This is the story of a very special little kitten, Laila. Her angel, Julie, found her abandoned, a premature newborn. With her love and devotion, help from vets and orphaned kitten experts, and a lot of vibes and prayers from TCS members, Laila not only survived, but thrived. This is the beginning of her journey. Unfortunately, the rest of the journey, all of the poopie dances and amazing triumphs of will of both Laila and Julie, were lost in the great TCS crash of December 2004.
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I
hope the chamomile works. I've never heard of that. Let me know if it
does! I would try all the things the others have suggested. Maybe a
little pumpkin or baby squash in the formula for fibre. I have also
found that kittens pee readily when stimulated but sometimes you have
to be a little more persistant for a BM- especially if they are
consitpated.
As a last resort I would try feeding a very small amount of vaseline or
laxatone. If that doesn't work I would try an enema. Your vet should be
able to do this. You would want to make sure the enema solution is very
warm and stay away from hypertonic solutions as they will dehydrate a
cat or kitten.
As Hissy said, keep him warm, everything will function much better if he is nice and toasty!
Hi Julie, I'm sorry I haven't been around to be of help to you, I'm caring for 7 kittens at the moment.
As hissy said, she may have developed a condition where her bowels
don't meet with the rectum or they have become constricted and because
of this her faeces have nowhere to go and keep building up. You said
she had a black BM initially. This is called meconium and is normal.
Because she passed stool once, it's likely that the bowels do meet with
the anus. Becasue she was a preemie, her bowels may not have developed
properly, causing a constriction or the bowel looping on itself.
Cow's milk causes diarreah in kittens. In this case, it could be what
she needs. Get some full-fat cows milk, warm it and feed her this for
her next feed. Afterwards, burp her. Then lay her on her back and
gently massage her abdomen in small circles with your thumbs. Massage
her tummy and sides, right up near her spine. What you're doing is
mimicking the bowel moving the food along (peristalsis). You need to do
this for as long as she'll let you. Make sure you massage right close
to her anus with your thumbs so it begins to get the messages from the
bowels. Next, take her little back legs and alternately straighten and
bend each one kind-of in a bicycle-like motion. If her body isn't
moving around much, her bowels will slow down.
__________________ Tania
-----------------------------------------
"When you believe there is no love in the world,
just gaze into the eyes of the cat in your lap."
Something
else you can try is stimulating her with your finger, instead of a
cotton ball. Get a small stream of warm water going at the sink, place
her rear end in the stream and using your other hand, stimulate her
with the index finger. Make sure your nails are short. Sometimes
kittens, will pull in their anus if they feel that the cotton ball or
tissue you are using is too harsh on their bottom. Your finger is the
softest thing you can use to stimulate her.
__________________ Tania
-----------------------------------------
"When you believe there is no love in the world,
just gaze into the eyes of the cat in your lap."
yesterday
i did everything the vet told me to. i put her on the chamomile diet,
gave her acidophilus, and nothing.... last night was a nightmare. she
seemed to be getting worse. her belly was still big, no BM and she was
whimpering. i stayed up all night with her and just watched her get
worse. i felt so helpless. all i could do was comfort her and pray for
her to make it till morning to rush her to the vet.
When we got to the vet station, the nice vet wasn't there, so i had to
explain everything to the vets on duty. they were speechless. they
didn't know what to do with something so tiny. they said there's no way
of raising a preemie without the mother. they're sooo ignorant!!! they
looked at me like i was crazy. i was begging them to try anything at this point.
they gave in to my plea, and decided to give her an enema. once the
blockage came out, the rest of the stool looked normal. i was so happy.
i thought we were in the clear. the vet said she could eat normally now.
when the time came to feed her again, she was still bloated. i didn't
think it was ok to continue with full strength formula, so i started
off with homemade pedialyte. when i picked her up she was whimpering
and so weak.
the next feeding i gave her a half-formula half-pedialyte mixture. she was still weak.
then i decided to give her 75% formula and 25% pedialyte, thinking she needs more nourishment. she looked a little better.
does anybody know the feeding procedure after an enema? how much and how often?
she's still really bloated. do i keep stimulating her even though she's probably still hurting from the enema?
Remember
that all hand-raised kittens will look quite rounded and pear-shaped,
this is normal. Continue feeding her full-stength formula at the
intervals you were using before, ie. Every 2-3
hours. The enema shouldn't have hurt her unless the vet was rough, so
keep gently stimulating her before each feed. If her bottom looks sore
or raw, you can rub a little olive oil on it before you put her down to
sleep. You can also use an ointment called Panalog if the olive oil
isn't helping.
__________________ Tania
-----------------------------------------
"When you believe there is no love in the world,
just gaze into the eyes of the cat in your lap."
i really think she's bloated. she looks the same way she did yesterday
when we took her to the vet when he said she was bloated. She's VERY
round. she looks like she's overfed, but i know i'm not overfeeding
her. i'm following the formula instructions.
It
may take a little while for her intestines to go down after the
blockage. Are you burping her after every feed? It could be gas. Cradle
her in one hand with her head a little higher than her butt. Gently tap
her back with two fingers and you should get at least one good burp
after every feed. Also, try the massage technique I mentioned above.
She may just need a rest from all the things that have been in her
system. Remeber to be serene and calm around her, as she will pick up
on any anxiety you are feeling and it may translate into illness in
her. You said that you read that it's best not to handle tiny kittens
too much. As far as I'm concerned, orphaned, abandoned and especially
permature kittens, need contact with their mom and that is you. Gentle
contact stimulates her mental and physical development and calms her.
__________________ Tania
-----------------------------------------
"When you believe there is no love in the world,
just gaze into the eyes of the cat in your lap."
Yes,
you can add about 1/4 of a teaspoon to her bottle, as long as it's
plain, full-fat yoghurt. No more than that at this stage. After that
please don't give her anythign else apart from her formula, as her
digestive tract needs to calm from all the different things she has
been given.
You're doing a great job with this little one. I'm sending 'keep strong' vibes for her.
__________________ Tania
-----------------------------------------
"When you believe there is no love in the world,
just gaze into the eyes of the cat in your lap."
You're being such a wonderful Mommy to your little one! Please keep us updated! 
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