# Pumpkin - the beautiful runt kitten (advice)



## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

This is Pumpkin, out new kitten. (we where given her free...)

She's eight/nine weeks old, the runt of a premature litter and apparently mum cat weaned of the kittens at about six weeks old.

We got her on Friday, She has fleas (which we are dealing with, with baths in weak fairly liquid water, a nit comb and tweasers - we have removed 30-40 so far!) She also had worms (which is being treated with Pancur) 

She also has horrible, horrible, diarrhea, so she's on a chicken/rice/scrambled egg only diet (with kitten milk) Her bum is sore and swollen and we have to clean it after every poop as her backside/legs get covered in it. 

She weighs an 'amazing' 570grams. 

If the bad poop doesn't go in a few days We'll take her to the vet. She's eating, drinking, sleeping and playing as normal.

Any advice on how to make her bum less sore/swollen? I've used a little sugar water, which has helped a little. Any other advice on how to help her in general/home remedies? We don't want to stress her out by taking her to the vet unless we really have too. 

her falling asleep next to a friend who came around for kitten cuddles:


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

You need to get her to a vet asap if her poop is that bad hun. A kitten that small can go downhill so fast from that kind of thing.


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

what would a vet do for runny poop though? 
it's possibly a combination of the worms and food change that is causing it - she doesn't poop much at once/that often.


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

morning-star said:


> what would a vet do for runny poop though?
> it's possibly a combination of the worms and food change that is causing it - she doesn't poop much at once/that often.


Well if shes got a bacterial infection she needs meds. Also the vet can monitor her glucose and fluid levels easier than you can. I would be concerned if she was my kitten tbh


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

Will call the vet in the morning, see what they say - I didn't think of bacterial infection -


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## Rogue665 (Mar 17, 2010)

bathing her is not going to work, it is not going to get rid of the fleas and it is just going ruin the oils on her coat that keep her warm/cool
she needs to see a vet to get proper flea and worm treatment (over the counter worm treatments do not work fully)
She should never of left her mum (idiot people who decided to give her away + breed their cat in the first place)
she needs medication to stop the diarrhea and fluids for what she has lost through the diarrhea.
she needs to see a vet.

Other than that she's a darl and real adorable.
remember to get her spayed......don't need more litters like hers


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

She's an extremely pretty girl! :flrt:

first of all please stop the baths, Rogue is right, that's going to do nothing about the fleas, but it's going to stress her and stress causes diarrhoea.

She's too young to be away from her mother, so the stress of a new home will almost guarantee that she will get diarrhoea, most kittens do when they go to a new home, unless they are older and more independent. Mum cats do not wean their kittens at 6 weeks - sorry that's a load of tosh. They start to teach independence and correct behaviour at that age, but there's a huge difference. No kitten should leave its mother and siblings before the age of at least 10 weeks, 12-13 is much better and that's the general rule that pedigree cat breeders breed by and our kittens are so confident and outgoing that they rarely get diarrhoea when they go into a new home.

Go out and buy a good quality house spray such as Staykill, Acclaim or RIP Fleas which will protect your home for 12 months. Continue to pick any fleas you see off her and leave her alone. Just spray the house and that will stop the cycle without subjecting her to anything.

If it was me I'd drop the milk, kitten milk or not it isn't necessary, she's better on water and I agree, I'd still have her at the vet for a diagnosis in case it's a bacterial infection, such as campylobacter or salmonella, or worse a parasite such as giardia. Try to take a fresh sample of the diarrhoea with you so that the vet can get it tested.

The problem with kittens is that they overdo things. When they dig in a litter tray they dig to Australia :lol: and when they poo they push so hard they can burst blood vessels in the anus, so I'm not surprised her bum is sore.

Poor little girl! :sad:

ETA: I've just seen your signature and that you have reps. If the reps are in the area where the kittens goes, then you can't use the sprays I've recommended, you'll have to buy a rep safe one, which is "Flee" (used to be Skoosh) which works by covering the fleas, eggs, larvae, pupae in a sort of 'plastic' coating to prevent them moving onto the next stage, but that doesn't last anywhere near as long.


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

got a vet appointment booked at 1:20 today - I'll see about getting some suitable flea treatment there as well. 

I was recommended pancur by a few breeders, and being Iv'e seen dead worms in her poop, I figured it must be working? 

Trust me mum was hardly around, every-time we went to visit and they where feeding the kittens on any ol' adult cat food. 

She had diarrhoea for at least a week before we got her....

The woman just wanted rid of the litter as they where and 'accident' (though they let uneautered females/males outside all the time :bash

No cats are allowed in the bedroom/rep-room. I'm technically allergic to cats.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

morning-star said:


> The woman just wanted rid of the litter as they where and 'accident' (though they let uneautered females/males outside all the time :bash


I figured that and I wasn't blaming you for taking her so young, just saying that her age would make her stress more easily than an older kitten and stress bring diarrhoea.

Hope you got on OK at the vets.


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

Well the vets gave us some kitten friendly flea treatment - some stronger worming stuff, and something thing to ease the diarrhea. 

The vet was very cross about the state that she had been given to us in, but wasn't concerned about her being too small/underweight.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

A vet wouldn't be - they see nothing wrong with kittens leaving their mum at 8 weeks, but then most of them don't breed cats. their training is in medicine and physical problems, not so much mental and behavioural problems.


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

She did say she was small for her age, but didn't think it will be a problem she did agree that she shouldn't have left mum just yet though.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

In 20 years of breeding cats, I never had a run, because I firmly believe if you look after the mother properly and feed her high protein food during pregnancy then you get a good litter.

My smallest kitten was a singleton and his mum found him pretty boring to look after and dragged him into our bed and dumped him every night (lol) He didn't thrive like all our other kittens because he wasn't stimulating enough milk flow on his own, so I started topping him up when he was a week old as I was worried about his growth. He remained the lowest weight kitten we'd ever produced until he was about 6 months old and then he grew and ended up the biggest cat in the household.

No reason to assume that Pumpkin won't end up a good size girl if you feed her right. Once the diarrhoea has settled down, wean her onto high protein kitten food and I'm sure she'll be fine! :2thumb:


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

They didn't even know mum was pregnant - Apparently she showed no signs they just came downstairs to find her with three tiny kittens (and one still born)
Poor mum was underweight when we saw her. (we visited a few times before getting her)


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## VixxieandTrixxie (Mar 20, 2012)

First off what a cute kitty and I can see why you chose the name Pumpkin lol. :flrt:

And well done for taking her in when you knew what it would involve and did you know the person who gave it to you? Sounds like they need reporting for animal cruelty.


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

VixxieandTrixxie said:


> First off what a cute kitty and I can see why you chose the name Pumpkin lol. :flrt:
> 
> And well done for taking her in when you knew what it would involve and did you know the person who gave it to you? Sounds like they need reporting for animal cruelty.


We got her from a house down a road not far from us. 

They look after a lot of strays and things as well, they have the best intentions but don't always go the right way about it. I'm angry at them in some-ways but I'm understanding in others. 


Most of their other kittens found (hopefully) good homes as I helped advertised them, as they even said they where struggling with that many cats about (They had kittens from two previous litters (from other mums) about as well). They are at least getting all the cats they officially own spayed now. 


They owe us money still as well :whip:

Sadly our old rescue cat yeti (who we took of the street near-death last December) had to be put down today -Luckly pumpkin only saw her for a few days and won't really miss the grumpy old kitty that didn't want to play. :lol2:
But seriously though I'm heart broken my pretty old kitty is gone.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Totally irresponsible idiots - poor bloody cats! I really hope they do get them all spayed! :bash:


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

Well the treatment is starting to work -she was riddled with worms poor thing. 

She's also sneezing a lot and has weepy eyes (ever since we got her) - So I'm assuming some sort of cat cold? Still eating/drinking/playing fine.


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## selina20 (May 28, 2008)

morning-star said:


> Well the treatment is starting to work -she was riddled with worms poor thing.
> 
> She's also sneezing a lot and has weepy eyes (ever since we got her) - So I'm assuming some sort of cat cold? Still eating/drinking/playing fine.


Sounds like she has a respiratory infection or even cat flu. Did you ask the vet about it?


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

It'll be one of the cat flus, very common in cats in general but rife in the 'moggie' community because of the high interaction between cats.


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

I was thinking about going back to the vets if it doesn't clear up by next week?

Well with all the cats she came in contact with its not surprising. 

She doesn't have any problems breathing or such. 

I plum forgot to mention it to the vets at the time as I was more worried about the toilet problems at the time.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Just keep an eye on it. If any discharge from nose or eye turns yellow, then there's an infection and she needs and anti-biotic, otherwise there's little you can do as it's caused by a virus.

You just need to be aware and look out for signs that the flu is escalating.


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## VixxieandTrixxie (Mar 20, 2012)

morning-star said:


> We got her from a house down a road not far from us.
> 
> They look after a lot of strays and things as well, they have the best intentions but don't always go the right way about it. I'm angry at them in some-ways but I'm understanding in others.
> 
> ...


So sorry for your loss.


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## RhianB87 (Oct 25, 2009)

Hows Pumpkin doing?


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

She's doing well! normal poop, worms all gone - fleas *mostly* gone (though some still lurking about) Going to buy some flea spray for the house.

she's been putting on like 15-20grams a day!


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

A couple of years ago I brought home 4 orphaned red squirrels and when I got home with them I saw they were absolutely riddled with fleas. I put them in my spare room and went straight to PaH and bought a tin of Acclaim. I put the box they were in, in the bath, then I totally sprayed the spare bedroom,, the hall and my bedroom, which was were they would be living. I got a new box and clean bedding and then I picked up each squirrel in turn and picked of something like 25-30 fleas from each kitten :gasp: which were dunked in the washbasin full of water, then put each squirrel into the clean box.

When I'd finished they were then put into my bedroom. For the next few days I found little fleas that I'd missed, maybe cos they were so small and picked them off. After that I never saw a flea again, my cats never got fleas, neither did my dog or my rats. The house was flea free.

That's the beauty of using a good quality growth inhibiting flea spray. Your house is protected for 12 months, so no need to ever put a chemical on your cat!


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

Do you have to spray it every-where? like under all Furniture and such?


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

The way I was told to do it at a veterinary seminar many years ago (over 20!), was to thorough hoover, empty the hoover out, give a quick spray of the stuff in there, just in case. Spray the room, paying particular attention to carpet edges, which is where the fleas will go to lay their eggs, and down the side of soft furnishing and leave it without hovering for a week.

After the week, do it again and you're covered for a year.

I've only ever had 1 flea problem since then, which was about 12-14 years ago when I brought a flea in from someone's house while looking after their plants when they were on holiday. No cats in the house so the flea jumped on me. I did the above and have never had a problem since and I don't treat the dog or the cats.


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

Many thanks for all the advice Feorag! 

Here's a few more photos taken last week


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

She's really very pretty! Her face in particular! :flrt: bet she'd win at cat shows! :2thumb:


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

Really? this street moggy? haha


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Why not? She's pretty, has lovely patterning and colour and if she grows up with a friendly temperament, that's all she needs!


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## morning-star (Jan 1, 2010)

feorag said:


> Why not? She's pretty, has lovely patterning and colour and if she grows up with a friendly temperament, that's all she needs!


We'll see - she's already got a wonderful temperament, playful, curious, happy to be pulled about and very affectionate. She'll follow you around, play and sleep on you all day if you let her lol. 

Bit naughty at times (like any other kitten ever), but a squirt bottle helps. hehe.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Sounds typical of a naughty tortie!


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