Kitten not eating? Advice please!

[catheetiem]

Good morning everyone, I am sorry to be back here so soon asking for help! I adopted an 8/9 (estimated birthday 3/25/20) week old kitten from a shelter last weekend (came home Sunday 5/31) and he is now acting a little strangely. Since Saturday (6/6) he's had some issues eating and some lethargy. I'll go into some detail about his habits to give a better picture of what's going on with him.

He came home on Sunday 5/31 and was put into his "safe room", the bathroom. He is fed the same food he got at the shelter, fancy feast kitten wet food (I give him one can a day, split into 3 meals) and free access to Purina One Healthy Kitten dry food. He had no appetite problems, he would eat his wet food right down and would occasionally take a bite or two of the dry but it wasn't his favorite. He hung out in his room for two days, I would come and visit with him multiple times a day. He was on Flagyl from the shelter, I don't think he had a diagnosed problem, I think it was just standard procedure for new kittens for the shelter but I am not entirely positive. He finished the Flagyl on Wednesday 6/3. His poops have always been normal, not wet.

The day after I got him, Monday 6/1, I realized he had fleas. He went back to the shelter to be bathed (with Dawn, no flea treatment) and I cleaned out the bathroom the best I could. During this time he was pretty chill. He was happy to come on my lap and be pet, and would play around with a couple toys, but wasn't too crazy. He was pretty calm and chill.

On Tuesday 6/2 I brought him to my vet for his new-kitten checkup. Vet said everything looked good, and confirmed no worms in his poop that I brought in. He also got some antibiotic eye drops to put in his right eye, he was squinting it and it was watering. Vet said it did look irritated and gave him the drops to continue 2x a day for 5 days. Probably unrelated, he probably just knocked it or something but figured I would include it. Drops finished last night and eye has been fine for days.

Wednesday 6/3 I let him out of his room. He cautiously explored the kitchen, dining room, and living room (pretty open floor plan in our house, so this is really all just like 1 or 2 rooms that are very connected). Wednesday 6/3, Thursday 6/4, and Friday 6/5 he got more and more comfortable, and got into a little routine of eating breakfast around 7:30 (ate it right down, no issues), and then having crazy zoomies afterward. He was extremely playful and would tear around the house for a while, then chill and take a nap for a bit, then play, then nap, then have crazy zoomies after dinner around 8:00 again, and finally locked in the bathroom overnight. Eating food with no issue at all these days.

Then morning of Saturday 6/6 I noticed he had fleas again. I left him confined to the bathroom that morning so he wouldn't shed more eggs all over the house. Brought him to the vet in the late morning, his weight was 2.565 lbs, and he was given flea treatment. The vet was out of Vectra for kittens and cats under 8lbs, so they gave him a little less than half the dose of regular Vectra for Cats over 9 lbs. I brought the kitten home and locked him in the bathroom (door open, but gate in front to keep him in) while I cleaned the rest of the house. He slept most of the time, and when I opened the gate for him to come out he continued to sleep for a while. He then didn't seem interested in his dinner, but I figured he was pretty stressed out, he'd had a long day and a crazy week.

Sunday morning (yesterday) he still hadn't eaten his dinner from the night before. I thought maybe he didn't like the flavor (he has two flavors, whitefish and turkey) so I gave him the fish for breakfast. He ate it right down. Then he wasn't quite as playful as normal in the morning, he played a little but didn't have the crazy zoomies. I thought perhaps my boyfriend's presence was throwing him off a bit, usually my boyfriend leaves for work around 8 AM but on Sunday he was home all day. So the kitten only played a little sunday morning and slept for most of the morning, I was a little concerned. I was also thinking about feeding him more. He's fed a little more than the can recommends (can says give 1 can per every 3 lbs, he's 2.565 and I give him one can a day) but I feel he's a little thin. I guess he's in the range for his age, but he just looks a little thin, I can feel the top of his hip bones and his spine a bit. He was brought up from a kill shelter two weeks ago and then put into the shelter here where I got him, so I figured he just had a bit of catching up to do.

Sunday afternoon my boyfriend sat with him and gave him a lot of treats in an attempt to win his trust (many more treats than I've ever fed him, I've fed maybe 3 in one sitting, he fed him like 10). I tried to give him lunch but he was not interested. He also did not want to eat his dinner. I gave it to him and he sniffed it, didn't eat it, and did the motions of covering it up. A few minutes later he spit up, just liquid, no food. Played a little, and pooped twice in the evening, one normal and one a little wet. Late evening he played a little more like normal, jumping around, running, etc. He ate a tiny bit of his wet food.

This morning he had only eaten a little of his dinner from last night. His lunch from yesterday was still there, untouched (at this point I'm sure it's too old for him to want). I gave him breakfast this morning, he is interested in the idea of it, meows at me and runs to his bowl, but then sniffed it and walked away. I moved the plate, maybe he doesn't like the location anymore? Still not into it. I opened a new can of the fish flavor (the one I think he prefers) and he did the same thing, sniffed, covered it up, and left. After a minute or two he took a few bites of it. He didn't act crazy again, played with a ball for like two minutes, no zoomies, and then laid down with me on the couch.

So I started writing this post. I'm sorry it's so long, I just wanted to give a good idea of what he's been like, because honestly I've only had him for a week, I don't really know what's normal for him! I'm nervous that he's been a little lethargic and not quite as crazy and playful, but maybe this is just his true normal, and his crazy zoomies the first few days were the result of like nervous energy and everything being new? Maybe now he's settling in and isn't as hyper?

Now that I've typed all this out he's gone back and eaten most of the half can of fish food I gave him, hasn't touched the turkey one. He played around a little but is now sleeping on the couch again. Is the decrease in energy just him settling in? Are his issues with food just displaying a pickiness he was too overwhelmed to be concerned about before? I'm also wondering if this could be a reaction to the Vectra; most things I see online refer to skin reactions, I don't really see anything about systemic issues, but the timing makes me wonder. So I'm just wondering if you guys have any insight to what might be going on with him. It's just tough because I don't really know what his "normal" is yet!

Sorry for the hugely long post, here's some pics of the guy to hopefully make up for it!!

 

[bella.cat]

Hi. Wow, that must have taken ages to type.
So I saw a post very similar to this one this morning. It was very very similar. A young kitten, was rescued, was fine the first few days/first week, then started vomiting, not eating well, and his owner also described him with lethargic. I'll copy and paste some parts from what I wrote there and then I'll try to link the thread down below.


Loss of appetite is a key thing to watch out for....there are many things that there could be wrong...she could have a sick tummy, constipation, or she could just be getting used to her new surroundings.
What I would do is keep an eye on her while you also try to experiment with the food. Try some sauces, flakes in jelly, natural food, chunks in sauce, purees, kitten soup...
You could also try some special lactose-free kitten milk, maybe she will enjoy it. Find out what she likes and eats.
I'm sure your bowl is clean but sometimes by cats/kittens wont eat if the bowl smells a bit from the previous meal or there is leftover food from the previous meal. )
if she starts eating better you could slowly try to introduce/mix in dry food, but don't limit her to wet food too much until she is much better, stronger and older.
Also maybe try to play with her a bit more to stimulate her playing skills and buy her some self play toys.
Make sure to constantly keep an eye out for her and id she even gets the tiny bit worse take her to the vet again, tell them the symptoms and how she has been acting. If she does not get better after a while, also take her to the vet. She may or may not have something wrong with her.

This is the thread: 7 week old kitten is challenging

Some other people have also posted some things that may help on there.

I also later on said:

This may sound weird, and many may not agree with me, but i would try to get some cooked meat (eg. a bit of cooked beef) tear/blend it into lots of small pieces and try offering her a little bit - just a little bit. Don't feed her raw meats until she is at least 20 weeks of age, as her immunity system is not strong enough yet.
I also highly recommend trying out some lactose free milk as it is highly nutritional and yummy. She may be too old for this, but you can buy 'mother cat milk mix' this is normally used for kittens whose mother doesn't feed them or doesn't produce enough milk, and she is probably too old now,(you could still try though) but that would have really boosted her energy when she was younger.

However later on someone said that the special lactose free milk wasn't the best option, maybe they are right, but I often use it for my kittens and they enjoy it.

I would say just basically try to tempt her with yummy food (cat food, wet, dry, and some cooked meat) but make sure that its nutritional, and maybe not too many treats.

I would also suggest taking her to a checkup to a vet and explaining whats going on. To be honest I am not sure if it has anything to do with the flea treatment.....maybe the vet knows.

I hope this helps.

 

[catheetiem]

Hi. Wow, that must have taken ages to type.
So I saw a post very similar to this one this morning. It was very very similar. A young kitten, was rescued, was fine the first few days/first week, then started vomiting, not eating well, and his owner also described him with lethargic. I'll copy and paste some parts from what I wrote there and then I'll try to link the thread down below.


Loss of appetite is a key thing to watch out for....there are many things that there could be wrong...she could have a sick tummy, constipation, or she could just be getting used to her new surroundings.
What I would do is keep an eye on her while you also try to experiment with the food. Try some sauces, flakes in jelly, natural food, chunks in sauce, purees, kitten soup...
You could also try some special lactose-free kitten milk, maybe she will enjoy it. Find out what she likes and eats.
I'm sure your bowl is clean but sometimes by cats/kittens wont eat if the bowl smells a bit from the previous meal or there is leftover food from the previous meal. )
if she starts eating better you could slowly try to introduce/mix in dry food, but don't limit her to wet food too much until she is much better, stronger and older.
Also maybe try to play with her a bit more to stimulate her playing skills and buy her some self play toys.
Make sure to constantly keep an eye out for her and id she even gets the tiny bit worse take her to the vet again, tell them the symptoms and how she has been acting. If she does not get better after a while, also take her to the vet. She may or may not have something wrong with her.

This is the thread: 7 week old kitten is challenging

Some other people have also posted some things that may help on there.

I also later on said:

This may sound weird, and many may not agree with me, but i would try to get some cooked meat (eg. a bit of cooked beef) tear/blend it into lots of small pieces and try offering her a little bit - just a little bit. Don't feed her raw meats until she is at least 20 weeks of age, as her immunity system is not strong enough yet.
I also highly recommend trying out some lactose free milk as it is highly nutritional and yummy. She may be too old for this, but you can buy 'mother cat milk mix' this is normally used for kittens whose mother doesn't feed them or doesn't produce enough milk, and she is probably too old now,(you could still try though) but that would have really boosted her energy when she was younger.

However later on someone said that the special lactose free milk wasn't the best option, maybe they are right, but I often use it for my kittens and they enjoy it.

I would say just basically try to tempt her with yummy food (cat food, wet, dry, and some cooked meat) but make sure that its nutritional, and maybe not too many treats.

I would also suggest taking her to a checkup to a vet and explaining whats going on. To be honest I am not sure if it has anything to do with the flea treatment.....maybe the vet knows.

I hope this helps.

Hahaha not too long, my years as a history major have made it very easy to be more than a little verbose!
Thank you for linking that thread, I'll keep an eye on it and see what's recommended/what works!

I'll get him some of the kitten milk, he could definitely use the calories. I'll cook up some chicken and see if he likes that too. He seems interested in the food I give him, but then disappointed once he sniffs it. I'd like to try some different kitten food, he clearly has a preference for one flavor over the other so maybe there's something else out there that he'd prefer, but I'm nervous about switching up his food and just making him feel worse.

He just used the box a few minutes ago and he had some serious diarrhea. Mostly liquid and the tiniest little bit of solid in it. And it was very light in color, like a light brown; usually it's dark brown. I think this is likely the treats from yesterday afternoon working their way out, it's actually very similar in color to the treats he was eating! He had a couple bites of food after using the box, had a little burst of energy, and has now retired to the couch again. I'll keep an eye for the next time he uses the box, hopefully it's out of his system but if it keeps up I'll be calling the vet!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I think you just need to keep an eye on him, but did want to mention that a possible side effect of Vectra is diarrhea. Vomiting can be too, but perhaps his is more just some stomach upset - that is, along with the overdose of treats!

 

[bella.cat]

Hi.
Another yummy treat that shouldn't upset his stomach is cat sauce - it smells amazing!
Just make sure not to give too much and check that it's okay for kittens...

 

[catheetiem]

Hi. I think you just need to keep an eye on him, but did want to mention that a possible side effect of Vectra is diarrhea. Vomiting can be too, but perhaps his is more just some stomach upset - that is, along with the overdose of treats!

Oh, is that right?? Do you have any idea of how long it would take to see the side effects? I have no idea how that would work with a topical flea treatment!

And haha yeah, could be, who knows! Watching for his next trip to the litterbox! He just got up to eat some more food, very happy to see that!! Thank you for the information!!

 

[catheetiem]

Hi.
Another yummy treat that shouldn't upset his stomach is cat sauce - it smells amazing!
Just make sure not to give too much and check that it's okay for kittens...

Oooh thank you, I'll keep an eye out at the store!!

 

[FeebysOwner]

Oh, is that right?? Do you have any idea of how long it would take to see the side effects? I have no idea how that would work with a topical flea treatment!

I am not sure, but I would think it wouldn't last too long. It is supposed to start killing fleas within 6 hours, however, it might take a bit longer than that if there were to be any side effects.

What many people don't know about topicals is that some of them do enter the bloodstream - and, Vectra is one of them. So, knowing that, it might make better sense to you with regard to it possibly affecting a cat's digestive system.

Since there has been no vomiting, there is a good chance the diarrhea is the result of the treats and should slow down as the treats get out of his system. Let's hope his next poop is a better one!!

 

[catheetiem]

I am not sure, but I would think it wouldn't last too long. It is supposed to start killing fleas within 6 hours, however, it might take a bit longer than that if there were to be any side effects.

What many people don't know about topicals is that some of them do enter the bloodstream - and, Vectra is one of them. So, knowing that, it might make better sense to you with regard to it possibly affecting a cat's digestive system.

Since there has been no vomiting, there is a good chance the diarrhea is the result of the treats and should slow down as the treats get out of his system. Let's hope his next poop is a better one!!

I see, thank you! I know initially they were trying to give him Catego, but they were out. I might ask if we could try something different next month.

He did vomit last night in the early evening, but it was just spit up, no food; he hasn't vomited today. I ran out this afternoon and came back to find he pooped, more diarrhea . It might have been slightly more solid than this morning, it's tough to tell, this time he covered it up, last time he just left it exposed. I made myself lunch and he was very interested in my food, kept trying to sniff it and kept meowing at me and rubbing up on me. I opened up a new can of food for him, and he walked away from it .A few minutes later I put him right in front of it and finally he ate most of it.

Later on he ate a bit more, so fingers crossed his appetite is coming back! Still a little lethargic, shorter than usual bursts of play and lots of sleeping. Watching for his next poop, fingers crossed!

 

[FeebysOwner]

 

[jefferd18]

The only thing that I feel you need to watch here is his diarrhea. If if is persistent it can dehydrate his body.

Other than that, I think he is acting like a normal kitten. I am sure he got little sleep from the shelter, during his first few days at his new home, and, not to mention, having fleas that kept him awake. He is just now catching up. He may well be a finicky kitten when it comes to food or even a kitten who prefers playing to eating. He won't starve himself.

 

[catheetiem]

Well I guess I'll update, things are mostly better but I do have some concerns left!

He is overall much, much, better. His appetite has improved dramatically, he ate I think 2 cans of his food yesterday, and even went for a little of his dry food overnight. His energy level is much better too! And diarrhea is gone!!!!

My only issue is the actual color of his poops; they're very light brown, almost clay-colored. Like they almost match his litter, but they're slightly browner and warmer toned. I am worried about possible gallbladder issues or something like that due to the light color, but he would likely be displaying other symptoms, right?
I am trying to remember what color they were before this all started, I thought they were darker but honestly they were well formed so I was happy and didn't pay that much attention to color!
He eats Fancy Feast kitten wet food, Purina One Healthy Kitten dry food that he doesn't really touch, and gets some True Chews Alaska Pollock Recipe treats and Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken and Turkey Recipe treats. His litter is non-clumping clay litter, the ingredients are listed as "clay" and baking soda. I don't think he really eats it, maybe just gets a little if he cleans out his feet.

 

[stephanietx]

If he has/had fleas, he needs to be treated for tapeworms. They go hand in hand. Also, not eating and lethargy are signs of upper respiratory infection which can set in about 7-14 days after a kitty comes to a new home and it's usually stress-induced.

 

[catheetiem]

If he has/had fleas, he needs to be treated for tapeworms. They go hand in hand. Also, not eating and lethargy are signs of upper respiratory infection which can set in about 7-14 days after a kitty comes to a new home and it's usually stress-induced.

Would a typical dewormer be effective against tapeworms? He was just given it recently. And would tapeworm show up on a typical stool check? The vet gave his poop the all clear after the first bout with fleas.

His appetite and energy levels are back to normal yesterday and today, thank god!

 

[FeebysOwner]

A broad spectrum wormer, like Drontal, will kill tapeworms. Look up what wormer he was given and it should tell you. The one and only time Feeby had tapeworms, I saw them in her poop - but she got them from a mosquito bite. And, yes a check of his stool by a vet would most certainly confirm or rule out tapeworms. Knock on wood, but we have been battling fleas for months now, and as far as I can tell she does not have tapeworms. (But, just to be safe I am going to look a little more closely!)

 

[catheetiem]

A broad spectrum wormer, like Drontal, will kill tapeworms. Look up what wormer he was given and it should tell you. The one and only time Feeby had tapeworms, I saw them in her poop - but she got them from a mosquito bite. And, yes a check of his stool by a vet would most certainly confirm or rule out tapeworms. Knock on wood, but we have been battling fleas for months now, and as far as I can tell she does not have tapeworms. (But, just to be safe I am going to look a little more closely!)

Hmmm, I don't think tapeworms were covered, it's listed as "Pyrantel" on his paperwork and a quick search looks like it's effective against hookworms and roundworms, not tapeworms. I'm not terribly concerned though, his stool check was clear at the vet on 6/2, after he had had fleas. The fleas did come back, but he was by no means infested-I found one flea on him and he had the flea treatment maybe three hours later. I guess all it takes it one, but I haven't seen anything in his poop; I'll bring it up at his next appointment in a couple weeks though.

Oh my, from a mosquito?? I had no idea they could get tapeworms that way! Poor girl!!