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Our New Rescue - Advice Needed

Aozora

Aozora

Blue Sky Reptiles
I came home today to find my mom holding this little one. She found him in the middle of an intersection. He's about 3 weeks old, according to the vet tech she brought him to. He has a bloody lip--you can see in the third picture where he's got a bit of a bloody nose and where his lip has been pulled down.

We're calling him Leonidas, Leo for short, because of his bravery. He was apparently hissing at the passing cars.

Since he's so young, he has to be fed and probably helped to use the bathroom. We have absolutely no idea what to do--the vet had several emergencies on hand and could only give us basic information. Our other two cats, who hate each other, also appear to hate him. Please help!
 

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Awwwwww!!!!!!! What a cutie!!!

I think you can buy kitten milk replacement at grocery stores like Safeway, but big pet store chains probably have it too. You can also get kitten food, get the dry kind and soak it for him. If he needs help using the bathroom you will need to use a warm wash cloth to rub his bottom with. Sometimes a massage helps too, if he still can't go then a small q tip with some petroleum jelly can help him- he won't be happy about it!!!

I'd say the mos important thing is getting him kitten milk replacement. He can probably lap it up on his own, but if not you can feed him with a dropper. Gerber baby food may also be a good option- but you may need to double check.

This is roughly what we did with the puppy at my job. He ate gerber baby food mixed with goats milk. Since they sell kitten milk replacement though I'd get that.
 
We got some kitten milk replacement and a bottle pretty much immediately. He may not need the bottle, though. He's already had some, lapped it right up and also tackled a bit of dry kitten food. The packaging recommends only a few tablespoons of food a day at his size. He's so tiny! Weighs only 10 oz according to my snake scale.

Do you think we could try mixing the milk replacement with some canned cat food, or is he too young to start on that yet?
 
He doesn't look so young that he needs help defecating and eating. Both eyes and ears are open so they would begin weaning at that time. I'd get milk replacer and some GOOD quality wet cat food and mix the two and start feeding him that. Usually just dipping in the stuff and letting him lick will start it and then gradually lead him to the food with your finger. He may take the food by himself immediately as well. At this age he should be able to go to the bathroom on his own, but if not, simply take a warm wet washcloth and stroke the genitals and rectum until they go, continuing rubbing until they stop. You are simulating the mother licking. I would also take a warm wet cloth and work the hair against the grain to help stimulate the circulation if you don't see him grooming yet. Go against the hair direction the way a mother cat would. He's darling and it's great that you're taking him.
 
I don't believe he is 3 weeks old. I'd put him closer to 5 weeks, which is old enough to potty on his own and to eat canned food. I would mix the KMR with the dry food as well to moisten it and help keep him hydrated.

He's completely adorable. I look forward to more pictures of him!
 
I wouldn't mix the milk replacer with canned food, but you can certainly offer it to him. If it were me I would offer a little warmed milk replacer in a bowl, a couple teaspoons to a tablespoon at a time. Then offer a little (a teaspoon or so) canned food after that. He looks age wise like he would still be nursing but starting to explore food. He's probably going to want to eat at least 5-6 times during the day and maybe once at night too. Try breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid- afternoon snack & dinner. He may not need to eat that often, and he may only want the milk at some of those offerings. Better to over offer till you get it figured out, than to under offer. If your a night owl offer a midnight snack before turning in.

A cottonball rubbed on his lower tummy should stimulate urine and if he seems to be having trouble pooping you can rub a q-tip on his hiney to stimulate him to push.

Also I would keep him completely separated from your other cats for a few weeks if possible.
 
Thank you so much, everyone, for all the advice! Leo's obviously not too upset even given the day he's had. He was playing and exploring, and quite happy to give up playing to have a nice dinner of KMR. I may want to hold off on more solid food until I'm sure he's pooping, but then I'm willing to see what he wants.

I'm thinking he may be on the young side of everyone's estimates, given that he has very little coordination (making his attempts at catching my finger/a crochet needle even more adorable) and he has a bit of trouble tracking movement. He's also got big paws even for a tiny tiny kitten. I think he's going to be a big boy.

He's currently asleep in a box, with a stuffed animal and a spare UTH wrapped in several layers of cloth. The levels of adorable are near-fatal.

My 4-year-old cat, Jasmine, turned into a raging witch at the sight of Leonidas, hated me and growled at me for a few hours after I'd held him, and now just sniffs me intensely before falling asleep on my lap as usual. My mom's cat is completely ignoring him. Leo has one of Jasmine's stuffed animals in his "bed"--I'll swap them out every few days and get her used to his smell on those as well as me.
 
Personally I'm not a fan of dry food, soaked or not, minced up raw fish and meat scraps would be a good addition for him. My kittens weaned on raw chicken wings, really good for their teeth!
 
Aww poor little fella. Glad you found him when you did. Could have been a completely different ending for him if you hadn,t.
 
Leonidas pooped on his own today, and there's a huge difference in his behavior. He's acting like a real kitten now, pouncing and running around and swatting toys and chewing on *everything*. He may have just been in shock, or had a kitty headache after all he went through.

Leo's eating like a horse. We still haven't tried him on much in the line of solid food yet, but the way he's going it won't take long. I think the regular meals are making a difference.

Poor little guy has tons of fleas. We'll give him a bath and wash him in Dawn (actually a really good flea-killer on critters too young for actual flea dip, as we learned from when the idiot dog was a puppy) later tonight. I shall post the pictures of the most miserable thing ever: a wet kitten.
 
Here's the aforementioned most miserable thing ever. Little Leo has quite a set of lungs on him. He was squalling from the instant his little feets touched water.
 

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I LOVE HIM!!!!!!! Hahahaha I love kittens :) I am SO glad he is doing well!
And yes, soap does a good job at killing those nasty things! Works well on snake mites too!
I can't wait to see his progress :D
 
I have raised many a kitty in my short life and Meg F gave great advice. I can only add to it that if he starts to slow down, acting tired, his sugar may be low. Even with quality food and milk replacers it can happen, just mix a pinch of sugar up in his milk now and then if you feel that he needs it. Yeah I know it sounds weird and unhealthy but liken it to a diabetic person.

As far as fleas go, I keep something with Fipronil on all my mammalian beasties. It is labeled for older kittens but I have used a dab on the back of a small kittens head before, somewhere where they can't lick it. The stuff is generally safe for lactating queens and I've never had a single animal with a reaction to it. Granted there is always risk for any sort of flea killers. In my experience the fipronil based products are the best. So much more effective and safer than the permethrin based. Just my 2 cents, and thank you for rescuing this little innocent. When I hear a kitten cry, it makes me want to cry.
 
I'd also have this kitten wormed as soon as possible...you'll probably have to do it several times. Generally the vet will give you liquid panacur for it. The fleas generally will infect the kittens and puppies with roundworms and most baby critters are loaded with worms anyway....sort of a birthday gift from mom. I'd go with veterinary check so they can do a fecal to find out exactly what the kitten has so that it can be fully treated. Normally it's a 5 day deal, and then in a month or so you do it again. At least with the puppies. Most over the counter wormers are pretty useless but the panacur works well...messy and usually you'll have some fun eye dropping the stuff in. I tend to use a syringe. Holding the kitten by the scruff and slightly lifting them off the ground usually stops them from moving too much and you can easily syringe in there if you don't do it too fast. You'll get used to the white! :) Can't wait to see some after pictures!
 
I'm worried Leo might be too small to worm yet. As I'm doing more research, I'm starting to believe he's 4 weeks old and he weighs only 10 oz. It's very possible he was the runt of the litter, and I don't know how long he was alone before my mom found him on the road. The little guy is skin and bones.

Is it safe to get a bit of weight on him before worming him? I really don't want him to be affected by worms, but I also don't want him to get dehydrated or have absorption issues.
 
Usually kittens and puppies are dewormed at 2, 4, 6 & 8 weeks of age. Most vets will sell dewormer without having to bring the animal in, they just need the weight to calculate the dosage.
 
The problem is, if they get a heavy load of worms, they will also not utilize all their food since the worms will be stealing a lot of the nutrition. It can also cause diarrhea, bleeding and other health issues. I really think he's older than 4 weeks. He may be small but he's eating and he's pottying on his own.
 
If I'm not mistaken, Panacur is fenbendazole, a gentle dewormer. Works by stopping the worm from absorbing nutrients. Shouldn't make him feel too crummy or anything either so yeah I really would go have him checked. Wow, with all this discussion he's going to be one pampered puss. Can't wait to see his little mug when he's all filled out and tearing your place apart :)
 
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