# Death in Stray Kitten



## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

I recently found three small kittens on the side of the road. Now I know I should have just left them... but that would also mean leaving them to die, and that would be too much on my conscience. So when I got a crate, it ends up one of them was already dead (hit on the road; I could feel the broken ribs). I started the two alive ones on some milk replacer, tuna, and offered hard food. They were eating well for the last two days, and would cuddle up to me. I have to say it is obvious that they both had worms; their bellies bloated, and so skinny (I can feel every bone, as well as see). Just this morning, I found the short-haired kitten laying dead. I'm thinking it could be many things... the only "symptoms" or cause, I can think of, are these:


Belly bloated with worms (possibly died from anemia? Or maybe wasn't getting enough nutrients to support itself and the worms? but then again it's gums looked normal that night)
Shaking (I have noticed it shaking since it got here. I didn't want to put strays in the house with my cats, so I put them in the shed. Could it have died from hypothermia? I didn't think to check a temperature, mainly because I didn't know its life was in danger)
Those were the only things that seemed to be odd. It had normal poop. Another thing I was thinking, was maybe it fell from one of the shelves that are in the shed, and broke something vital? Internal bleeding possibly? All I know, is it was acting normal, eating, drinking, and cuddling up to me the way it normally did. Any thoughts, please?


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Could have been anything. It could had been injured too and had internal injuries you couldn't see. Cats instinctively hide pain and illness well. It is a survival skill. The shaking could have been shock from injuries. Cold from anemia or infection any number of things.


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## Naunnie (Jul 4, 2014)

Thank you for rescuing them. What's your best guess of their age? I agree with Leslie, could have been may things. So sorry you lost one after getting them off the street.

First thing I would do, is make sure it is warm. Don't feed it until it is warmed. It will have a harder time maintaining body warmth, now that it is alone. Mostly likely has worms, but coccida will take them out fast. I would treat for both though.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Awww , I'm sorry :hug: Yes , make sure its temp is normal before feeding.
I would stick to milk replacer and leave the tuna out for now. How old do you think they are ? Their age would determine what to feed.
If young , i would be giving the milk warm , not too warm though. Use a warm water bath to warm the milk and check the temp before giving.
Poor baby , check the ears for mites and maybe get a fecal done so you will know wether or not it needs meds. Are the eyes clear or have any discharge ? Put your ear to its chest and see if you hear raspy breathing. Good luck and keep us posted


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

If I had to guess its age, I would say one month. It weighs no more than a pound. I may have not informed you with all information on my earlier post. I bought roundworm and tapeworm medicine, but I don't think it is safe to give to it yet. Just so things don't get confusing, it was a gray kitten that was already dead, and it was a/the short-haired black kitten that died this morning. But a fluffy black one is still alive, not shaking like its sibling did. It does not have discharge or anything on its eyes, and I see little earmites in the ears. I will have to listen for raspy breathing. However, it is just as skinny. Thanks for information. I just hope it was not my fault that the short haired one died. Hopefully it didn't suffer...


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You can worm with Safeguard too. 1cc per 10 lbs.

There was probably more going on than you know with the kitten.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

I don't think it was anything you did, my guess would be either one of two things, either they were thrown from a moving vehicle and the one died, one was internally injured and the other was lucky to land well somehow. OR they already had a worm load or some other illness when you got them. 
You did great you stopped and got them and tried to help them the best you knew how and that is all anyone could have done and a heck of a lot more than most people would have done.


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## nannysrus (Jun 21, 2014)

I have rescued a lot of young of young kittens and the one you say was shaking makes me thing of a high worm load and or fleas. They start shaking like that when something is feeding off them (their blood) they become anemic and start shivering/shaking. The only way to really save them once they get to that point is to take a chance on worming them too young and treat them for fleas. Sometimes that isn't even enough and they need a blood transfusion.

Don't worry yourself over it. I know it's hard but out of every litter I have hand raised at least one has problems, and that is not dealing with worms or fleas but other issues 


Samantha

"5 minutes of fresh air is equivalent to 5 mg Valium"


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

Thank you everyone for the additional information/support... I will try to save this last surviving kitten in the best way possible. And if it makes it through, I'll find it a loving home so it can live a happy life... I'll update on how it's doing.


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## nannysrus (Jun 21, 2014)

Just a tip if you have it around

I use 1 5 oz can of evaporated milk and mix with one egg yolk and a tsp of light corn syrup 

I use that instead of milk replacer and they do great on it. You can also add 3 drops of infant vitamins to the mix.


Samantha

"5 minutes of fresh air is equivalent to 5 mg Valium"


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## nannysrus (Jun 21, 2014)

Here is my 4 week old I rescued about a week and a half ago. His name is cricket

Samantha

"5 minutes of fresh air is equivalent to 5 mg Valium"


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

What a cutie!


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

Aww, cute kitten 

Yeah, the kitten I have here looks about that size.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I also think it was a lack of nutrition ......for sure not on your part. 
It sounds just like one of my stray kittens I had last year (I seem to be the local 'cat dump') but there was a mama who had only 1 kitten but would let another cats kittens nurse and they were way bigger. It took for ever but finally got my hands on the little guy and he was skin and bones too. Mama was WILD so I took him and he did the same thing and ended up dying. 
But you did your best and have it a way better chance to live. You have a wonderful heart 


Sent from my iPhone using Goat Forum


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## HappyCaliGoats (Mar 19, 2014)

Safeguard is safe for kittens and can be used to treat roundworms, tapeworms and giardia (just to name a few) if it is used for 5 days in a row. The dose would be 50 mg per kg. 1kg=2.2#


Newbie to Nubian dairy goats! 2 nubian does, 1 Nubian buck, 1 Pygmy doe, and 1 alpine/ guernsey wether! Plus the rest of the farm pets which would take the whole page to list  
~Dee

Sent from my iPad using Goat Forum


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## Naunnie (Jul 4, 2014)

I use Pyrantel pamoate (aka Nemex2 or Stronigid) to deworm puppies and kittens as young as 2 weeks. It is labeled for Canines, but is safe for Felines too. It kills hookworms and roundworms, but not coccidia. Dosage is 1 teaspoon(5ml/cc) per 10 lbs. If you suspect coccidia,(diarrhea) ask your vet for Ponazuril. Its off label for Cats but takes care of coccidia much better than Albon.

For the fleas, you can bathe in Dawn dish detergent. Have a flea comb handy for the fleas that run to her head/face. I would gently clean her ears with a q-tip and olive oil.

We use goats milk for our rescues, instead of any thing that contains cows milk. It so much easier to digest. If you are not sure if she is drinking water yet, you can add a little more milk to her soaked dry cat/kitten food. 

Again, thanks for taking them in. I sure hope this little one makes it. These little rescues make the best pets!


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## HappyCaliGoats (Mar 19, 2014)

Oh I forgot about the ear mites.. If there are truly ear mites, and since the kitten is so tiny I would take 1 drop of ivomec and mix it with 3-4 drops of some kind of oil, olive or mineral and put 2 drops in each ear then leave the kitten to shake and it will disperse the med through the ears covering the mites..


Newbie to Nubian dairy goats! 2 nubian does, 1 Nubian buck, 1 Pygmy doe, and 1 alpine/ guernsey wether! Plus the rest of the farm pets which would take the whole page to list  
~Dee

Sent from my iPad using Goat Forum


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

nannysrus said:


> Just a tip if you have it around
> 
> I use 1 5 oz can of evaporated milk and mix with one egg yolk and a tsp of light corn syrup
> 
> ...


Thank you, I'll have to try that and see how it works.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Also for fleas , you can use Neem oil i think its called…..so long since i had a kitten , i forgot , lol. But i do think if the baby has breathing problems , you shouldn't use it….i have to look up more it . Just putting it out there. Just in case you don't want to bath the baby just yet. Cant get a chill now since its so fragile yet. I heard that any lemony dish detergent like Joy would work well on fleas as well. Use it as shampoo and dry thoroughly  I wouldn't use any flea powder.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Regular dawn works well too


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

NubianFan said:


> Regular dawn works well too


Yep  Dawn is a pretty good item to have around , its helped many animals !


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

Thanks for more info  I will treat for any/all earmites today, with an oil I have on hand. Once I run out of the kitten milk replacer, I will use the goats milk (why pay a bunch of money on the kitten milk, when I can get goats milk for free here?). I have moved the kitten into a separate part of the house, so she'll stay warm indoors. There is a cat litter, hard food out, and I put some milk on a plate (I do feed milk out of bottle, but the kitten will also drink from a plate). Good thing this is a smart cat... she already uses the cat litter box. I gave her a bath because she had poop stuck to her tail and paws (not diarrhea, just a fluffy cat problem; also, I discovered that it is a female). But soon, I will have to give her a bath using the Dawn dish soap (luckily I have that already). Now I just need to figure out my plan for deworming her. I believe I will either try the Safeguard or Pyrantel pamoate; whichever is easier to find/get around here. Where can you buy Safeguard (I have it for goats, but isn't there different brands, or what?)?


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## nannysrus (Jun 21, 2014)

I put a litter box in with mine when I first found him and he has always used it. I also feed his milk from a bowl. I take a small amount of hard kitten food soak it in hot water for a few seconds and then drain the water out and feed it. Mine got the name cricket because he loves eating crickets. If you run into any constipation issues you can put a very small of kayro syrup into his milk and it will help. Constipation is a quick killer in kittens. Been there done that and it was horrible. If you will look at his teeth you can tell about how old he is. If he has the k9s in ( the long sharp ones towards the front) then he is at least 3 weeks closer to 4 weeks. At least he is pooping and peeing on his own so you don't have to help him do that 


Samantha

"5 minutes of fresh air is equivalent to 5 mg Valium"


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## HappyCaliGoats (Mar 19, 2014)

The safe guard for goats is fine, the strength is the same as fenbendazole you would get from a vet, 100mg/ml. Take the kittens weight in pounds, divide it by 2.2 to get kg. then multiply by 50 and divide that by 100. And that will be how many ml's of goat safe guard to give her, once a day for 5 days. After 3 days she will be treated for tapeworms and round worms but I always do the extra 2 days to treat giardia just because it is so common and so highly contagious..


Newbie to Nubian dairy goats! 2 nubian does, 1 Nubian buck, 1 Pygmy doe, and 1 alpine/ guernsey wether! Plus the rest of the farm pets which would take the whole page to list  
~Dee

Sent from my iPad using Goat Forum


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## Cactus_Acres (Sep 24, 2013)

My momma cat disappeared when her babies were only 3.5 weeks old, and I think I took note of it the first day she was gone too long. Anyway, I stuck out some of Bree's milk for the babies on a saucer, and they quickly learned how to drink it that way. Never did go the milk replacer route with them, and never did bottle feed them.

I went to the store and bought some canned cat food, not tuna. I started feeding that only a day or two after she had not shown back up. The kittens did well with being fed milk 3 times per day for starters, and fed small portions of the cat food as well. We are up to two cans of cat food per day (top-dressed with cat chow), and diluted milk (goat milk cut with water). They are starting to drink water more now, and next week I will be cutting out the milk. They turn eight weeks old on Monday. 

Something happened to her, we just probably will never know what, as she never has shown up again. Whether someone took her (she is friendly with everyone, and passed her temperament on to her entire litter of kittens), or something killed her (vehicle, hawk, coyote, etc....), we probably won't know.

We started out with Callie delivering six kittens, one DOA or shortly after birth (I got home when she was delivering kitten #4, and there was one that wasn't alive at that time, suspect it was her first kitten born, and it was a large one). She nursed five kittens until she disappeared. One of the kittens has been rehomed so far. We are keeping a couple of them (after finding more signs of mice in my barn today, we cannot go without barncats), and have a lead on a home for one of the boy kittens that we aren't going to keep.


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## Cactus_Acres (Sep 24, 2013)

If you feel like you get overwhelmed in caring for this kitten, your local shelter may be able to help too. Ours here is happy any time I bring them kittens (a feral momma cat out near my parents keeps bringing her litters into my parents' yard, and their dog would end up hurting or killing them, they fear). The momma cat hauls them there at about a month-six weeks old, and given the life they would have on the streets here, it is better to take them when they could be caught than to leave them with their mother until they are older. The first litter of 4-5 kittens I took in were all male kittens. That is a lot of toms to have fighting and running around a small town. I have taken 6-7 kittens in to them from two different litters that feral cat had this summer, and they always have a shortage on kittens to adopt out.


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## GoateeFarms50 (Mar 20, 2013)

The kitten is dying. This morning she was fine, acting normal. But when I checked on her at around 3:00 p.m., she was limp and felt cold. I still feel a heartbeat, but her breathes are coming slow and forced through the mouth. Some part of me still thinks there is something I can do to save her. But I know she is too far gone. It just hurts that at one moment she is fine, and alive, and the next down and dying. I keep thinking there could have been something I could done to prevent this. Poor little thing... she could have become such a loving cat... just glad she had a happy time over the last few days she was here.


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## mayia97420 (Apr 22, 2014)

You did everything you could do - and at least you tried - she was loved and fed the time she was with you- no matter how hard we fight we just lose some.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

There may have been something wrong inside , that no one could have known about . Don't beat yourself up , you did everything you could :hug:


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Just taking them home and trying to do something for them was great. If they were thrown out of a window or something, you just don't know the possible extent of internal injuries.


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