Expert: Jessica - 9/13/2009

Question
Hi jessica,

I moved in with my boyfriend 3 months ago and there was a very petite calico stray living in the bushes outside of our apartment building with her 2 kittens (at that time they were approx. 4 months old), an orange tabby and a little tuxedo kitten. I began feeding them and 2 weeks later, the momma cat (whom I came to call "Mama"), was rubbing up against me, purring, letting me pick her up and lay with the very skiddish kittens.  Fast forward to last week (this is a long stpry) - I've adopted the tuxedo kitten because it was summer and raining constantly here in Orlando and he seemed pretty sick; shallow breathing and bloody diarrhea. the orange kitten disappeared one day, I hope he just went off on his own, but you never know. So I do some research and figure out that Loki (my kitten's name) has a severe roundworm infestation, which could explain his pot belly, bloody diarrhea, and even breathing if toxacara cati because of their lie cycle and how they burrow in to lung tissue. i got Loki some Rid Worm paste (piperazine salts) from Wal-Mart, and sure enough, a 5-inch long worm, a 3 inch long, and several 2 inchers, along with some even smaller ones, come out in his next BM an hour later. i followed up 2 weeks later and then am gping to a 3rd time this week.  Anyway, Loki's doing fantastic, he weighs 5 1/2 pounds and is such a lover boy.  I kept feeding the mom even though she stayed outside and simply came up for food... i made an appointment to get her spayed at Animal Control for oct. 2nd, when Loki's neutered. Then I notice that Mama's eating ALOT more, and it took me until she was pretty big to realize, DUH!, she was pregnant.  I wanted mama to give birth in my apartment so i could help her and the kittens get to a good home. She stayed over one night but kept hissing and growling at Loki and even scratched my boyfriend's Chinese Crested dog, Nuke several times, and she wanted back out so i let her go. So I didn't see Mama at all on Monday and I assumed she must've given birth, my boyfriend spotted her at 6 pm on Tues while walking Nuke and said she had some kind of grey sack hanging out of her. I looked everywhere for Mama but didn't find her, then later, at 10 pm that night my boyfriend coming down the steps to go to his car and I heard what sounded like baby birds crying... Yea, it was the newborn kittens, screaming bloody murder, mama had left them in a bush right next to the building, she was out front, and when she saw me & scott (my bf) go to them she looked relieved and walked away, with what i thought at the time to be a kitten she couldn't pass, obviously in a great deal of pain. There were 3, a tiny orange and white one, a calico medium sized, and a pretty big (compared to the rest) tabby one. The big one was the only one not screaming and didn't move when Scott touched him, so we grabbed the 2 screaming their heads off and brought them upstairs. Scott had to leave for work so i put them in a box on a heating pad set to low and went back to look for mama and see abpout the dead one. But he wasn't dead.. he'd crawled into a bush and was crying when i went back down so i brought him up. I didn't find Mama, so i got a bottle and KMR at the Wal-mart on the corner (that store has really been a life saver when it comes to these cats). the next day i saw her & the thing hanging out of her was big, dragging to the ground almost. I called Humane Society and asked what to do, they said she may bite or scratch me if I try to touch her because she's in pain, so they called an Animal Services agent to get her for me so i could take her to the vet... by the time they got there she was gone, we looked everywhere. Another day passed, and by then I was exhausted from feeding these kittens, especially the runt, who I spent hours trying to get to eat, but I till looked everywhere and couldn't find her. then on Thurs at 2:30 am I walk outside and she's almost up the 2nd set of steps, she came all the way up to the 3rd floor where we live. I was laid off a month ago and times are tough so I couldn't afford to take her to a 24-hr vet. Took her to the Humane Society in the morning (Fri morning) first thing and turns out she had a prolapsed uterus. They spayed her and gave her IV fluids and she was doing much better, the vet thought for sure she was gonna maker it, but then they moved her up to the next phase of recovery and she passed while the techs had left the room. Then that night (this passed Fri), the runt died as well. We buried him yesterday. So it's down to the 2 kittens and here's where my question comes in (sorry it took me so long to get to it): the 2 kittens have both had diarrhea since I found them. The bigger one began opening his eyes on Wed., so I'm assuming he was born approx. 9 or 10 days ago, & that mama had given birth to the Calico girl on Mon (couldn't have been Sun, she still had kittens moving inside her, I had no idea when i saw her snu that she'd aleady given birth to one kitten). So I think they definately have roundworms because Loki had them SO severe & how they pass through breast milk.. I think the runt was last and her uterus prolapsed right after having him and he never nursed from her at all. I think the girl did, but not as much as the big guy and MAYBE that's why his stomach is so severly distended, worse than hers, because he nursed for several days longer (she has not started opening her eyes yet so she must be a bout 4 days younger). His stomach looks like it's gonna pop, especially after I feed him, and, he drinks SO FAST from the bottle and gets so gassy, he burps like 10 times after eating. The girl drinks her fair share,  too, and her stomach is distended as well, but not like his. He weighs 6 & 1?4 ounces and she weighs just over 5 ounces. For the past 3 days he's had blood coming out of his butt, and now his anus is severley irritated, red and inflamed, and he screams bloody murder whenever I stimulate him to go poop. I bought some Pom Pro (pyrantel Pamoate) online but am not gonna give it to him until i speak to a vet and know exactly how much to give and when i can give it (I think @ 2 wks old & .05 ml, but maybe I'm not positive). Could all this trouble be from just worms?? He's miserable, and I'm worried. Humane Society hasn't called me back to set an appointment and that's really all i can afford, a regular vet cost too much, but is this so serious that i should just show up with the kittens without an appointment? i know severe cases of worms can kill kittens, so can diarrhea. I can't lose another kitten after the mom & runt went in one day, it would kill me! Also last he didn't poop when i stimulated him after a feeding, and when I took him out of the nest for the next feeding there was a HUGE turd (sorry, can't think of another word), long and wide and NOT diarrhea for the first time, but still some blood. Then I fed him and stimulated him and his anus began to bulge, like there was as huge monster-sized poop trying to come out, and he SCREAMED so loud. He didn't go though. The girl's poop has never had blood in it but WAS diarrhea, then at her last feeding a couple of hours ago her poop looked pretty normal. I think i may have been over feeding them at first, I changed my feeding schedule from every 2 hrs round the clock (it was killing me, I got 4 hours sleep in 3 days total when the mom died, i changed to every 3-4 hours and even went 5 once on Fri night b/c I was so sleep deprived, now they latch so much better and suck very eagerly, it's easier to see when they need to stop, plus the KMR I feed them, "Just Born", says to feed every 4 hours, 6 hours, or 8 hour interval for healthy kittens (8 seems too long to me). Please, do you think this is just worms causing all this? How can i help the big guy feel better until i can get him to the vet? How much of an emergency is this situation? Sorry my question is SO long, thanks so much for your time!

April

Answer
Hi April.  Right now, the kittens are probably too young to be suffering the symptoms of worms.  Roundworms don’t mature and wreak havoc for three weeks, so if the babies are only 10 days old or younger, this really rules out worms as the cause for their diarrhea.  A bacterial infection is a certainly a potential cause, and the vet may want to put the babies on a small dose of an antibiotic.  But I think you have definitely caught onto something with your feeding schedule.  This was going to be my first question.  Babies really do need to be fed every two hours until they are three weeks old.  Otherwise, they are so hungry by their next meal that they overeat, and it causes diarrhea.  I know it’s a lot of work!  You will be horribly sleep deprived for several weeks.  But I have tried going by the feeding guidelines on the formula packaging, and I lost about half of my kittens.  It wasn’t until a veterinary technician who raised litter after litter gave me her feeding schedule that I started having an excellent success rate with raising orphans.  I have not lost a baby since!  That schedule is to feed the babies every 2 hours until they reach three weeks, then every 3 hours until they reach 4 weeks, then every 4-5 hours until they reach 5 weeks.  You will also begin adding in canned food during this week.  During week five, babies can go 6 or 7 hours without a meal so you can get a full night’s sleep.

Pyrantel is far safer and more effective than the piperazine-based products, so I’m glad you’ll be using that.  But do consult a vet, first.  Some kittens are dewormed as young as 3 weeks, but only under the direct supervision of a vet.  .

In truth, a couple of loose bowel movements may be something you can try to address by feeding smaller meals more frequently.  But a day or two of loose bowel movements puts them at high risk for dehydration and out of balance electrolytes, which regulate heart and brain function.  It also puts them at risk for hypoglycemic shock.  Kittens in these situations die quickly.  You also have the fact that the male is losing blood in his stool, and little ones suffer blood loss anemia surprisingly easily.  So even though a baby may appear okay at one meal, he can be collapsed by the time you go to feed him his next meal.  Unfortunately, I speak from experience on more than one occasion.  I have to say that I would not wait much longer for an appointment.  Just showing up could save your kittens’ lives

Now on the other end of the spectrum, it sounds like your male is starting to suffer from some constipation, which is another problem that formula fed babies encounter frequently.  If you are using powdered formula, try adding in some extra formula to the water for his meals.  If you are using the canned formula, I would suggest to pick up some powdered formula and add some powder in (then use up the powdered formula, of course).  Thicken his formula by about 25%.  To try to help him pass the stool he already can’t pass, the safest thing you can try right now is to insert some lubricating jelly, such as plain KY jelly, into his rectum.  A good way to do this is to use a rectal thermometer, heavily coated with the jelly, and insert it one inch into his rectum.  This seems like an awful lot for a baby, but it is accurate.  Gently move the thermometer in a small circular motion while in the rectum to stimulate him to push.  After about 10 seconds, remove the thermometer and begin using warm, moist cotton balls to try to stimulate him.  HE WILL NOT ENJOY THIS!  He will cry!  But constipation in kittens is also extremely dangerous.  Stool will cause toxicity if he does not pass it at least once every 48 hours.  If no bowel movement is produced with the thermometer trick and it has been longer than 48 hours since he has passed any stool, this is an emergency as well. If constipation becomes chronic, you should talk to the vet about the possibility of using some mineral oil or a hairball treatment like Laxatone given orally to prevent it.

Good luck with the babies!

Jessica