Rescued Blind Kitten - she's not eating

[jenhnidy]

My friend just rescued a blind kitten from outside recently in TN. First thing she did was take the kitten to the vet where it was vaccinated, dewormed and friend was told the kitten was blind and undernourished.

My friend bottle fed the kitten and the kitten was doing well with litter box training and started eating some solid food.

Now the kitten has taken a turn for the worse. She was not eating and was starving so my friend gave her turkey lunchmeat. The sodium made her constipated. So my friend took the kitten back to the vet. They dewormed her again. She did not say that they did any further testing. Vet said she acted feral when they restrained her. Now my friend can not hold the kitten at all. Kitten still will not eat even with a variety of choices of food. She will not take the formula either.

The vet is not helping they gave her kitty laxatives for the cat's constipation but my friend does not want this kitten to die of starvation. She has given her some turkey again just to make sure the kitten eats. The kitten runs from bowl to bowl wanting food but not touching any of it.

My friend is certainly concerned. Any suggestions?

 

[farleyv]

How old is the kitten?

First, I would get a second opinion quickly. A kitten that is not eating or drinking is going to go down hill pretty darn quick.

In my opinion, a scared cat will act feral if it is restrained and afraid and blind!

What I would do is start syringe feeding. There is all kind of information if you go on the pregnant cats and kittens thread. They are well versed in kitten care and rehab.

But please tell her to get a second opinion today if she can. This little one needs all the help it can get before it is too late. Your friend is an

to have taken on this poor baby. for the kitten to recover quickly.

 

[jenhnidy]

Hello my name is Tiffany. Her name is Daisy. I found her on Oct 20th. The vet guessed her age at 4-6 wks then. I was syringe feeding her formula (with colostrum) and prescriptives A/D food. Alternating every 6 hours. I was bringing her into work with me. When that no longer became an option I started to leave her in the bathroom with some wet hard kitten food, fresh water and some wet food. She would eat some but more often that not i would have to syringe feed her when I got home from work. My cousin offerred her shredded food (the cheap kind) but she acted like she had never been fed before and ate it up. So I took some of that food home with me. She wouldn't touch it. I had also bought the 2nd step KLM formula to help me ween her from the formula. That's when I started having these problems with her not wanting to touch the wet food. She continued to eat the formula. I would leave her with food and would come home from work and it wasn't touched so I knew she wasn't eating anything. So I gave her formula just to get some nourishment in her. I wanted to get her some solid food. I tried tuna (kinda liked that) then the turkey lunchmeat. Which she loved. But the problem with that is that she became dehydrated because of the sodium content. I took her to the vet....they gave me a laxative to help her defacate. But she's still not eating anything else. And last night after bringing her home from the Vet she won't let me hold her on my lap in the towel to syringe feed her. I know I can't give her the turkey and that it's not good for her, but I'm at a loss as to what to do. She still runs and bounces around. She's been very aggressive (was a feral outside baby) because she's hungry. I leave food out for her. Change it often with fresh. Make sure it's room temperature before I put it out. Sometimes i've even tried mixing it with the formula to entice her to eat it, now nothing will work. All she wants is the turkey. Did I just make her into a picky cat now? I thought kittens would eat whatever is put out if they are starving. When I put food out last night when I got her home from the vet (she hadn't eaten all day there) so I know she was hungry.
She was treated for worms the first visit and her eye infection. She isn't all the way blind and is a bit lame (it's ok makes her silly).
I took her back. They gave her sub-cutaneous fluid injections, treated her for the worms again and she had a huge bowel movement. They gave me the laxative to give to her once a day. They gave her felv vac.
I just don't know what else to do. I know how to handle the aggressive behaviour and biting, but her not eating. I don't know any tricks. Any advice/help would be great.

Thanks
Tiffany J

 

[ldg]

I'm going to PM someone who may be able to help here.

In the meantime, what about boiling some chicken (with nothing) and offering her some shredded chicken with a little boiled chicken water? Or if they sell a turkey breast, since she seems to like turkey, maybe try boiling that? Or mashed chicken livers?

The problem with being blind is smell, and I know smell is a huge part of how cats eat... and I think (but don't know) they "learn" what food is from mom as kittens - and this blind little kitty needs to "learn" what food is from you at this point.

 

[jenhnidy]

This is Tiffany (the mom) I tried raw chicken last night. she didn't want that. I cooked it. She ate a couple pieces of it.
She's not completely blind, she just doesn't see well. I bought a laser pointer to test her. No smell or sound to follow and she chases it if it's right in front of her. I will try the chicken livers and regular turkey. I have an 11 yr old kitty. I've put her next to him when he's eating (even though he's not thrilled about that idea), so she can see what she's supposed to do. She did eat soft food, from a bowl, before i gave her the KLM 2nd step. Just not all that well. That's why I was still giving her the formula still. She's not the sharpest tack. Is it possible that she's so malnourished/developmentally slow that she just won't figure it out?

 

[ldg]

In answer to your last question, I doubt that very much. It's finding the right smell and the right texture at first, I think. Maybe try mixing some of the KMR into some wet food. She really should be eating on her own by now, so you really may want to get a 2nd vet opinion on her health.

 

[stephanietx]

You can also try to wet down dry food to encourage her to eat. Also, whatever you were syringe feeding her you can try to feed her that, just don't water it down as much. Also, try sitting with her while she eats. You can also try adding some tuna juice (from the canned tuna) and warm up the canned food a bit. Warming it up helps enhance the aroma and that might help her want to eat more. You can also add a dab of plain pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) to the food combination to help with constipation, maybe 1/2 teaspoon or so a day. Kitties sometimes like the taste of pumpkin so that will help entice her to eat.

I would also recommend a second opinion, especially since s/he doesn't seem to be very helpful.

 

[ldg]

When "teaching" a kitten that was going from weaning to eating on its own, we'd use our fingers and dab it on kitties lips with kitty at the bowl. Maybe try that too, if you haven't.

 

[jenhnidy]

Hello all,
Thank you so much for your msgs, I found something she likes, Sheba!!! I think the mother may have been feeding her raw meat already She doesn't care for patte. She started eating that, but after I gave her the turkey she wouldn't touch it anymore. She was eating that and taking formula. I think the constipation was keeping her appetite down. I have a kitty laxative and i'm giving her water twice a day. (per vet) Thank you for all your help. I think she may have just been terrified from her visit to the Vet. Thanks for all the advice and i'll keep you posted with her progress.
Thanks
Tiffany

 

[addiebee]

Glad the lil baby is doing better!!! YOu are an

to take her in.

 

[ldg]

Oh that's fantastic!

 

[stephanietx]

Fantastic news! Glad she's starting to eat again.

 

[jenhnidy]

This is Tiffany, Update: The little kitten only got to be 2 lbs or so. She's the size of a 12-14 wk old kitten. She eats but only cooked pork. I think she has some conjenital form of drawfism or is little because of the malnourishment. She's happy and rotten (big cat still doesn't like her). Thanks to everyone for all the advice.

 

[python]

Awww. You are an

for giving this little one a chance

I was wondering if perhaps she had/has a URI going on which would affect her sense of smell. Most cats who can't smell their food won't eat it.

Do you know if her blindness was caused by cat flu or the mum cat not encouraging the eyes to open? If it was cat flu, that could explain why she wasn't eating - her little nose could have been blocked up.

I really hope you can turn this little one round.

If she's undersized (i.e. dwarfism) it could be she comes from a very small feral colony and is very closely inbred. I have seen this before. Beware if it's dwarfism as brittle bones often go with that too

Sending healing to her