josie to the local animal shelter, knowing that they'll get rid of her fleas, spay her & put her up for adoption & we hope someone picks her up & then she'll get the love & attention she needs.
we're still left with the fleas & we have some bug bombs for the home but theres a process to it, things that have to be done before we can set those off.