Hi, all!
My son found a singleton kitten in a stairwell at school, so I'm fostering again after 20-odd years.
The kitten appears to be 7-10 days old. No umbilical, eyes were closed the day I picked him up, but opened within the first two days we had him. We had the vet check him out, and she says he's in great shape and weighs .345 lbs, or about 5.5 oz.
He's on KMR in the can, but we'll switch to the powder tomorrow. He eats half a tablespoon to a full tablespoon at each feeding, going by the markings on the bottle (it's possible those are oz, but the markings have rubbed off). The vet suggested thinning the formula by about 10-20% at first to prevent constipation as the kitten adjusts to the KMR.
The kitten is active and energetic (and loud!) when awake. He sleeps anywhere from 2-6 hours at a stretch. Normally, I would let a robust baby sleep until he wakes, but since I don't know how well fed this one was before we found him, I wake him for a feeding around the 6 hour mark if he sleeps that long.
I don't have a scale yet, but he is visibly bigger and stronger in the 2.5 days we've had him. He's bright-eyed, he purrs after a feeding, and today we saw a teensy bit of grooming behavior where he licked some of his fur.
We've made him a nesting box in a large cat carrier with the usual assortment of towels, small stuffies to snuggle and a hot water bottle rolled in a towel at one end. We have one of those faux mama kitties to put in with him, but she doesn't look very washable, so tonight I only gave him the heartbeat piece.
Here are my questions:
Dia
My son found a singleton kitten in a stairwell at school, so I'm fostering again after 20-odd years.
The kitten appears to be 7-10 days old. No umbilical, eyes were closed the day I picked him up, but opened within the first two days we had him. We had the vet check him out, and she says he's in great shape and weighs .345 lbs, or about 5.5 oz.
He's on KMR in the can, but we'll switch to the powder tomorrow. He eats half a tablespoon to a full tablespoon at each feeding, going by the markings on the bottle (it's possible those are oz, but the markings have rubbed off). The vet suggested thinning the formula by about 10-20% at first to prevent constipation as the kitten adjusts to the KMR.
The kitten is active and energetic (and loud!) when awake. He sleeps anywhere from 2-6 hours at a stretch. Normally, I would let a robust baby sleep until he wakes, but since I don't know how well fed this one was before we found him, I wake him for a feeding around the 6 hour mark if he sleeps that long.
I don't have a scale yet, but he is visibly bigger and stronger in the 2.5 days we've had him. He's bright-eyed, he purrs after a feeding, and today we saw a teensy bit of grooming behavior where he licked some of his fur.
We've made him a nesting box in a large cat carrier with the usual assortment of towels, small stuffies to snuggle and a hot water bottle rolled in a towel at one end. We have one of those faux mama kitties to put in with him, but she doesn't look very washable, so tonight I only gave him the heartbeat piece.
Here are my questions:
- Poop - his stools started out yellowish-brown (burnt sienna, for the painters among you), tubular and pretty soft, almost like gel toothpaste. They've become looser and gloppier, so I could use some guidance on when it's considered diarrhea and when to head back to the vet. I've forgotten what normal one-week kitten poo looks like.
The loose stool could certainly be from the change to the KMR, or it could be something like coccidia / parasites. I will give the KMR full strength at the next feeding and see what that does. It's not so loose that he soils his bedding, btw.
- Body temp - this one is hard to tell, but I think the kitten feels warmer against my hands over the last two feedings. Not hot, just warmer by maybe a degree or two. No change in behavior, still energetic and eating well. I can't tell if *I'm* warmer because we've closed the windows (I like a cold house, but it's not so great for babies), or if the kitten was maybe a little cold when we got him after being found outdoors on cement in 50 degree weather. He doesn't *act* feverish...
- Anyone want to weigh on on whether or to keep waking him if he sleeps for more than 6 hours?
Dia
