11 - 12 week old kitten...sick?

[mommanessy247]

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...

[wolfy-hound]

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.

[onna_shinigami]

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.

[mommanessy247]

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

[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.

[texanborn]

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.

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!

[mommanessy247]

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.

[GoFride]

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

[mommanessy247]

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.
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.

[wolfy-hound]

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).