11 - 12 week old kitten...sick?

[mommanessy247]

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.

[wolfy-hound]

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).

[mommanessy247]

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.

[mommanessy247]

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...

[flyingsqueak]

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.

[mommanessy247]

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?

[texanborn]

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

[mommanessy247]

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.

[texanborn]

Awww figure 8s around your ankles is a good sign! 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

[aahmn]

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/