5 weeks old kitten acting strange help needed :(

johnmike29

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Hello,
Before I begin I just want to say that this was my first time buying a cat. I only have kept birds and fishes before as pet.
So, I recently bought a 5 weeks old persian kitten and the shop owner told me he is healthy and perfect. In the shop, he was running around and playing with other cats so seemed really active and I decided to buy it. After I brought it home, he ran around for a while and then went to sleep in his house (i bought a cat house before). At the feeding time told by the shop owner, I gave him boiled chicken with water as told by the shop owner, and the kitten seemed to enjoy it. But since last two days, he was really lazy and sleeping all day, whenever he wakes up just drinks water and uses the litter, then back to sleep again. Does not even eat the anything.

So seeing this, I got scared and took him to a vet, he told me that the kitten has ear mites and diarrhea because of eating chicken as it was a high protien food. So he told me to manually give the kitten two medicines for 5 days (one is for ear mites and the other is for diarrhea). The vet also told me to purchase cat food of royal canin mother & baby.

I came home and was relieved to see that kitten ate some of the cat food but again he went back to sleep. I gave him both of the medicines as told by the vet and he is sleeping since then just woke up once to use the litter.

I am really worried that he might be so sick even die :(

Please help me and tell me what to do.
 

Jean Howard

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Hi! I have a few things to say.

First, it is pretty normal for 5 week old kittens to be sleeping a lot! They sleep for about 22 hours a day, and this will lessen to about 16-20 as they grow older.

Second, Im a bit concerned about how young the owner allowed you to buy him. The recommended age to adopt is 8-14 weeks, earlier and you risk too little socialization among other things.

Lastly, it is odd to me that the owner recommended chicken. 8-12 weeks is when the mother weans the babies, and Im not sure chicken is the best choice for them. But I'm in no way an expert, so I encourage anyone to chime in on this.

Overall, I don't blame you for this happening. You trusted the owner to be a good source, and are following the vet's instructions. Keep a close eye on the kitten, and try not to blame yourself for what's happening. I wish you both good luck and good health.
 

babietilly

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Hey there!
You’ve done everything right! The reason the kitten is still so low is cause of the infection. They are experiencing lethargy. When i brought home my kitten she had a stomach infection and acted the same. She wasn’t playing, barely eating, and sleeping all the time. After the medicine dosage was over, she was back to being a normal kitten! She was playing, running around, eating normally and now she’s doing better than ever.
I would still keep an eye on your kitten though, they have been weaned much too early from their mom and siblings. The usually age a kitten is weaned is 8-10 weeks (preferably 10 weeks). They aren’t getting their mothers milk anymore, which has a lot of nutrients and antibodies. This could be the reason the kitten was sick in the first place.
But if you keep giving the medications to the kitten and provide them food, water and a place to go to the bathroom, they should get better in no time! If you notice any differences though, i suggest to take them straight back to the vet and see what’s wrong. If they don’t think anything is wrong, go to other vets. If you really believe your kitten is sick then keep pushing for an answer !
Good luck with everything and I hope the little dude gets better soon!
 
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johnmike29

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Thanks a lot guys for giving me hope :)
I guess I'll wait till medications are over and I hope he gets well, active and plays with me soon.
As recommended by babietilly, I'll probably take it back to a different vet if he doesn't get better. But let's hope it doesn't go that way :)
 

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Boiled chicken isn't complete food, you are probably looking at a combination of a little kitten and some malnutrition. Little kittens are very much run, sleep, run, sleep. So that part is fairly normal but not having a complete diet probably contributed to the problem. I don't doubt that with the food the vet recommended and medications your kitten will be good in a little bit. Kittens bounce back pretty quickly once they get what they need. I'd really recommend looking into some of the kitten behavior and kitten guides in general because young kittens can be a little handful at times.
 

Mamanyt1953

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Your kitten is going to sleep a lot for a while yet. He's VERY young, and actually should still be with mama. However, that is NOT your fault, it is the fault of the seller. My cat came to me at 5 weeks to prevent her from going to the animal shelter without her mama, so I've been where you are. IF you can get KMR where you are (Kitten Milk Replacement), add that to your kitten's diet for a few weeks. It will give him a good foundation. Raw goat's milk is a good substitute. If not, then feed (and you should do this, either way) a good quality kitten food. YOU CANNOT OVERFEED YOUR KITTEN while he is this young. Once he feels better, he will have two gears...FULL SPEED AHEAD and totally passed out asleep. He will burn calories like a mad thing. Right now, 4-5 feedings a day, cutting back gradually to two feedings a day when he is about a year old.

Medications can take 3-5 days to reach levels in the body where they actually start working, so keep that up.

Welcome to TCS, to you and your kitten! We'd love to know his name, and feel free to post any pictures you have of him! AND...don't forget, we are here for you!
 
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johnmike29

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Your kitten is going to sleep a lot for a while yet. He's VERY young, and actually should still be with mama. However, that is NOT your fault, it is the fault of the seller. My cat came to me at 5 weeks to prevent her from going to the animal shelter without her mama, so I've been where you are. IF you can get KMR where you are (Kitten Milk Replacement), add that to your kitten's diet for a few weeks. It will give him a good foundation. Raw goat's milk is a good substitute. If not, then feed (and you should do this, either way) a good quality kitten food. YOU CANNOT OVERFEED YOUR KITTEN while he is this young. Once he feels better, he will have two gears...FULL SPEED AHEAD and totally passed out asleep. He will burn calories like a mad thing. Right now, 4-5 feedings a day, cutting back gradually to two feedings a day when he is about a year old.

Medications can take 3-5 days to reach levels in the body where they actually start working, so keep that up.

Welcome to TCS, to you and your kitten! We'd love to know his name, and feel free to post any pictures you have of him! AND...don't forget, we are here for you!
Updat
Boiled chicken isn't complete food, you are probably looking at a combination of a little kitten and some malnutrition. Little kittens are very much run, sleep, run, sleep. So that part is fairly normal but not having a complete diet probably contributed to the problem. I don't doubt that with the food the vet recommended and medications your kitten will be good in a little bit. Kittens bounce back pretty quickly once they get what they need. I'd really recommend looking into some of the kitten behavior and kitten guides in general because young kittens can be a little handful at times.
Update, today the kitten is the same. Been sleeping the whole just woke up 3-4 times to use the litter and ONLY DRINK WATER. I tried to put food infront him the vet gave me, he is not interested in eating it anymore. But when I gave him the food first time, he happily ate the full amount that was told by the vet.
I really hope he gets better soon and starts running and playing around. Because sleeping all day (like a dead thingie) scares me a lot. Today, I will try to buy KMR as told by Mamanyt1953 and see if my kitten drinks that. Please pray for leo :(
 

JennCarter1207

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Well first this baby needs some actual kitten food. If you can get premium that would be best. Never ever feed a cat only chicken. They need bone and organs for calcium and vitamins along with other supplements they provide. A kitten/cat can die from only eating chicken.
Next, this baby should not be with you. This isn't your fault, but obviously a bad breeder. I breed Ragdolls and we never let a kitten go home until they are at least 12-16 weeks. This breed needs formula for at least a few more weeks. You can get KMR, but I would suggest only using it while you wait for a better brand to arrive. Kmr is known for causing constipation. Breeder's choice is a great one to get. If you go with the kmr though be sure to keep an eye on how often he is going poo and that it isn't too hard. They can still get protruding rectum if they get to constipated.
Finally, I would take the little guy to the vet asap. You should always have a wellness check done within 3 days. I am going to assume he didn't come with a warranty, but if he did most Breeder's require you have them checked by your vet upon purchasing them. I hope the kitten is okay, and once you get those few things changed he perks up. Although, at just 5 weeks most sleep quite a bit. Goodluck!
 

Mamanyt1953

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If he is not eating at all, you are going to need to help him with that. If you have a syringe (no needle), that's ideal, but you can get a medicine dropper almost anywhere baby supplies are sold. Take his canned food, mix it with water (or the KMR), and draw it up into the syringe/dropper. Place the tip between his gum and his cheek, and slowly push in a small amount. Give him time to swallow, then do another. That will keep him going until you can see the vet. He cannot go more than a very short while without eating. In adult cats, three days is the MAX, with kittens, I wouldn't wait longer than a day before feeding this way.
 

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If you have a different vet you can see, you should probably see a vet right away to be safe. Little Leo might need more supportive care to get through this. I only say a different vet because the first vet didn't give you more aggressive treatment from the beginning but if the first vet is the only one you have access to, it's better then nothing. Ask specifically about hydration, an antibiotic and B12 as options to help give Leo a boost to fight off the effects of what's wrong. Definitely get the KMR or raw goats milk and feed Leo with a syringe or dropper as much as he will take.

I am assuming you are not in a part of the world with many cat food options. But if you can get a wet kitten food, mix it with goats milk or KMR to make a slurry to feed Leo once he is eating a little better. Is Leo pottying on his own?
 
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johnmike29

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If he is not eating at all, you are going to need to help him with that. If you have a syringe (no needle), that's ideal, but you can get a medicine dropper almost anywhere baby supplies are sold. Take his canned food, mix it with water (or the KMR), and draw it up into the syringe/dropper. Place the tip between his gum and his cheek, and slowly push in a small amount. Give him time to swallow, then do another. That will keep him going until you can see the vet. He cannot go more than a very short while without eating. In adult cats, three days is the MAX, with kittens, I wouldn't wait longer than a day before feeding this way.
Update, today he ate the new cat food two times and stayed up for like half an hour. I guess the medications are working and he got a bit better. But is sleeping since then its been like 10 hours since then and in this time he just woke up once just to drink water and use the litter.
I'll wait 2 more days on the medications and see if his condition improves, if not, then I'll take him to a different vet this time.
So much thanks to all of you for being here with me & helping me through this.
This is my first experience and its going really bad :( I'm scared for my kitty that he might die :(

About the KMR, I checked it in the market today and it is a bit expensive. Atleast he got to eat the kitten food which was told by the vet, so I got a huge relief that he is not being hungry anymore. I'll wait till the medications are over, then see about the KMR food thingie.

The second thing I noticed in him is that whenever he comes near to me, he meows a lot and I don't know what to do. I try to give him food or water at that moment but he ignores it and keeps meowing until I pick him up and put him in my lap. Then he sleeps and purrs there. Is this behavior weird?
 

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If you bought the kitten from a pet store, that's not a breeder but a kitten mill broker unfortunately so all the health issues and young age makes sense as they only care about profit not the care of any of their animals. I would report that pet store to your local humane society asap. The kitten might not be purebred either and could have a ton of genetic health issues unfortunately. Kitten mills mass produce kittens and breed siblings and cats with health issues just for profit.

But I do hope your boy gets better! I would highly recommend adopting a 2nd older kitten as well once you boy is healthy and that kitten is healthy. Otherwise you can risk behavioral issues caused by single kitten syndrome. They can be more bitey and prone to separation anxiety. He is such a cutie though.
 

T.O.

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Please don’t wait to bring this kitten into a better vet. Those eyes, it looks like he is fighting a virus. Which wouldn’t be uncommon in the same conditions as getting ear mites. He needs lots of good nutrition and extra attention. At five weeks he is an absolute BABY. He is going to be relying on you for next few weeks...
 

di and bob

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Don't wait on the KMR, he needs that for the nutrition. If you can get goats milk in the milk section (Wal-Mart has it) get that instead. It is pricey but lasts a long time. Get some wet Fancy Feast kitten food or some other kitten wet food, he needs the calories to liven up. Other than that, just love him and keep him warm, cats are tough! All the luck!
 
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johnmike29

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Update as of today:
My kitten got rid of diarrhea and his poop is also brownish and solid type & his bum is not smelling either. I guess this is a good thing, but still, he isn't really active and playful. As someone said before that the cycle of kittens is Run & Sleep, Run & Sleep but this dude here wants to sleep in my lap all day or in his home. He does wake up though to use the litter, drink water and eat food.
About the KMR, I checked several shops in my area and it wasn't available and the vet didn't have it either. Currently, I am giving him the Royal Canin Mother & Babycat dry food (Mother & Babycat Dry Cat Food - Royal Canin ) You guys can check it here. I will try to get the KMR soon too!

But please tell me if his sleepiness pattern is normal? He eats twice a day, drinks water about 5-6 times, and uses litter 3-4 times.
I tried waking up him manually but he just wants to run for his bed and sleep!
 
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