4 day old Kitten weight concern

victoriahelzilla

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Hi. I took in a pregnant stray cat who was found outside during a snowstorm. She had health issues all through the time I had her, and she ended up passing away a few hours after giving birth. She was not producing milk. She gave birth to five kittens, one stillborn. Two others have died since then, and I am currently left with two. One has gained almost an ounce steadily over the past days that I have been weighing her. The other, however, started at 2.6oz, went up to just under 3oz the next day, and has stayed the same today. She also hasn't really pooped when I've been stimulating her yesterday and today. They have both experienced loose yellow stool, so I have been diluting their formula with Pedialyte in hopes to help. The vet said not to worry about the stool too much as they are not on mother's milk, but I'm wary about this situation. I've never had to take care of a litter of kittens before and having lost 2 already, I wonder if I should be worried about the lack of weight gain.
 

StefanZ

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Lack of weigh gain is always a potential danger. One day no gain may happen, but two days - danger...
Good you give pedialyte, it contains salts which they need when having diarrhea.

What kmr do you use?
Can you get raw goats milk?

How much do you give? its typically 8 ml / Oz, ie about 25ml a day for a kitten of 3oz... More if he wants, but shouldnt be much lesser.

You can always give a droplet of glucose or white caro syrup on the gum inside of the lips, if they are weakish or lethargic.


A pedialyte working for diarrhea kittens (and childrens)

You overboil rice in lotsa of water. You take such a water, containing lotsa of carbo and glucose sugar, mix it with some minerale kitchen salt, and voilá; you have a terrific pedialyte useful for diarrhea patients.
 
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victoriahelzilla

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Lack of weigh gain is always a potential danger. One day no gain may happen, but two days - danger...
Good you give pedialyte, it contains salts which they need when having diarrhea.

What kmr do you use?
Can you get raw goats milk?

How much do you give? its typically 8 ml / Oz, ie about 25ml a day for a kitten of 3oz... More if he wants, but shouldnt be much lesser.

You can always give a droplet of glucose or white caro syrup on the gum inside of the lips, if they are weakish or lethargic.


A pedialyte working for diarrhea kittens (and childrens)

You overboil rice in lotsa of water. You take such a water, containing lotsa of carbo and glucose sugar, mix it with some minerale kitchen salt, and voilá; you have a terrific pedialyte useful for diarrhea patients.
So far I have been using the liquid KMR but plan to switch to powder soon since someone gifted it to me. I would be willing to get goat's milk and try it if it will help. The only brand I can see available in the store would be 'Meyenberg' Goat Milk, not sure if that would suffice? And how would I go about giving it to them?
Perhaps I have been slightly underfeeding the kitten, as I have been using a conversion of 7.5mL per oz, but that would not reach the 25mL that you recommended. I'll be sure to increase it today.
The kittens don't seem lethargic at the moment, unlike the other two that faded before passing.
Thanks for the recipe, Pedialyte expires really fast, though hopefully diarrhea passes before I need any more!
 

Sarthur2

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Yellow stool is not uncommon on formula. If it is bright yellow diarrhea they may need treatment for coccidia, which is a parasite that lives in the intestines. The cure is Albon or Panacur. Speak to the vet.

If constipation is an issue add drops of olive oil to the formula. It helps to move things along. Be careful about diluting the formula. If it’s too thin the kittens will not receive the nutrients they need and will not gain weight. Please use the powdered. The pre-mixed causes diarrhea in kittens and I never ever recommend it. Full fat goats milk is fine too.
 

StefanZ

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Meyenberg powdered goats is ok, but raw is even better and may help against some intestine problems.

But you have now the powdered KMR, you can use this. May be better than the liquid.
 
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victoriahelzilla

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Meyenberg powdered goats is ok, but raw is even better and may help against some intestine problems.

But you have now the powdered KMR, you can use this. May be better than the liquid.
So I weighed them today and there is a slight gain, but they're still not pooping! I just gave them a little bit of olive oil but I'm unsure of how long that'll take to work. I also tried a warm compress on their backside and the triangle method, but it didn't work. I've called numerous vets but the clinics in this area are notorious for turning pets away even in emergency situations, so I feel like I'm on my own.

Last night I also switched to powdered KMR, and stopped using the Pedialyte.
 
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victoriahelzilla

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Yellow stool is not uncommon on formula. If it is bright yellow diarrhea they may need treatment for coccidia, which is a parasite that lives in the intestines. The cure is Albon or Panacur. Speak to the vet.

If constipation is an issue add drops of olive oil to the formula. It helps to move things along. Be careful about diluting the formula. If it’s too thin the kittens will not receive the nutrients they need and will not gain weight. Please use the powdered. The pre-mixed causes diarrhea in kittens and I never ever recommend it. Full fat goats milk is fine too.
So I weighed them today and there is a slight gain, but they're still not pooping! I just gave them a little bit of olive oil but I'm unsure of how long that'll take to work. I also tried a warm compress on their backside and the triangle method, but it didn't work. I've called numerous vets but the clinics in this area are notorious for turning pets away even in emergency situations, so I feel like I'm on my own.

Last night I also switched to powdered KMR, and stopped using the Pedialyte.
 

StefanZ

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You can dilute the powdered KMR with some pedialyte, some clean water. So they get a little extra salts. They do lose salts when having diarrhea.
So if its on the label, dilute 1:2, dilute 1:1:1.

Also, pedialyte does contain some glucose, and so, it gives they some extra calories for free.
 

Sarthur2

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Add 2-3 drops of olive oil to each feeding. It will help.
 
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