That’s adorable! We had one cat, many years ago that sucked on the ear of one of my stuffed animals her entire life… she was fine and never had any issues related to it that I can recall.
Does Reflux in premature kittens exist?
I’m asking because we got 4 tiny premature kittens yesterday with their mother. She didn’t have milk when the were born, so the little ones were bottle fed/syringe fed the 2 days before they came to us.. However since she still showed interets in her babys they stayed with her. They had around 70gram according to their owner. When they arrived, they were cold and crying. One died a few minutes after they arrived, despite slowly warming up. It had tiny bits of milk in its nose.
(they were fed ca. 60 minutes earlier)
When they were finally warmed up two were drinking, one was fed with a syringe. All were urinating normally, one had a bit of bowel movements (yellow and soft). I placed them to their mother who was very worried about her babies and cuddled around them immediatly. She had a heat pad below her box to help keeping the temperature. She was extremly nervous, so I left her alone for the time being.
When I looked after them for the next feeding, the second one was dead. Milk around nose and mouth. I checked for cleft palate, but there was none visible.
The other two also showed no signs of a cleft palate. However, they felt cold again despite lying on their mothers belly.
I warmed them up again and this time I didn’t put them back – as it seemed that the despite mother and heat pad below they could’t keep their temperature. So they stayed in the box we use for raising kittens.
One was drinking, one was not. The none drinking was tube fed. When I looked after them a ca. 15 minutes later the non drinking one hat milk running out of its nose and mouth. I cleaned it immediatly and it started breathing again – but I guess it still got something in its lungs, as it died a few minutes later.
The remaining one was now warm, still urinating normally and drinking. But it couldn’t settle down. It was always crying and seemed restless. The next two feedings went normally – as dfar as that is possible with such a tiny one. When I wanted to feed it in the late evening I found it dead – a bit of milk running out of nose and mouth. It was the smalles one of them with only 67 gram.
I’m very worried that I did something wrong… They were not the first babys I bottle fed (or syring fed/tube fed). But it’s not like I’m very experienced… Usually the ones I get are at least full term… I only had one premature Baby before, that also died after 2 days. It had only 53 gram when being born – but it was with me since birth.
None of the babyies I cared lost as much milk through their nose – and especially not their mouth. The only ones that did this, had a cleft palate. The healthy babys may choke at some milk at the beginnig when they try to figure out the bottle – and may show a bit milk at their nose when doing so – but they never showed those problems. They were fine later,
These ones died more or less immediatly after I took them in – and that’s why I’m asking myself, if I did something wrong – or if I should do something different next time – as all of them showed milk at nose and mouth. The third one looked like it had spit our everything it drank earlier and the last one also had more than just a drop outside of nose and mouth. I only fed tiny amounts – ca. 1ml each feeding, to get them started, was that still too much? The previous owner said nothing about problems with feeding – and I used the same milk as them.
It seemed all aspirated milk because it came back out of their stomach (reflux).
I know reflux is not unusual in human preemies – but what’s with cats and is their a way to avoid that? (If that’s the reason for their problems at all). But if not why came the milk back up?
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One of our 6 month old kittens will suck on the blanket a portion of the night. Will he outgrow this behavior? Are there any concerns if he doesn’t?
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Anonymous As long as he isn’t chewing holes in the blanket and eating the material he chews out of it, I would say this is a minor issue.
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Anonymous He’s suckling. Happens when mammals are removed from their mothers too soon, and can happen as a self-soothing behavior, particularly at bedtime.
Hi looking for some advice. I have contacted almost every source of Google and rescues possible. I am a single mom with an 8 year old son. Recently we had to put our cat down. He was older than my son. On top of that, my son has not heard from his father in 2 years. He is having a hard time and really wants a kitten. I don’t know if they have any programs to help with long term care for people with disabilities. . therapy animals maybe? I have also spoken to some shelters offering to volunteer in turn for help with the new kitten. So we are both helping each other. It seems that the shelters are over crowded with animals looking for loving homes and I can definitely give that!! I am not sure about my financial future as a new single mom and want to be safe.. not making mistakes in the long run. Can anyone point me in the right direction?? Thanks!!
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My 7 month old neutered kitten keeps peeing on towels and blankets. He doesn’t have a UTI-he was tested. We do our best to keep him out of the bathroom, so the towels are manageable, but it’s impossible to keep him away from the blankets. Help!
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How much medication at the same time without damaging the bodytoo much?
So, we have a group of 22 kittens (6 months) and 2 mothers. All are treatet for ringworm (Microsporum Canis) and in 3 days are finished (only 8 showed symptoms, but since they all had contact, all had to be treated).
They were treated with Itraconazole (1 week treatment, 1 week break, 1 week treatment, another 1 week break and a last week treatment). Additionally they were bathed 1 once a week in Enilconazole.
Some of them are treated with marbocyl for cat flu right now (most likely Calici).
Additional they were tested positive for giardia and worms (Toxocaridae?) last friday after most of them developed bad diarrhea that smelled incredibly bad.
For the Giardia they get treated with Metronidazole (twice a day).
Fenbendazole is not an option, as it doesn’t help anymore most of the time.
So now I still need deworm them and make a flea treatment (as they have also fleas). I don’t want to do worm and flea medication at the same day – as that would mean that at least the ones with cat flu would get 5 medications at the same time.
Only two more days till the ring worm treatment is finished, so I thought of doing flea treatment the following day and deworming the day after that to spread the treatment a little.
Some of them are clearly not well right now, so while I would normally deflea/deworm at the same time, I’m a bit hesitant here.
What do you think?
What I have to add – one of the kittens died this morning without known reason. It was not extremly thin or dehydrated and acted normal when I saw it the first time this morning. When a collegue wanted to clean their room she called me because it would lie on the floor and couldn’t move. (I was like 20 meters away in another room) She said it made strange noises and lost poo (diarrhea). When I arrived it was already gone. The hair on his tail was poofed up, eyes/pupils wide, but no heart beat and breathing. I tried to bring it back, but without success.
It had no signs of being extremly sick. It was not affected by ringworm itself and hat no catflu. It had diarrhea, but ate well. It played, was active and so on. It showed no signs of liver problems (as Itraconazole could cause that) like yellow skin.
No one has seen what happened. I was thinking that it may has fallen off a wooden layer that are left and right to the door, right beneath the windows. The cats like to sit in it and look out the windows or wait for someone to come inside. But those are only like 1,20m in height.
So I’m even more worried that all those medicaton already was too much for that one :(.
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My Bengal cat was diagnosed with pyrometra and I was unable to afford the surgery 1000-1400 I took her home and treated her with antibiotics and now she is no longer sick. Is the infection just cleared up and she still has the desease or will it come back when she goes into heat? Will she be able to have kittens again?
I’ve had a kitten for almost 2 months and have adopted a friends older cat. My kitten tries to be friendly but the adult cat hisses and tries to attack. I have put them in separate rooms with the doors between them slightly open and each has their own food, water and litter box. Should they get along better over time? I feel sorry for the older cat because she seems stressed out and won’t leave her hiding spot, even though the kitten is being friendly.
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I rescued a 6 week old kitten who tested positive for HIV. I have done some research that states at this age test probably positive for hiv antibody but not virus. Can be tested at a later date and may be negative. My vet is not offering much hope. I have other cats. My vet states kitten can’t be around other csts however literature I have been reading states that is not true either. I need some advice on what my next steps should be.
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I believe my 4 month old kitten has acid reflux. She was born from my sisters cats first litter so she has a lot of birth defects already. For the past month every time she eats a bowl of Meow-Mix cat food she throws up stringy saliva. She also seems to be chocking while doing it. Her other birth defects are twisted in legs, broken tail, and she has a little lazy eye. Please comment if you need any further information.
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In the near future I am thinking of getting a kitten but I have a dog which I have had for 6 years but when seeing small animals such as rabbits he has a tendency to nip them nothing to harsh but I am just weary as the kitten has only got 3 legs is there any advice or tips to get my dog to stop nipping other small animals in preparation for the kitten thanks.
Good morning. I’m so sorry that you had this experience. While I cannot truly answer your question about reflux, I just wanted to say that the fact that you cared so much and tried so hard does not go unnoticed. Thank you so much for trying?