Vibes for my Kittens

MericoX

Roos, Poos, & a Wog!
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#1
Five 2-3 week old kittens came into the shelter as strays on Sunday. I volunteered to take them as I've never fostered kittens before and wanted to get a chance before kitten season is through, and boy when I do something I dive in head first.

They are having intermittent diarrhea, dehydrated enough I'm having to give sub-q fluids at home to those that need it, and syringe feeding them every 2-3 hours.

The smallest one (Bates) is the worst off, though thankfully he's maintaining at the moment and he's stabilized for now. Any vibes for him and the rest of the brood would be appreciated!!!
 

*blackrose

"I'm kupo for kupo nuts!"
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#3
Lots and lots and lots of vibes. That age seems to be the worst - they always seem to hit a plateau around 2-3 weeks and they either make it or they don't. Sounds like you are doing everything just right, so super vibes that they pull through and get their strength back! I can't even imagine doing five at once. :yikes: It was hard enough getting up every two hours to take care of one!

I don't know what formula you are using, but sometimes KMR at full strength can cause some GI upset - maybe you can try diluting it a little bit? Adding in some pedialyte (unflavored) can help hydrate them, too, although it doesn't taste good.

When Apollo was just shy of 3 weeks old he started having cream colored loose stool, was very weak, and had no appetite. I was force feeding and keeping him hydrated/warm a best I could, but he was fading. My vet said, "Well, at this point, not much will harm" and he prescribed a short course of albon orally. That saved Apollo's life. I don't know what kind of GI imbalance he had going on, but the Albon took care of it. Started him on some Benebac afterwards and wah-lah, it was like he had never been sick.
 

MericoX

Roos, Poos, & a Wog!
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#4
I'm feeding them Just Born milk replacement. The GI upset may be because one of the techs gave me a different one when I ran out and told me it'd be fine.. When not only is it not okay to switch them and it was actually for kittens 4 weeks and older. The formula is 1:1 with water, but per my manager (who is awesome and knows everything about everything) has me mixing it with homemade Gatorade plus an extra scoop of water just to get more fluids into them. And then treating them with Pepto on a case by case basis. This morning just the little one (Bates) is still needing fluids but the other 4 are hungry and doing great, and just Bates I think is having diarrhea, but now it's not explosive like the kitten last night.
 

MericoX

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#6
Bates is doing awesome, he's now climbing the bars of their crate along with him siblings, walking around during play time, and he actually sucks down about 3cc on his own and feeding time.

Now Milo isn't feeling so great. Everyone else has stopped having diarrhea, but he is now having it regularly. I've increased his Pepto, hoping that will help cure it, or until we find something else that will.
 

smkie

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#8
Hope all are doing better by today. Can't wait to see pics.Good to know about the pepto and pedialyte or gatorade addition as well. I was almsot sent home with wearning formula instant of infant formula. A volunteer caught that right before she dumped me out some from the can. Babies shouldn't have tummy aches, it juist should be a rule that they be exempt.
 

MericoX

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#9
A coworker has been watching the kittens for me since Tuesday night. Even though she followed all my instructions, she found Lily dead this morning. And the other runt, Bates, isn't doing well either.

UGHH Why must kittens be this hard. :mad:
 

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