Stray kitten

[actionfigurestepho]

My boyfriend recently brought home a stray kitten. She can't be more than 4-6 weeks old. She's still in the habit of sucking on things, especially my nightshirt when I'm trying to sleep, which is annoying.

I'm afraid that maybe she was separated from her mom too early and that cat food won't give her the right nutrients. Is it OK to give kittens milk? Do we have to heat it up first? I know milk can give older cats worms and I don't want that to happen to this little one.

[robinseggs]

Definately call a vet and get her checked out. She could already have any number of parasites/diseases that could doom her if not treated. At the very least if you don't take to vet, bathe her check her for fleas/ear mites....
You can go to a pet store and buy kitten replacement milk in cans. They even have the tiniest nipples/bottles too. Don't feed her cows milk. Could give her diarhea and dehydrate her. If she hasn't good teeth in, you could soften her kitten food with the replacement milk. My vet told me that the sucking behavior is a sign she was weaned too early.

I had a sick kitten that was taken from his mom too soon and the vet recommended some bottled milk formula and meat baby food. He turned into a lovely cat. Definitely take the kitten to the vet. Good luck!

[actionfigurestepho]

Replacement milk is a great idea. I'll try mixing her food into that. She was examined by a vet before the Boy brought her home (his grandparents found her and took care of her) but we forgot to mention the food! Thanks for the heads up on the cow's milk. I'd hate to give her tummy problems or worse.

[valerie]

Just wanted to clear up something... milk doesn't cause worms in cats.

[actionfigurestepho]

Originally Posted by valerie

Just wanted to clear up something... milk doesn't cause worms in cats.

Our vet told us there was a connection between giving one of our adult kitties milk and his getting worms. He didn't really say it causes it, but I just kind of assumed that was the connection since I'm hopelessly ignorant about this sort of thing. Does it make worms somehow more attracted to the cat? Or does it lower their immune system or get rid of an antibody or something in their bowel?

I heard it just caused diarrhea. My vet said cats can get worms from raw eggs... so does that mean humans can get worms from drinking egg nog? Yikes!

[mominiowa]

We had a kitten that did that sucking thing and it NEVER ended-- she was almost a year old when we lost her to the POOL but up till that time she still sucked on my daughters hair at night -and we have those tie blankets made out of felt...she would suck on the end of it--that was her Pacifier..LOL I don't know if she would have ever quit...but the vet just told us that it was because she was a young kitten and had not adjusted with out her mom...guess what.....It never stopped..LOL

[valerie]

Originally Posted by actionfigurestepho

Our vet told us there was a connection between giving one of our adult kitties milk and his getting worms. He didn't really say it causes it, but I just kind of assumed that was the connection since I'm hopelessly ignorant about this sort of thing. Does it make worms somehow more attracted to the cat? Or does it lower their immune system or get rid of an antibody or something in their bowel?

Well now I hafta say you've got me stumped. Let me do a little googling
and see what I can come up with!

[valerie]

Boy, I tell ya, I can't find it, maybe if BR sees this she will be able to
enlighten us all!!

I do know that larva can sometimes be passed on through the mother's
milk to kittens. And adult kitties (adult just about any animal, really)
can get diarrhea from drinking milk. After weaning they lose the ability
to digest lactose. The usual for a vet when presented with an
animal with diarrhea is to suspect worms. Sometimes they will treat
for that even if it doesn't show up on a fecal test.

Anyway, your kitty should do great with the formula and the meat baby
food, and it wouldn't hurt any to try those things. Poor little waif!