Kitten Ruby

[Goldehwolfeh]

Alright so, I started to notice the chub on the runt start to shrink, I pet her this morning and she seems to be skinnier. She still seems healthy and they are old enough for flea baths, it shouldn't be the fleas but I also notice she will only drink milk from her mother when her 3 chubbier siblings aren't around or feeding.

I was wondering if it is time for some KMR or time to check her for flea Armenia. I have checked her before and she seemed just fine. But with this decline, I am afraid to loose her.

What would be the best? She is almost old enough for flea meds. She will be 2 months old September 22nd and she is almost 8 weeks. (Some medications require kittens to be 8 weeks).

I will try to answer all questions the best I can. She also eats just fine and keeps eating dry food with her mom. (She's picky). What could be the cause of her skinniness? (Her father is naturally skinny but I've been fattening him up since food is always available)

 

[Goldehwolfeh]

This is the kitten I am talking about. This photo isn't recent but it's hard to get a good photo of her now as she is hyper, her name is spazz

 

[mokapi]

Can you feed her wet food?

You can certainly bathe her in original Dawn dish soap now; there's also a brand of natural flea shampoo called Charlie Dog that's safe for puppies and kittens.

When was her last vet visit? Has she been checked for parasites?

 

[Goldehwolfeh]

I will be making an call for the mom and kittens. Ive been introducing wet food. I'm working on that.

I bathe all the cats in dawn dishsoap until my paycheck becomes big enough for a whole vet visit and medication. I will be bathing them again tonight.

But I am still however, confused about how she is suddenly becoming skinnier while her brothers are still chunky. It's starting to worry me more than ever. But I am suspecting worms.... since fleas can give those. At least that's why my primary vet told me

 

[mokapi]

I will be making an call for the mom and kittens. Ive been introducing wet food. I'm working on that.

I bathe all the cats in dawn dishsoap until my paycheck becomes big enough for a whole vet visit and medication. I will be bathing them again tonight.

But I am still however, confused about how she is suddenly becoming skinnier while her brothers are still chunky. It's starting to worry me more than ever. But I am suspecting worms.... since fleas can give those. At least that's why my primary vet told me

Fleas can cause a kitten to become anemic very quickly. There's also "failing to thrive", or "fading kitten syndrome". It could be FIP. Honestly, it could be anything...only a vet will be able to diagnose.

If she's not eating enough dry food to sustain her, start making sure she eats very frequently 4-6 times a day, and make sure it's grain free wet food. Give her goat's milk or kefir.

 

[danteshuman]

Can you feed her separately from her siblings? How soon can you take her to the vet? If she gets worse/lethargic please take her to the vet that day.

 

[Sarthur2]

The kittens need to be eating dry kitten chow and wet food every single day, in addition to nursing mom. They are plenty big enough to be eating solids now.

Please make sure this kitten and all of them are eating solids daily.

The kittens are also big enough for Advantage II flea medicine on the backs of their necks. This can be used starting at 5 weeks old.

It also sounds like you may have a flea infestation in your home. Buy a can of house flea spray at Walmart and spray your house. It will go a long way towards controlling the fleas.

Worming the kittens is important. Pyrantel and praziquantel are generally used.

 

[Goldehwolfeh]

mokapi I know what fleas can do and they have had the fleas since they were 2 weeks. I've been taking vet orders with that until they can be at least Medicated with Advantage or whatever the vet has to offer. I will get the right tests for the FIP. Where could I get kefir? (I was mostly thinking KMR with kitten chow and wet food.. Maybe either or for the food to see if her eating was the problem. Her brothers are pigs when it comes to eating time). Kefir is a mass produced product, and I am unsure of what could happen if I do use Kefir.

danteshuman I can feed her separately from her siblings when needed. My vet is by appointment, taking her to a vet will be based on her availability. But we do have an emergency vet office (Way out of town where I live) that is at a university.

Sarthur2 You have been a lot of help on my past topics. We do have a flea infestation and everything we have gotten from walmart even flea bombs don't work well. We constantly clean our house and we have pulled up carpets in my living room to help. It did help, but with the furniture we need to constantly spray it (With safe spray).

The products we have tried was
*All Natural Pet spray (including the carpet/floor powder)
*Hot shot Bedbug, Flea, etc spray
*Flea bombs (at first it was Hotshot's but it failed and made them angry)

We only had a certain kind of flea bomb work for our basement, I don't remember it's name. I was told that Advantage II was for kittens 8 weeks of age and of 9Ibs. Even when I looked to buy it, it said 8 weeks. It could be labeled wrong as well for all I know.

The kittens will be dewormed either way (before they get adopted preferably). I do not just let animals sit around and deal with possibilities of getting something that they were not vaccinated for.

QUICK UPDATE:
Spazz plays around, eats solids, and everything else just fine. She finds the time to eat when her brothers are fighting or sleeping. she even suckles on mom when that occurs too. She is hyperactive and I checked her gums and everything for signs of flea anemia. They will be getting their flea bath tonight (including their parents). Spazz has become a spazz, she's just skinny. If anyone has advice based on this update, please let me know.

 

[mokapi]

Wasn't trying to be patronizing with the anemic/flea info, if it came across that way. These posts come up quite often and I personally tend to lay out as much info as possible...always better to assume someone doesn't know, than to assume they do and fail to provide good info. I'm glad to hear you're already knowledgeable about flea and worm treatment.

Unflavored, unsweetened kefir. Kefir has something like 99% of the lactose removed, so it shouldn't cause too many problems. Both kefir and goat's milk are readily digestible, with lots of probiotics, and are pretty cheap. KMR here is quite expensive (30$ for a can).

Like what sarthur said- just make sure all the kittens are eating dry, wet, and nursing. Hopefully she just needs to be eating more, and it isn't a bigger problem than that.

 

[Goldehwolfeh]

mokapi I didn't mean to be rude when I responded back. I will look around and see what my stores have to offer for Kefir at least~

 

[Sarthur2]

Goldehwolfeh

Are you feeding wet and dry food to the kittens?

They don't need any other food but that and mom's milk.

Advantage II for Kittens is for kittens 5 weeks and up.

Adams makes a household flea spray that will kill the fleas. It's strong but works. Just take the cats out of the room when you spray.