help! a wee, wee lil kitten isn't well!

[wandering.angel.girl]

ok...my mom found a lil kitten a week ago in the parking lot of her skool. we're speculating it's 5-6 weeks old. when we found it, it had a runny nose and eyes. the original story of how it got there was that another teacher brought it by accident *the mama was wild and had had the kittens under the car that morning*. the cat's really small and kinda bony like. it's not yet eating solid foods unless we put the foodstuffs into the cat's mouth. he will drink from a bottle tho. we've been feeding it half-and-half milk and water. this morning *nine days after we found it* the kitten was cold... i mean cold, as in skin fur, etc. he's even meowing really soft and pitiful like where last night he was louder than i don't know what.

right now, hes sittin in my lap wrapped up in a towel and a heating pad sleeping. we haven't taken him to the vet yet, but it's the weekend (8.23.03 today's date) so the vet's not open and we won't be able to get him there till at least monday afternoon... anybody got any helpful tips or anythin for my lil kitty??? he's really small and i've grown reallly attached in the past week. plz reply if u've got any helpstuffs....thankz for reading even if u don't.

-emri *email me at femalemagick@poetic.com if you have something important...i get on about twice daily weekends, once daily weekdays*

[jason]

this kitten needs to be seen by a vet asap, like now.

check the Kitten Care page, it specifies to not feed certain types of milk to your kitten and never for long periods anyhow. this page also has some other recipes for emergency situations.

bony and not eating can mean many different things, a vet visit is very urgent for this kitty. perhaps an er vet is available in your area.

[kate & kobi]

Please, please call around to find an emergency vet in your area. You may have to drive a ways but your kitten needs to see a vet immediately!!

Your kitten needs food that was designed for kittens, NOT humans. Half-and-half is not appropriate food for her, it does not have all the nutrients she needs and if this is all you've been feeding her for nine days then she is probably already suffering from malnutrition. There are kitten formulas, like KMR, which you can get from your vet.

Out of curiousity, why was the kitten not taken back to her mother??

Again, please find a vet immediately, and explain the situation; the vet may well be willing to come in on the weekend.

Keep us updated, okay?

[wandering.angel.girl]

the girl who brought the kitten to school didn't want to take it back. she said she'd seen the mother lead three others away from the car that morning. the mama was wild. she *the girl* didn't think she'd see her *the mama* again.

as for the milk, we went to a vet wednesday *which i know make us sound unresponsible because we didn't actually get the cat checked out but anyway* to get a bottle because my sister thought he'd feed better from that. he did and was doin fine...the vet people didn't have any milk, but they had a homemade recipe thing. *evaporated whole and skim milk and egg yolks*

i just tried feeding him that, and he won't eat it...there are no emergency vets in the area. i live in a small country area...the vet in town is one of those tri-county vets anyway. mom'll call vet-man tomorrow probably if he's still not doin good...*which again makes us sound callous but it's one of mom's things*

thankz for ur input people.

[Traci]

*IF* this kitten is 5-6 weeks old as you think, he should be able to eat solid food, such as Iams canned kitten food. You can get this at any local supermarket or pet store. If he is younger than 4 weeks of age, he needs KMR kitten food. The "recipe" the vet gave you is NOT intended for long term use, it is only intended for short term use in the event of an emergency, only a one or two-time feeding thing. The recipe is NOT formulated with proper nutrients and vitamins this kitten needs, plus, he conveniently forgot to tell you that you must add a supplement to it. I would never recommend it anyway, what this kitten needs is KMR kitten milk.

If you are truly in a rural area, get to a pet store or feed store, they should have a trustworthy kitten formula available, preferrably KMR, others are available such as Havolac, Unilact, and Veta-Lac, use them according to the package directions.

We have no idea the true age of your kitten, nor his true health status. When you describe skinny and cold, the cold could be from hypothermia and hypoglycemia, which can be a fatal condition within hours. He could also have internal parasites or blood-sucking fleas causing life-threatening anemia....this CANNOT wait, it needs to be addressed by a vet RIGHT NOW. You should be able to call any number of vets in the area for emergency services, most vets that don't offer emergency services on weekends will forward you to one who will.

Please, get this kitten to an emergency vet RIGHT AWAY! It can't wait until Monday!

[wandering.angel.girl]

thankz for your input people...the kitten died early this morning sometime after three a.m. he's already buried *it's 9.03 a.m.* by the mama. we're thinking he went peacefully and personally i think he may have wanted it. he was found stretched out in one of the blankets AWAY from the heating pad...i put him back on it at three am and he still went away... oh well. i'm off to tear up now. thankz again. peace. i'm out.

-emri

[LisaLisa]

I'm very sorry to hear that your kitty went to the Bridge. Please know that your baby furball felt your love.


ou and your kitty are in my prayers...


Safe journey little one.

[jason]

the kitten died early this morning sometime after three a.m. he's already buried *it's 9.03 a.m.* by the mama. we're thinking he went peacefully and personally i think he may have wanted it.

wondering.angel.gril, do not take this as an attack....others need to know (and you as well).

never wait so long before taking an animal in pain to see a vet. we can only speculate as to whether a vet visit would of truely helped or not, but in my experience it almost always does (personal experience is it always does).

these furry love balls are counting on all of us to take care of them the best we can.

before taking on another kitty please read up on standard care and what to do when you first adopt...this site has alot of resources that are proven, tried and true.

of course, i am very sorry to hear that this kitty (and mama) have passed....at the very least, they are no longer in pain.

[wandering.angel.girl.]

yeah, it's cool. i realize that if we had taken him to the vet he might still be livin....personally i would have called vet-man up and even taken the cat to see him, but i don't have a liscense and it's too far to walk... o.O

thankz again. i'm out.
-emri[/i]

[MA]

Also if next time you find such a small kitten, please do use a human heating pad for it. If he was indeed so cold, he would have been better off being warmed up gradually with towels cycling on low in the dryer then wrapped carefully around him.

I am sorry he has died, but without proper care, he didn't really stand a chance. I understand you did not know this, so hopefully next time, you will remember this hard lesson and get the baby kitten to a vet for immediate help.