Not About A Chicken: Sick Kitten

[bonder]

I realize this forum is for chickens and I need help with a sick kitten but I don't know where else to turn for answers at this time of night. Please help out if you can. Sorry for being off-topic but I've learned I can trust the advice of byc'ers.
We came home from the mall and found one of our wild kittens laying in the yard, very still and taking shallow breaths. My husband said he'd seen it earlier in the yard snuggled with another kitty and it let him get really close before running off. I wrapped the kitten in a towel, put it in a box and set it by the fire place.
What more should I do? eye dropper with water? try to get food in or not?
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks! Again, sorry for the off topic post!

 

[Qi Chicken]

Gosh, I don't know. Hydration can't be a bad idea. I don't know if electrolytes would be good or not. It's kind of hard to know what is wrong with it with only those symptoms. We had this situation once. But the poor thing had its eyes matted shut and was crawling with bugs and worms. It unfortunately died. I know I read not to give it too much to eat or drink at one time. I'm sorry, I hope your little one makes it. I'm sure you checked for injuries? I would definitely offer food but not feed it if you know what I mean. Wet food would probably be easier for it to eat.

 

[pontoosuc]

Have your wild kittens been vaccinated for rabies & distemper?

Be careful. Keep it warm. Try some warmed liquid (broth).
Maybe some brothed down kitten food.

How old is the kitten? Perhaps some warmed kitten formula?

Again, be careful. If it's wild.

 

[Wendy'sChicksRock]

How old is the kitty? If its still on moms milk then id say feed it VERY carefully,you don't want it to asperate the fluid because that's tought to get them thru.if its a little older and on solid food then I would make a warm mash and offer it.but not force it.I would make a sugar water mix and see if that perks the kitten up.
I'm sorry,I know this is hard.keep me posted ok

Wendy

 

[Chick-a-roos]

Not sure if I can offer much help.....how old is the kitten?
Does there seem to be any type of injury? bleeding? bites?
I would think it would be hard to offer water or food if the poor little thing is not alert.

It's really hard to determine what is wrong with kittens sometimes. I would say just to keep it warm and comfortable for right now.

 

[yomama]

Is the kitten showing any other symptoms, yucky eyes, yucky nose? Is the breathing congested? Is it tender anywhere? I'm wondering if it possibly got hit by a car. Depending on how old it is, and any other symptoms, Distemper is a possibility too. Any guestimate on how old? About the size of a soda can, bigger, smaller? Just trying to get an idea of age. I'm trying real hard to remember any cases like this from when I was a vet tech.

Not that long ago, but once you don't do it anymore, you sometimes forget off hand. For now, the best thing is to keep it warm, in a quite place, offer canned cat food, and heat it up. Cats will eat what they can smell, so the smellier the canned cat food, the better. If you can get the kitty to eat canned cat food, don't be surprised if it's intake of regular water is smaller, as canned cat food contains alot of water. Is this kitten normally running around with kittens from the same litter? Are any other cats in the area acting ill? Usually kittens as early as 3 weeks can be introduced to kitten food, so if you think it is at least that old, you don't necessarily have to give kitten milk replacer. And yes, do be careful if the kitten is normally feral. I realize this kitten isn't technically yours, but would you be able to take it to a vet? Most vets won't treat ferals without sedation, however, if the cat is so sick, they don't care about being handled, sometimes vets make exceptions. Good luck!
BTW, there is a section in the index for pets and other livestock. You might have some luck there! Good luck!

 

[bonder]

The kittens are so wild that they haven't let us pick them up until now. Mama cat is tame but she kept the kittens hidden for a long time. So we had the vet come out a few weeks ago and give them a visual check but we weren't able to catch them to vaccinate. The kitten is 4 or 5 months old, max. It was eating solid food last weekend.
I have some wet pureed cat food, I'll put a small dish and some warm sugar water out for her.
I'll keep you posted and thanks for the advice.

 

[yomama]

Quote:
The fact that you had the vet come out and he/she did a visual on them might be enough for you to possibly get some meds for it. Explain the symptoms to the vet and see what they can do for you. Worth a shot.

ETA: you can use live traps to catch the kittens to take them in for vaccs (and spay/nueter

I know, that can get spendy- some shelters offer discounts if you qualify). We gave many a vaccine through the wires of a live trap. It may be a pain, and long process, but at least they will get vaccinated. How good of you to have a vet come out and try to look at them.

 

[bonder]

Thanks for the advice but the kitty didn't make it

I think tomorrow will be spent trying to round up the rest of the kitties and getting them checked out.
Good night BYC'ers. Thanks for understanding.

 

[yomama]

I'm so sorry, that's so sad.

You tried though. Good luck with the rest of the kitties.