Advice on emaciated cat

[juliek1975]

In addition to my 5 resident cats I also foster kittens. It's not usually a big deal, but I got a call from a friend today about this kitten they'd found, but couldn't keep. When they brought her too me she is extremely emaciated,u can feel every bone. I bathed her and the water was pinkish brown from all the flea dirt. She had diarrhea really bad. I gave her formula and she drank a little then had to go to the bathroom right away. I plan to keep her isolated in my bed room until I can be sure that she doesn't have a disease she could pass on to my other cats and other fosters. Any tips or advice? I plan to call the vet Tuesday and get her checked out, but it would devastate me if I brought a cat in here and it made my other cats sick. She's also severely dehydrated. I was scruffing her to bath her and the skin stayed in that posirion until I pretty much smoothed it doen.

 

[Sarthur2]

juliek1975

You need to get small amounts of formula into her every 1-2 hours. Mix the formula with clear pedialyte, and you can add a drop of honey for energy, and even smear it on her gums before feeding.

Give pedialyte in between feedings using a syringe if necessary. The kitten needs to get hydrated, especially with the diarrhea.

How old is the kitten? How much does it weigh?

Do you have antibiotics on hand as a foster? If so, starting them may help with the diarrhea. The kitten will need worming also.

Thank you for caring for her!

 

[juliek1975]

Thanks for the advice, I'm guessing her to be about 12-14 weeks old. I haven't gotten her weighed yet, but she is literally skin on bones. I feel do bad for her and she's just a super love bug despite how sick she clearly is.oh and thanks for the antibiotics tip. I do happen to have some on hand.

 

[Sarthur2]

juliek1975

Great! Since she's emaciated, she's starved, which means she may have eaten garbage, so she may have a parasite or bacterial infection. The antibiotic will help with this.

Now that I know her age, you can give her Gerber chicken or turkey baby food. A little pricey, but it's high protein, smells good, and is easy to eat and digest. She will probably find it appealing.

You can also get a tube of high-calorie Nutrical, and give her some of that.

Bless her little heart! She must be so relieved to be in a loving, safe place now.

Please keep me posted!

 

[StefanZ]

In addition to my 5 resident cats I also foster kittens. It's not usually a big deal, but I got a call from a friend today about this kitten they'd found, but couldn't keep. When they brought her too me she is extremely emaciated,u can feel every bone. I bathed her and the water was pinkish brown from all the flea dirt. She had diarrhea really bad. I gave her formula and she drank a little then had to go to the bathroom right away. I plan to keep her isolated in my bed room until I can be sure that she doesn't have a disease she could pass on to my other cats and other fosters. Any tips or advice? I plan to call the vet Tuesday and get her checked out, but it would devastate me if I brought a cat in here and it made my other cats sick. She's also severely dehydrated. I was scruffing her to bath her and the skin stayed in that posirion until I pretty much smoothed it doen.

I agree on pedialyte as fluids, lotsa of it, as long as she has diarrheas and is dehydrated.  Bought or homemade with glucose and mineral salts.

Small portions but often.

If you can get goats milk, preferably raw - fresh or frozen, it may be an advantage. But good kmr should be oK too.

Some good probiotic helps too to stabilize her systems.  Nutrical as mentioned, not too much at once.

Keep her warm and cozy,  the sick are always freezing, so even a heat pad if necessary.    Brush her with a toothbrush - gives nice massage and feels alike mommas licking.   Talk a lot friendly and make friendly noises.

Use fleece, feels comfy almost as mommas fur.

Good you keep quarantine - its a necessity, even if your others too have background as homeless (and thus have immunity above average).