Kitten with very bloated belly

Tengu

We just got two kittens from a lovely woman this week but one of the kittens has a very bloated belly, its so large the poor creatures back legs are being pushed apart so he walks bow legged, we brought him to the vet who just gave a quick look at him and they said it was worms and gave us a de- worming solution which we have to give him for 2 days and also not to give him milk as he has an allergy to it, this seems pretty straight forward but the belly on him is so large he can barely right himself when he is on his back, he is vey active apart from all this but will not drink water, so we liquify the special kitten food we have and he eats it down with glee, has anyone experience with this as I am very worried about the little fella, he is only 4 or 5 weeks old and lovely and active in spite of this and I will be heart broken if its something like cancer or felp.

fade2black

Not that I know much about kittens but apparently this is fairly common. Most probably worms or colic but have a read of this just in case:

http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the_north_east/petscorner/advice/cats/fip.html

Arcadian

Your kitten needs to see a vet asap.

If it is worms then you need to start treatment carefully as it can prove fatal very quickly.

FranknFurter

Tengu wrote:

....he is only 4 or 5 weeks old and lovely and active in spite of this and I will be heart broken if its something like cancer or felp.

He shouldnt have been taken from his mother until 8 WEEKS MINIMUM!

At this age *ANY* disorder is life-threatening.
Bring him to another vet, the one you went to should have told you that-

a- he is WAY too young to be seperated from his mother.

b- worms or *anything* can kill at this age, and frankly if its as bad as you say, you will be very lucky if it doesnt.

c- he should be being bottle-fed a special solution, not the shop-bought "kitten food".

d- he needs URGENT attention and probably 24 hour care for at least a week if he is to survive at all.

A kitten like this, at this age, can be hyper one night (mainly due to food), and dead by the next morning if your not careful.

This could also be a very serious infection of, or irritation of the stomach. Serious constipation or blockage. Should have been investigated properly immediately, not just "a quick look".

That vet should be reported imho, I mean, a 4 week old kitten, bloated, being fed regular kitten food, possibly fatal worms (at that age), its bloody ridiculously basic diagnosis & treatment success info for a vet.

b

(Sorry if I sound aggressive, this is SUCH a serious illness and it just makes me SO angry that a vet was this bloody silly, most vets are great and caring, BUT there are some vets who think "there are too many cats in the world as it is!" and will do nothing except pretend to give you advice to cover their asses when kitty dies, I've come across this before),

Tengu

Thanks for the advice, the kitten's mum died so he was left all alone but I agree I should report the vet, I'm going to google for all the best kitten feeding solutions and buy everything I need and I'll be up with him the whole night from now on looking after him, thanks for level setting me on the seriousness of this

hadook

You can get a replacement kitten milk from any vet & some petshops also stock it.

FranknFurter

How is the little guy doing tengu?

Solair

I've been through this scenario myself with a kitten who we accidently adopted. His mother was run over on the road and he was totally helpless at the time, barely able to stand / walk and totally dependent on support.

Young kittens are incrediably high maintenence and you'll have to be pretty dedicated to get him through this.

We effectively had to put this guy into a box in the bedroom, monitor and feed him regularly, including getting up during the night to feed him milk from a bottle.

You will have to use kitten formula milk, mixes up in the same was as human baby formula milk. Good pet stores will stock it. If you can't get it there ask your vet for advise.

The kitten won't necessarily be able to lap milk at that age either, so you'll have to use a bottle (special very small bottles are available) or a dropper.

Also, don't over-estimate how much a kitten eats / drinks, they're absolutley tiny at that age and you'll find they drink milk in small quantities but very frequently.

Also... you'll have to help him/her groom ... just use a warm damp face cloth to clean his fur if he gets messy. DO NOT get the kitten wet though, they can get cold very easily also don't use any chemicals / shampoos etc. I would even go as far as to say avoid using fabric softener in the washing machine on the cloths

You may also need to help the kitten go to the bathroom. i.e. place him on a try of cat litter and be very reassuring ... i.e. gently stroke him, stroke his belly etc etc ... basically you've a potentially tough job ahead with a young kitten. They're totally dependent on their mothers... and getting them through their first few weeks is a hell of a job.

Other than that keep him/her warm, but not too warm and pay him/her a lot of attention.

Basically, you'll be on 24/7 call everytime you hear a meow for a while.

Once they start eating solids and are capable of grooming etc.. it becomes much easier.

Our cat went from tiny amounts of milk by bottle, to licking it off a tea spoon then eventually moved on to trying tiny bits of salmon and other white meats. (I mean crumbs)

A few weeks later he was bouncing around the place and has turned into a very active healthy cat.

Oh yeah... you also should probabally make sure that he learns how to cope with hunting, climbing etc etc.. he's a baby so you'll have to do hours of education through play ... i.e. get him to chase stuff, climb up trees etc etc

Raising a kitten is no easy task... I had absolutely no idea how to do it but, whatever we did it seemed to work out ok.

Tengu

Hi Guys -

The kittens are doing great, the one with the bloated belly is much better, between my girlfriend and I we are providing 24 hour support until they are
old enough to more independant, we had our kitten looked at by a vet and
its not felp he has, he just needs to have his belly massaged gently and eat
kitty food mashed up, hes an awful lot better now, his belly has decreased in size by almost half and he is able to run around now.

Cheers to you all for all the advice.

Our man in Havana

Glad to hear the kitties are doing better