[SCugny]

So I have raised tons of kittens before, some have made it and some have not despite my best efforts. However, the youngest I have every raised was a little over 2 weeks.

I just had a friend bring me a 1, maybe 1.5 week old. eyes are open, ears are not, barely walking.

Filled an old sock with some uncooked rice, heated it up, put it under a nice soft fleece shirt in a box and put the kitten on top of the warmed fleece with a cover.... the rest of the box is lined with the fleece as well but unheated so kitten can crawl away from the heat source if it wants.

Stimulated him, he peed a lot then went to bed... that was about 2 hours ago. Made up some KMR but little guy seems to have no interest in eatign, only sleeping. I know he has not eaten much since around 7pm when my friend found him. It is now close to midnight.

However, he seems comfortable... sleepy deeply and twiching (dreaming:smile, and stretching out when woken up before re-positioning and dozing off again.

He is covered in fleas but i don't want to bathe him just yet cuz his body temp was a bit low when I first got him, just trying to nab them as I see them on him. It looks like he has lice too :sad

He was a bit dehydrated so I gave him some subcutaneous fluids to rehydrate... He's just dozing away.

So my question is, what else should I be doing? I am trying to encourage him to eat about a mL every so often but he really doesn't seem hungry. He's not crying and seems pretty content. I'm just thinking he should be hungrier than he is...

 

[Lenkolas]

Fleas in small kitties are very dangerous. Basically, a flea infestation might cause him anemia and kill him.

You should find a way to get rid of them. They might be killing your little one. Do you have a flea comb? I believe this is the only way to get rid of them for now, even tho it's not a permanent solution (but it would prevent fleas from killing the kitten). Any flea product is too dangerous for such a small kitten. And I wouldn't bathe him either, not yet at least.

Good luck with everything!

 

[SCugny]

I am using a flea comb to find them and killing the fleas as I do. I have seen tons of kittens die from flea anemia at the shelter so I am trying to get them all off him. His mucous membranes are still nice and pink tho so he's not anemic yet and hopefully I will get them all off before that happens! he started eating a little this morning. Doing relatively well for one so young. Fingers crossed!!

 

[Lenkolas]

Great! I hope you can get rid of them! Once he's older, a nice bath will kill them all. In the meantime, vacuum a lot... :x

Looking forward to seeing pics of the little one!!! :mrgreen:

 

[shan841]

You can try rubbing a tiny bit of Karo syrup or sugar water on his gums... this sometimes gives them a little energy boost and gets them eating

 

[librarychick]

I think you should bathe him. Use warn water, and a bit of Dawn dishsoap. The Dawn us the only safe brand, and it has to be the normal formula.

I know that a bath could be bad, but it might also wake him up enough to get his appetite going, and it may hydrate him a bit. As long as you dry him off thoroughly abs snuggle him close to keep him toasty warm it should be fine. IMO getting those bugs off him us a major concern, and the bath will help

 

[Lenkolas]

I think you should bathe him. Use warn water, and a bit of Dawn dishsoap. The Dawn us the only safe brand, and it has to be the normal formula.

I know that a bath could be bad, but it might also wake him up enough to get his appetite going, and it may hydrate him a bit. As long as you dry him off thoroughly abs snuggle him close to keep him toasty warm it should be fine. IMO getting those bugs off him us a major concern, and the bath will help

Library has a point. I would be scared to bathe such a small kitty. But it is true that it might wake him up and, best of all, you could get rid of those nasty parasites...

If you decide to do that, when I bathed Ice and Phanto (they were 4 weeks old) I got in the bathroom wearing only a t-shirt, put a bathroom safe heater inside and bathed them with warm water. Then, after the bath, I stayed there for like 45 minutes with them, hot as ****, drying the little ones with many towels (when they got wet, I used new ones). BF was bringing me warm towels from the dryer and the kitties seemed to love the warmth. No hair drier. Later I put them in their safe room that was also very warm. They went to sleep in a bed with a heater.

Good luck! Keep us posted

 

[librarychick]

When Doran was tiny and he needed a bath I'd get him as dry as possible after, then wrap him in a towel and snuggle him close to keep him warm. As he dried, and the towel got wet, I'd replace it with a fresh one. The snuggling was his favorite part...mine too kittens need cuddles!

 

[CrzyCatFam]

GOOD LUCK i hope you can help the poor kitten. I hate to see them suffer. I know when we found our dog(she really found us) she was maybe a month old and had so many fleas it was unreal. She pulled through and has been with us for 2 years now. I hope that the kitten will be the same for you.

 

[Mitts & Tess]

First off you need to be waking this baby every 2 to 3 hours round the clock and giving it Pedialite or kayro syrup mixed with water in a syringe. This little one is going to crash unless you do this.

I would go on line and get a recipe for glop and syringe it to the baby also. Most recipes have kayro in it which helps.

Getting the fleas off of this newborn is very important. Im posting a video of how to do it. Check about the capstar. It might be too soon for a newborn to use this product. You should call the manufacturer to find out.

I would use warm water and have a towel in the dryer to place it in once youve removed the fleas.

This newborn cant control its body heat. Put a heating pad with a towel on top to help keep it warm

Keep us posted.

Tough Love: Socializing Feral Kittens (Part 1 of 3) - YouTube