My 3 week old kitten has diarrhea, please give me some advice....?

Question

It's a tad long, please hear me out though. My fiances cousins cat had 4 kittens, she nursed them for 2 days and was then hit by a car. I knew these kittens were not getting the proper care because they were always cold, wet and they had them eating baby formula. Finally about a week ago I went over there to find the kittens on the dining room table almost dead, all in their own feces. I asked who the heck was taking care of them and no one knew or cared. I tried feeding them to then find out 1 was already dead in the corner of the box. So I fed the other 3, one of which was on the brink of death. Since then they have all passed except one. I wanted to take them sooner but I have 2 cats of my own and I live with my in-laws. I was not expecting to take in these cats but when I saw their condition I HAD to. The healthy kitten, I put on KMR formula, gave her a bath, have been rubbing her bottom when she has to go potty, waking up with her whenever, the whole 24/7 and I am hoping she's going to make it. BUT. A few days ago we ended up giving her about 2-3 drops of mineral oil and later on that night she pooped. It was a normal color and whatever. She hasn't pooped in a few days and then yesterday and today she has been having diarrhea. Not a lot at a time and it is runny and an orange color. I was feeding her KMR mixed with a little warm water, now I have switched to straight KMR, no water and have been feeding her a little less. I do not have the money to take her to the vet, as she is a rescue. What can I do to get her diarrhea to go away? Thank you very much if you read this and please help me.


***She will be 3 weeks old on Friday.

Answer 1

Your kitten has coccidia. Must take Ponazuril. Take a fecal to the vets they will give you meds.

Answer 2

Unfortunately there is not much you can do on your own with a kitten at this age. With diarrhea the kitten is in danger of getting dehydrated. Do you have a shelter or rescue group in the area that could take the kitten and give it the medication it needs to stop the diarrhea? It probably has worms and needs medication for that and to stop the diarrhea.



If you do not have a rescue group in the area, the only thing I can suggest is getting some unflavored Pedialyte and mixing a small amount of it in with the KMR to help with dehydration. If the kitten makes it to the point where it can eat some more solid food you can give it a little bit of plain or vanilla yogurt to help with diarrhea.

Answer 3

i just read your question. i have bottle raised about 2,300 orphaned kittens (i am a rescuer) and mineral oil is never a good idea....if they aspirate it, it is not water soluable and when it gets into the lungs, its life threatening. hindsight is 20/20. the other problem is that it takes awhile for the oil to work its way through the kits body and its impossible to know how much is too much until its too late. anyway, lets move forward. i assume you are using liquid (canned) KMR formula and adding a little water to it (vs. KMR powder formula). i suggest that you add a small amount of unflavored pedialyte to the kitten's formula to replace the electrolytes which the kitten is surely losing through the diarrhea. ideally, she would get 2 drops of liquid amoxicillin 1x per day for 7-10 days as that would clear up the diarrhea but it is imperative that you add a little pedialyte. be sure to keep the proportions of formula and pedialyte consistent. do not add additional water to the formula... for example....if she's eating 1.5 oz. every 6 hours, make sure that there is a half teaspoon of pedialyte in each 1.5 oz. hopefully her gut will settle down but once she gets all of that mineral oil out of her system (it could take several days), she probably wont poop for 2 or 3 days. that is good. if the kit goes 4 days without pooping, please email me at [e-mail]. there is a much gentler approach to constipation that mineral oil. i wouldn't suggest feeding her a lesser amount of formula but perhaps a little less often, giving her gut a chance to rest between meals. for example, if she's been on a 4 hour schedule, move her to a 6 hour schedule. good luck, and feel free to contact me.

Answer 4

I know you'll probably get a lot of answers like this, but the best thing to do is either surrender them to the spca

or call a vet and continue to give them your 24/7 for the next 5 weeks.

Answer 5

Poor baby.. You've done all you can do, PLEASE take her to a vet. This could be to do with her being seperated from her mother from such a young age. Do not take ANY risks, I've learnt that with several cats i've had, it's so much better to go and get her checked out and treated if it's anything bad. Goodluck, and hope she gets better soon :)