Hello, I've got two kittens from a neglected home.

I've got them now, and we're planning on keeping them.

The female is very, very skinny, and when we brought her home she just started drinking water,

and drinking water,

and drinking water.

and although she's tiny she's nearly drained a whole bowl.

What can I do? I'm worried about not only her malnutrition, but her dehydration as well. I will be taking her to the vet (along with the brother), but until then I want to keep her as healthy as possible.

maybe give them a little wet food to get some food and water in- its good that at least she is drinking water! how old is she? would she still be drinking from mum?

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I hope Ianthi or one of the breeders will be able to give you a fuller and better answer, but keep them warm, stress-free and feed them wet food, no dry.

If necessary, mix the food with some boiled water (cooled down to lukearm) . The warm water will not be too hot to eat, but will bring out the scent and flavour of the food, and it will make them consume extra water while eating.
Use high quality kitten foods like almo nature, animonda, bozita or special food from the vet. If they are very young they may also need kitten milk (from the vet, not from the shop)

If they feel comfortable in your arms, by all means let them be with you, but only if they are happily trusting you. They may be wary of humans, and if so, forcing yourself onto them can intensify the fear.

Make them feel safe, which also means: don't push it with your presence or attention. If they trust you and approach you, so much the better, but if they are scared of you, take things at their pace. Give them clothes or rags with your scent on it to get used to you, but leet them approach you.
Keep them in a safe room and sit on the floor and ignore them. Read a book or poetry out loud, but avoid eye contact. Direct eye contact is domination.

Let them get used to your presence and your gentle, soothing reading voice. When they are in the same room, ignore them while you go about your business and talk all the time. Tell them what you do, talk to the plants, talk to yourself about how sweet the kittens are...


Oh, and buy a feliway diffuser. It spreads cat feel-good feromones, making the place smell of a safe happy cat home.

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Jiskefet & the mognificent Dutch bunch

My little angels at the rainbow bridge

And please see a vet today.
If there is anything really wrong with them, better know of it and treat it straight away. They will have no reserves at all, being so skinny, so any illness will be realy serious in their present condition.
Besides, a vet will be able to give you extra tips and special foodstuff they may need to perk up more quickly.
Also they may have worms or other parasites, which you will want to get rid of ASAP

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Jiskefet & the mognificent Dutch bunch

My little angels at the rainbow bridge

Some great advice from Jiskefet, but just wanted to say well done for taking them in and giving them a loving home. Hope they settle in soon and become happy and healthy!

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Basil & Sybil

I think worms can make them drink a lot. Treacle drank a lot at first too!

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RIP Charcoal my shy girl 1987-2000, Patch the wanderer 1987-?, Tabby my darling fluffball 1988-2002 & Panda the rascal 1988-2008

Yep they need a vet check.

All the rest of the advice is good - how old are they? They probably need worming, defleaing, and having their vaccinations, and being neutered.

Make sure they have a safe haven - somewhere warm, dry and dark. A cardboard box is often a good start. Restrict them to one room at first until they settle in and you are sure they can use the litter tray well. Keep your litter tray at the opposite end of the room to their food, Keep food and water a little separate too. Don't feed dry if you can manage it and make sure they get fed little and often. If they have been neglected they may wolf their food down as they aren't sure when the next meal will arrive and that often makes them be sick.

Once they are vet checked, wormed etc then look at changing their wet food to one of the ones we recommend on here Bozita etc - but don't worry about that now - just get them well and healthy.

Well done on taking them on. Piccies are a must as payment for advice

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please look at my website - www.finesthourcats.webs.com - for gorgeous GCCF registered RagaMuffins and Selkirk Rex

Guys, I am worried. The poster of this thread has not been back on line since (s)he posted this.
I hope the kittens are OK







and I hope this is genuine and (s)he'll be back....

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Jiskefet & the mognificent Dutch bunch

My little angels at the rainbow bridge

Hi everyone,

Thank you for the advice. They've warmed up to the home really quite nicely, and we've gone to see a naturopathic vet. He's suggested a high-fat diet for the female, with egg yolk and low-sodium wet food. The male is doing well, and is able to eat the suggested moistened kibble.

They're apparently 5 months, but can be held with one hand easily. Don't worry, we'll take care of them! The initial worry of extreme dehydration has passed, but our suspicions were correct. They were most definitely neglected.

I'll keep updating on them, as we hope they grow stronger throughout the week.

Thank you so much!