Expert: Jessica - 5/4/2011

Question
Hi Jessica.

On Friday, 4/29 my fiance and I went out to feed his horses and discovered three kittens in the hay loft of his barn. The mother was a "teen" cat, and since it was her first litter, she didn't know what to do with the kittens and abandoned them. I immediately took them home, warmed them up, and started them on kitten formula. One of the kittens, Lucky, barely ate for the first dad and did not have a bowel movement for almost two. After he started eating and defecating he's been fine. The kittens are now 5 days old.

However, yesterday I noticed a decrease in his appetite, and the past two nights he's had diarrhea between feedings. I have been feeding them every 4hrs and at last nights 2:30am feeding he was still motive and crying, but he again would not eat. This morning at 6:30 I almost could not wake him. He is normally one of the loudest criers and he would not cry and was extremely listless. Also, during the first day, he was very bloated and distended which has gone down some but he still does not look like the other two kittens. His fir is also noticeably thin.

I don't have the time or money right now to get them to a vet unless ABSOLUTELY necessary, so if you could give me some advice on what to do I would greatly appreciate it! Another thing I thought of is that if he has some sort of disease, should I isolate him from the other kittens? I'd hate to lose him, much less all of them! Thank you so much for your time,

Jordan J.

Answer
Hi Jordan,

Just to make sure, you are keeping the kittens in a box with a heating pad set on low to medium heat, correct? If not, do this, and give them enough space to move off the pad if they get too warm. If they get too cold, this will cause digestive problems.

Diarrhea can be caused by a bacterial infection at this young age. Since the kittens aren't sharing litter boxes, chances of the disease spreading are slim, but separation is probably a good idea anyway, if possible. Unfortunately, the only treatment for a bacterial infection is an antibiotic, which a vet would need to prescribe. While there is an increased risk in kittens this young, he is old enough for a few drops of a liquid antibiotic.

The only other thing I can recommend is that you try diluting his formula with a little bit of water. Thin it out by about 25%. This means you will need to feed more frequently (I typically recommend feeding every two hours at this age to avoid belly upset - try feeding him every hour and a half). Thinning the formula out will cause the formula to be less fatty, and sometimes kittens with diarrhea can't handle digesting all the fat in fully concentrated formula. If the diarrhea corrects itself, wait a couple of days and then work your way back up to the regular concentration of formula. See if he can tolerate it.

There is a slight possibility this kitten could be premature, while the others are full-term. This is because cats are induced ovulators, and they ovulate each time they mate. Most times, cats go out of heat once they become pregnant, but occasionally, they become pregnant once they have already conceived. This is called superfetation. It's more common in cats than other animals. Kittens who are born even 4 or 5 days early can thrive when first born but then tend to decline a few days into life, as their heart, lungs and digestive systems are not fully developed. This would also explain his thin coat. Sadly, there is nothing that can be done for premature kittens.

Your best bet is, indeed, to visit the vet if the baby is still with you. If not possible, try the other things I mentioned, but try not to take it personally if the baby doesn't survive. Unfortunately, every foster parent has known the pain of losing bottle fed kittens.

Best of luck!

Jessica