Abandoned kitten....update...new pics on page 8

[Katy]

Quote:
like many things with animals, your mileage may vary. i was once given a rescued kitten that had been found by good samaritans -- they gave it cow milk for one night before they brought it in, and the kitten very nearly died from the dehydration that the resulting diarrhea caused. it took weeks to really recover, with constant monitoring. some can handle it, some can't. kittens are sooo fragile anyway, why take the risk when you can get KMR, processed to be digested easily. also, the main issue with cow milk anyway is that it's not nutritious enough for a kitten - so even if they're able to digest it, they will slowly starve if given nothing else. a kitten formula made with milk can be okay, but cow milk by itself is NOT, and cow milk by itself is exactly what most well-meaning people with no knowledge end up feeding kittens, doing more harm than good =/

If you'll go back and look at my recipe for the kitten formula you'll see it is not straight cow's milk.

With KMR you are paying for the convenience of just adding water. I've raised all ages of kittens from 1 or 2 days old when the vet sent them home with me, up until weaning age. I just can't see spending more for convenience when the formula I mix up works just as well.

 

[FireTigeris]

KMR Ingredients:

Ingredients:
Water, condensed skimmed milk, milk protein concentrate, soybean oil, cream, egg yolks, disodium phosphate, choline chloride, L-arginine, soy lecithin, potassium chloride, zinc sulfate, magnesium sulfate, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin E supplement, carrageenan, manganese sulfate, taurine, calcium phosphate, ferrous sulfate, ascorbic acid, niacinamide, coppersulfate, calcium pantothenate, maltodextrins, vitamin D supplement, potassium citrate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, potassium iodide, vitamin B12 supplement, folic acid, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, biotin.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude protein (min.) 7.5%, crude fat (min.) 4.5%, crude fiber (max.) 0%, moisture (max.) 82%. The calorie content (ME) is 0.83 kcal/ml (calculated).

It does have all the other vitamins.... hummm is there another way?​

 

[MetalSmitten]

Quote:
all i was saying is that straight cow milk by itself is not good for a kitten. i agreed that a formula is fine. but you had implied that cow milk was fine, without specifying a formula - i was just clarifying so that nobody would think cow milk by itself was okay. someone who isn't familiar with neonatal rescue kittens probably isn't going to know a kitten formula offhand, and for them, KMR is a much safer, more reliable option than straight milk or trying to throw something together at home. your feelings are totally valid and i am agreeing with you, but you have more knowledge than a layperson, and i'm writing for the benefit of a layperson, that's all. i make my own adult cat food too, which is a similar concept -- you can't just feed a piece of chicken every day, it's not good enough by itself even though it's the main ingredient in my recipe.

 

[MetalSmitten]

the same website already linked here a couple times (sorry i repeated it) has these recipes for kitten formula, but i've never used them so can't vouch:

http://www.kittenrescue.org/pages.php?pageid=15#Recipe

KMR is pricey, you are paying for convenience, but.. it's convenient.

and you know it'll work. as a side note, there are other brands of kitten formula at the pet store which are slightly cheaper, but they seem to have a lot of soy in them, which cats can't really digest. i don't recommend those. but again, i've never used them, so i can't really say for sure how good or bad they are, i just personally would not give a cat/kitten soy.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

Quote:
i've had good luck with a recipe similar to the first one. no gelatin, though. and i don't cook the milk (only necessary to add gelatin) but its pasteurized anyways. I tried it when I had one kitten that just wouldn't tolerate KMR. It actually made him sick.

Right now I'm using KMR with my bottle baby because its what I have on hand. I haven't been to the store to get yogurt and goats milk (though I keep powdered goats milk on hand anyways). This baby took to the KMR right away, but I've had other babies refuse KMR, but take to the homemade formula instantly. Also, with the homemade formula, their poo is a lot nicer. KMR poo tends to be pretty orange and icky.

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Another update. The kitten is doing fine. I took her to the vet this am because I found some bugs I couldn't identify and they turned out to be juvenile ticks on her. She is now cleaned up and eating well, sleeping a lot and snuggling even more. So far so good, but with her being so young we are not close to being out of the woods yet. Vet said that she was pretty healthy even with the ticks feeding off her. He said that the ticks were no threat to us because they were too small to break the skin of anything bigger than the kitten. She was given a bath then I combed out her fur with a nit comb for lice. Found a couple more when I combed. I'll keep looking, but I think I go them all.

 

[MetalSmitten]

awesome work, glad she's still doing well for the moment

i don't wanna jinx ya though. i never name my orphan tinycats until they're 4 weeks, when i feel reasonably comfortable that they're nice and strong

halfway there though!

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Just for you people out there who know this kind of stuff. She drank about 4 Tablespoons of formula so far today since 6:00am. That's about 60 cc's so I'm guessing that she is doing well. From what I've read she should be taking between 60-80 cc's of formula per day. At least that is what I read on line. If anyone knows something else let me know please. She has another feeding coming up soon, but I don't want to wake her. When she starts moving around a bit I'll feed her. Right now she is getting in some serious sleep. She is in the small brooder next to me and looks well fed and toasty. She is on towels rather than pine shavings though..

Thanks again for all the help.

MetalSmitten....No name at this point...way too young for that. When I called the vet though they asked me for the name and I said "Not yet." The receptionist's reply was "Not what?" So if she makes it I might name her "Nott."

 

[Turkeyrangler]

Just a couple new pics after feeding. She was warm, full and spurring so I think I'm on the right track. Had a really good poop tonight..OMG...guess she is getting enough food now. Man, that was nasty....

, but it was the right color and consistency. Sorry, but I haven't change a diaper in a LONG time. I need some sleep. I'll be back up in 3 hours to do it again.

 

[crtrlovr]

what a beautiful, precious baby! Our last bottle-baby was a rescue, and he's now a week shy of 2 years old and feisty, happy, & healthy.

Kudos to you!