Very tiny kitten

[catwoman707]

That is exactly right, kittens this young age have just learned they have some amt of control, but are unable to actually hold it more than a few seconds at most since it is still developing.

Too large of a space is overwhelming anyway. To get a faithful litter box user, I always advise people to contain in a very small space so that the box is literally never more than a couple/few feet away.

Low sides too.

 

[howmany]

I helped my cat raise a litter this year and I have to agree with above we didn't let them out of the one room and had two boxes one extra low enterance I cut away. But we still got some corner use at 6 weeks. They were about 12 weeks when they could be in the whole house.

 

[Primula]

It was a contender! So was Theon, since he's getting neutered, but we thought that was a bit cruel : P

God no, that guy just can't catch a break. Him & Sansa both.

add another box in the kitchen? .

Who knew a kitten could be so much work! Add another box. Rule of thumb is one box per cat + one to spare. Some cats, e.g., do not like to poop & pee in the same place. As noted above, Kit gets excited & over-stimulated & forgets to pee in his box.

 

[basketoftigers]

Thanks for all the information!

The good news is he tested negative for FIV and FeLV on the ELISA test! He's still gaining weight everyday and is a ball of energy, and he's gotten better with litter box usage as we made his living area smaller and gradually made it larger again. 

He has vomited 3 times in the past week. Once Wednesday and Sunday night, and once last night about an hour ago. In all cases it was ~2 hours after he ate, and it was just brownish liquid with nothing else of note. I was looking up causes for this online and in my search I saw that Strongid (the dewormer the vet gave him after his diagnosis with tapeworms) doesn't actually treat tapeworms. Is this true? He has certainly gotten better after his first dose of it, as in he doesn't have diarrhea any longer, though we do still find live worms in his poop. He just received the second dose yesterday, but now I just wonder if he should have been given something else.

Does Strongid really do nothing against tapeworms? What should I request in its place? If Strongid is ineffective, why did his stool improve? Could the fact that he still has tapeworms be the cause of his occasional vomiting, even though I don't find any worms in his vomit? 

He does eat rather fast and I do worry that sometimes I overfeed him, but I would think he would be throwing up food in that case. 

 

[Willowy]

Usually little kittens don't have tapeworms, or at least can't be diagnosed with them, because it takes a long time for tapeworms to mature :dk: (about a month from swallowing the flea to the tapeworm shedding segments). Anyway, no, Strongid doesn't kill tapeworms. You need praziquantel for that. But praziquantel is harsh and shouldn't be given to kittens under 2 pounds. Strongid kills hookworms and roundworms, and hookworms especially are very dangerous for small kittens. You also wouldn't see tapeworms coming out in his poop, so my guess is that he had hookworms and that's what you're seeing. He should feel a lot better after getting those nasties out!

 

[Primula]

Usually little kittens don't have tapeworms, or at least can't be diagnosed with them, because it takes a long time for tapeworms to mature :dk: (about a month from swallowing the flea to the tapeworm shedding segments). Anyway, no, Strongid doesn't kill tapeworms. You need praziquantel for that. But praziquantel is harsh and shouldn't be given to kittens under 2 pounds. Strongid kills hookworms and roundworms, and hookworms especially are very dangerous for small kittens. You also wouldn't see tapeworms coming out in his poop, so my guess is that he had hookworms and that's what you're seeing. He should feel a lot better after getting those nasties out!

Excellent advice.

 

[basketoftigers]

We talked with the vet yesterday and it turns out that on the Strongid bottle it says that tapeworms can be killed by doubling the dosage -- they never told us about this or that they were doubling the dose, which is really frustrating, but I guess it's good to know they didn't make a mistake.

I'm just as confused about the tapeworms, but the vet is adamant that he had them and that he tested positive for nothing else. : / I guess maybe this is evidence in support of his listed age? I don't know. All this makes me wish I had went to school for veterinary science. I hate feeling so misinformed and helpless.

In any case, I guess right now we're supposed to wait and see, and then once he puts on enough weight if he needs praziquentel we can do that. Thanks for the input guys!

Here's a picture of him today:

Screen Shot 2016-11-09 at 3.07.06 PM.png

• basketoftigers
• Nov 9, 2016

 

[Willowy]

Awww, he's so cute! Such a sweet face.

Hmm, I googled that and found that using a double dose of Strongid is indeed used to kill tapeworms in horses. I couldn't find anything about it working it in cats, or if cat tapeworms are the same as horse tapeworms. I need to do more research! But, yeah, your plan for now sounds great, just give him some time to grow .