Expert: Jessica - 9/19/2011

Question
2 days ago i found an orphaned kitten in a shed, it appears to be roughly 4 or 5 weeks old. it has diarrhea, conjuctivitis, and was very cold, i brought indoors and warmed up and gave a hot water bottle, I got lactol from the pet shop and am feeding it this through a syringe. the diarrhea has not let up and I am afraid it will die from dehydration, I am bathing its eyes in salty water and it has a very sore bum which i am also bathing. is there anything else I can do? it is still very weak and hasnt much appetite, ive to had to practically force feed it. but once it has a hot water bottle and blankets it sleeps and appears comfortable.  any advice would be appreciated

Answer
Hi Caitriona,

The poor little one! At this age, roundworms can be a problem for kittens. If a vet is available to give the kitten a safe dewormer, I would recommend going ahead with this. Over-the-counter dewormers are not generally safe to use in babies this young, however. And in most kittens this young, bacterial infections are to blame for diarrhea. So your best bet is to seek the attention of a vet who can prescribe an antibiotic. Additionally, his eyes really need to have an antibiotic ointment to heal up. You may be able to order an ointment called Terramycin online without a prescription (I'm not sure what the availability is where you are). But I would avoid salt water for now and use some plain saline drops in them until you can get a good antibiotic drop or ointment.

There are two main reasons why the kitten may not want to eat - his belly doesn't feel good, and he's not warm enough. Potentially, if he's eating when he's not warm enough, this is causing the diarrhea. When the core body temperature is too low, the body systems are sluggish, and digestion fails. He is getting to the age where he is just about able to hold his body temperature if it isn't too cold, but he is still able to easily catch a deadly chill. Since the temperatures of hot water bottles fluctuate, so can his body temperature. You may find his condition improves if you switch him onto a heating pad. You should wrap this in a towel and set it on low to medium heat. Be sure there is room for him to move off it if he gets too warm.

If you're using powdered Lactol, consider thickening the consistency just a bit so that he gets a little more nutrition in each meal despite a small appetite. Although he needs to eat, making a kitten eat a full meal when his digestive system isn't working properly can create lots of problems, so it might be best to minimize the volume of formula that he requires.

Finally, I would apply some antibiotic ointment to his sore bum.

Good luck!

Jessica