8-10 week old kittens stopped eating

johnxander

We picked up a male kitten (Xander) from a litter just over a week ago, he was supposedly 8 weeks old, but he was very small. My friend came too and picked up one of his sisters (Millie). We don't live together and the kittens are acting very differently.

We brought Xander to the vets the next day for a general check up. The vet reckoned he was only about 6-7 weeks old, but checked him for worms, listened to his heart etc and said he was in good health if a little underweight. He was about 500g then, which I thought was really bad. Xander refused to eat dry food from the get go, so we fed him Whiskas kitten pouches in jelly 4-5 times a day, trying to mix in a little dry food, but he always ate plenty and was eating 1 - 1.5 pouches a day, a couple of days ago he had diarrhoea and vomited a little, but I wasn't too worried as I thought maybe this was the dietary change.

Yesterday we gave him his worming tablet (Milbemax kitten) with his breakfast and he ate it no problem, he actually ate more than he usually does yesterday. He was waiting for food this morning as per usual except when I put it in front of him, he refused to eat it. Recently I tried feeding him again but he only ate a few pieces and slunk off to bed, he's essentially sleeping all day today, and is usually much more energetic. I was wondering could this be a side effect of the worming tablet? He passed a normal stool today no problem and has drank a little water. He hasn't really gained much weight since last week, maybe 25-50g, and I'm fairly worried because he was underweight and isn't gaining the proper amount. Just now, at noon, he got sick a small amount of bile, then immediately had a messy diarrhoea, and then nibbled his food a little. I rang the vet but he said these things take time and not to worry, so I rang another vets for a second opinion and they said there was no point paying €50 for a consultation because the vet wouldn't do anything until he hadn't eaten for a couple of days, which was pretty unhelpful.

His sister Millie, just as a comparison, immediately ate the dry food, and the correct amount, but then two days ago vomitedonce, then just flat out refused to eat anything and will only drink kittens milk now.

I have kittens milk in the house as a backup for Xander but am reluctant to give it to him, in case that is all he will eat. It's been 12 hours since he's eaten a proper amount. At the moment he's going back and forth from his bowl and eating one or two pieces of meat, then leaving it alone. He seems a bit happier now that he got out whatever was bothering his bowel, but this is the first cat I've owned and I'm just worried because he's so tiny, anything could happen. As far as I can tell there's no worms in his stools/vomit and I'm sort of wondering what to do. Any and all advice would be much appreciated.

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edit:
I forgot to mention my girlfriend reckons he gets sick/diarrhoea after eating the chicken ouches, which is possible as I haven't been checking which ones I give him, but I thought the chicken would be lightest on his stomach?

johnxander

Apologies for wasting all your time, I've never had a cat before, and I wasn't aware Whiskas was so bad for them. I feel terrible now. I'm going down to Maxi Zoo later to buy some new food for him.

fatmammycat

Oh my god, who told you whiskers is bad for them? Look, my oldest cat was put to sleep at age 21 die to a long battle with polyps in her ears, my other cat is 18- rolling up to 19 and the baby of the family is 10, they all thrived on whiskers and go cat dry and as much take away as they can scrounge from their owners, the 21 year old drank a saucer of milk every morning of her life and would cheerfully have lived on sliced cooked ham if she was allowed.
I'm sorry your kitten is unwell, it could easily be a little bug picked up, if he seems happy in himself and is not dehydrated I imagine he'll be back to his good self in a day or so.

Andrew Flexing

I agree, my cat was 18 when she passed and we varied her diet incl whiskas.
about your kitten, if he has stopped drinking and still not eating in the near future then I'd get down to the vets again!

Cherry Blossom

OP, your kitten is still very young and has had a lot of upheaval in the last week. Keep a close eye but there is no need to panic just yet. Make sure the kitten is getting plenty of fluids and try him with different foods, maybe try a little boiled fish or something super tasty. Whiskas is definately not the best food and is full of sugar and additives but it wouldn't be a reason for him to stop eating. Definitely don't go feeding dry food as keeping the kitten hydrated is the most important thing at the minute, if he will drink kitten milk then great, give him as much as he wants and you can try mixing it with a good quality wet food or add extra water. Try giving food and water at room temperature to see if this makes any difference. If there is no improvement by tomorrow then ring your vet for advice.

If the kitten has a high worm burden then it may just be taking a little time for the wormer to do its work and remember that those worms have to get thought the kittens digestive system once the wormer has done its job so it's not surprising the kitten may go off his food for a little while.

Zapperzy

While whiskas is a fairly low quality food it shouldn't cause those symptoms unless the kitten has an allergy or intolerance to some of the ingredients. As fatmammycat said plenty of cats have lived their whole lives on the likes of whiskas and they haven't keeled over young. I wouldn't rush to change the food while he already has a dodgy stomach, change it over gradually.

Is this his first time being wormed do you know? He could've had a worm burden which would explain the lack of weight and slow gain of weight (kittens of that age normally put on roughly 100g a week). I would contact the vets again if it persists as he may need a repeat dose if this is his first time being wormed. Keep him drinking anyways. If your looking for food recommendations have a look at zooplus, have a look at the wet food brands animonda carny, grau, smilla and bozita, I feed a mixture of those and have a happy healthy cat.

lubie76

Op, the vet shouldn't have said he couldn't do anything until the kitten hadn't eaten for a few days. 24 hours without food or water can kill a fully grown cat never mind a little kitten. They get dehydrated very quickly especially if they are sick.
I know they may just have an upset tummy due to worms etc but I would keep a very close eye on kitten and if it stops eating drinking for any length and appears weak or over tired, I'd insist on having it brought in and put on a drip if necessary. I am speaking from personal experience as I nearly lost my own cat a few years, a bet said it was just a bug but I was told to insist on getting her put on drip by a worker at a local animal rescue centre. The vet nurse said it literally would have died before the day was out without the drip.

planetX

Don't panic yet, worming pills often cause tummy upset and diarrhea. If it carries on take him to a vet.
Royal Canin do a dry kitten food with tiny kibbles, but I'd give him something nicer along with it - nothing wrong with whiskas pouches or catmilk. If he's underweight give him whatever he'll eat.

johnxander

@fatmammycat
That's good to know. Just a friend who is very particular about their cats said she would never dream of feeding them kitten whiskas, which naturally had me concerned, to be honest I'm a bit of a worrier myself anyway, and I work from home so I see everything he's up to, and he's just not himself today!

@adrenalinjunkie
The vet was certain he didn't have worms when I brought him in last week, so I figured the worming medicine was only precautionary, but you never know.

@Zapperzy
As far ass I'm aware, it's his second time being wormed, but to be honest I don't trust the woman we got him from, she was very quick to get us out the door once we'd picked up a kitten, never mind asked any questions. The advert she had placed said they were 8 weeks old, had been wormed, seen a vet, flead and litter trained, but she's not been contactable since, he definitely wasn't 8 weeks old when we got him, and the ad had already been up for two weeks, so she was trying to get rid of them at 4-5 weeks old, which is a bad act IMHO.

@lubie76
I got an appointment for 6pm with a different vet, just to see what he said, Xander is definitely over tired and off his food, he's been sleeping all day except to nibble at his food. I don't think he's dehydrated though, but again hard to tell, first kitten I've really been around, never mind owned. His meow is very hoarse since we got him, I thought that might be caused by dehydration originally, but he's been so happy the last week I brushed it off.

Thanks everybody for all the advice, I will post back after the vet at 6 to let you know the prognosis. I'm just sickened that the other vet gave him a clean bill of health and he's essentially been sick on and off ever since, and now he doesn't even want to see him again.

I was thinking maybe if he's only 8 weeks now, maybe his stomach is having a hard time adjusting to solid food, but I could only go on what I was told. He's lying on my lap at the moment curled up purring to himself. He tried to play with me when he woke up to move over to me, but he tired very easily. I think he is happy in himself, maybe just weak from the diarrhoea?

johnxander

planetX wrote: »

Don't panic yet, worming pills often cause tummy upset and diarrhea. If it carries on take him to a vet.
Royal Canin do a dry kitten food with tiny kibbles, but I'd give him something nicer along with it - nothing wrong with whiskas pouches or catmilk. If he's underweight give him whatever he'll eat.

You see man, that's what I don't get, if you can tell me that after reading his symptoms on a message board why couldn't two vets tell me the same over the phone, seriously. The one that prescribed the tablets said there was no side affects when I asked last week. He flat out refuses to eat the dry food, even if it's only a few pieces mixed in well with the whiskas wet, I've tried 4 different brands of dry food too, all specialist kitten ones.

Zapperzy

You could try soaking the dry food in some water. But for the moment until he's back eating and drinking normally with no vomiting or diarrhoea stick with wet food, he needs the extra moisture. Also worth reading up a few old threads here on wet vs dry diet, there's a whole debate as to which cats should be fed.

To check if he's dehydrated pinch up his scruff at the back of his neck it should immediately spring back down again, if it's slow to go back down or stays up then he's dehydrated and at his age needs to be in a vets either on a drip or getting subcut fluids. Good luck in the vets, it's better to be safe than sorry.

kylith

johnxander wrote: »

You see man, that's what I don't get, if you can tell me that after reading his symptoms on a message board why couldn't two vets tell me the same over the phone, seriously. The one that prescribed the tablets said there was no side affects when I asked last week. He flat out refuses to eat the dry food, even if it's only a few pieces mixed in well with the whiskas wet, I've tried 4 different brands of dry food too, all specialist kitten ones.

Vets are reluctant to give advice over the phone because if they turn out to be wrong you can sue them. If people on the internet are wrong you have no comeback, this is why Boards discourages asking for medical advice.

For the dry food you could soak it in some warm water until it's soft and see if he'll eat the resulting porridge, then you can decrease the amount of water over time until he's eating it completely dry.

Themadhouse

Personally i wouldnt feed whiskas kitten to a kitten of that age. He really needs a huge amount of nutrients that he would still get from mammys milk.
I would get a bag of royal canin babycat and use the kitten milk with it, assuming it's the royal canin powder? Make it up and leave the kibble to soak in it, let it cool and give it to him.
Parazol is a much softer wormer for small kittens, its done over 3 days and is much easier on their tummys. They should be wormed every 2 weeks with parazol until 3 months old and then I would give a tablet and then a tablet monthly until 6 months old at least.
If he is not eating the vet needs to see him. I wouldnt let a kitten of that age not eat for more than 12 hrs tbh, If you could even bottle feed him the kitten milk that will put something into him.
Fingers crossed your little man starts scoffing soon...

The Sweeper

johnxander wrote: »

You see man, that's what I don't get, if you can tell me that after reading his symptoms on a message board why couldn't two vets tell me the same over the phone, seriously. The one that prescribed the tablets said there was no side affects when I asked last week. He flat out refuses to eat the dry food, even if it's only a few pieces mixed in well with the whiskas wet, I've tried 4 different brands of dry food too, all specialist kitten ones.

There is a rule of thumb with young kittens, that says approximately 100g of weight per week of life, so at 500g Xander was probably five to six weeks old, even if underweight a little. That's very young to leave his mum, but it's not your fault because you didn't know.

With regard to kitten milk, unless you're buying an actual milk substitute like vetelact or something else people would use if they had to because they had orphaned kittens or some such, I wouldn't bother with the milk. Off the shelf kitten milk will fill him up but not really do much for him nutritionally. (And there shouldn't be any need for you to use vetelact with a kitten that age.)

You can also try him with raw meat - it needs to be fresh, not minced, so imagine you're about to cook a good steak or chicken breast for your dinner - trim a slice off the edge and offer it to the kitten. There are a lot of other posts about raw food for cats on here and they're worth reading.

You can try a supplement like Nutrigel - there are some palatable vitamin supplements you can use to build pets up after they've been off colour.

Xander will be a little off colour after his worming tablet. If you're worried that he's dehydrated, pinch a little of the skin at the scruff of his neck, and release and watch how quickly it eases back into position. In a well hydrated kitten it should snap back quickly. In a very dehydrated, ill kitten, it will ease back slowly. Another thing cats do if they're poorly is they hunch up and fluff their fur. If Xander sits with his eyes half closed, hunched up, fur fluffed up, and if he squeaks or growls when lifted from this position, he's most probably running a temperature and needs to see the vet. (You'll know this if you see it because the cat does NOT look happy. They can't be distracted by food, water or play and they're disinterested in everything.) Also try lifting his lip and pressing his gums. His gums should be a healthy pink. They should be slippery (if they're dry, he's dehydrated). When you press gently they should turn white where you press, and if you lift your finger the pink should come rushing back into that spot. If his gums are dry, or very pale, or if the colour doesn't come back when pressed, he needs to see the vet.

Last thing you can do is help Xander with a mom-massage. At this age, his mother would still be washing him all over. You can get a face-cloth or flannel, and rinse it under very warm or hot water. Wring it out until you can barely get another drop out of it - it needs to be barely damp. So now you should have a damp, warm (not hot) facecloth. You can put Xander on your knee and start by putting two fingers into the cloth (hold the rest of the cloth in your hand so it's not flapping about scarily) and using gently circular motions wash his face. Rub along his cheeks, circles on his forehead and from throat to chin-tip under his chin. Rub one direction only under the chin, don't go forwards and backwards.

Then move to his body - circles behind the ears, strokes up the shoulder blades. If he rolls over, work down his belly from his ribcage towards his tail - again do this in one direction. You can shift your fingers to a new piece of cloth to ensure you're not spreading anything around his fur.

You can finish up by wiping his bottom, just like his mum would, (and then put your facecloth in the wash :pac:). The trick is to have a massaged, happy kitten who's been cleaned but who isn't wet afterwards (so he won't get a chill).

strandroad

This is an excellent post The Sweeper!

OP, don't worry if your kitten doesn't like dry food. None of mine liked dry food when they were kittens, but they warmed to it growing up. It's just a preference. You may want to improve his food from Whiskas but it's not a good time to do it now, let him recover from the worming and start eating regularly first without changing his routine.

ABajaninCork

OP - Have you tried giving your little boy a little white fish? Tesco's do a bag of the Value fish for about E3.

Just poach a fillet with a little water in the mic for about five mins, let it cool and give a little to the cat. I find white fish to be excellent for settling tums.

I would normally put a little white rice with it as well, but the kitten's too young for it. Just give him the fish for now.