How do i help this kitten?

Question

Someone dumped a very small kitten (about the size of my hand) at my barn.

Its eyes are badly infected. I'm taking it to the vet but the soonest i could get it in is monday.

The poor thing has been sleeping a lot, i think she was to scared at the barn to sleep and im pretty sure she was hiding around there for a few days or more.

other then its eyes its fat and healthy. which is why i think she was someones pet until her eyes got infected. She is so scared, if i leave her alone for more the a few minutes she starts crying.

When she wakes up her eye lids are stuck together and i hold a warm rag to them so she can open them to see. I don't know much about cats so i thought i would ask what i can do until monday to make her feel better.

Answer 1

First of all, stop giving the kitten milk.  Cats can not digest pasteurized milk and it can make them very sick.  Cat food and water is all it requires if it's old enough.  If the kitten is under 8 weeks, then you need to buy it special formula from a pet store.  Do not use any human medicine on the kittens eyes.  Simply take a papertowel (one per eye) and wet it down with plain fresh water (no soap or ANYTHING) and GENTLY wipe the corners of the eyes to get the goop out.  You may need to do this several times a day until you get him to the vet.  Do NOT wipe the eye itself, you can scratch the cornea and cause a lot more problems.

There is no way to tell you how much it's going to cost.  My office charges $60 for the visit plus whatever tests need to be done (or meds).  But my sister only pays $20 for an office visit.  It depends on where you live, and the vet you go to.  If your parents are not willing to pay (and it could go into the hundreds of dollars), I would take the kitten to a shelter and allow them to take care of it - they will see it gets the best care possible - and find it a home where finance is not an issue on the care.  It's great you want to take care of the kitten, but before they will even treat it, they will need to do the full panel of shots and tests, and that could, in itself, run from $70-$150 - not including the eye issue.

Answer 2

tea is a good heat up a little water poor it in a bowl with the tea bag and let it cool when it is luke warm take the bag and wipe the kitty's eye with it from the inside out  on both eyes do that every four  hours or so that will help.

Answer 3

you need to find out how old the kitten is because if she is young enough you may need to bottle feed her but other wise just wipe her eyes very gently with a warm wash rag. make sure she has somewhere warm to stay and make sure she has food and water  

Answer 4

She's probably got an upper respiratory infection. A lot of times cats that live outside get that. One good thing to do is to take her into the bathroom and turn the shower on really hot so it starts to steam up the bathroom and just sit in the bathroom with her (not in the shower) so the steam can help loosen up her sinuses and make her breathe easier and loosen some congestion up. I would also keep putting the warm washrag on her eyes to open them back up for her.

The vet will most likely give you some antiobiotics and some eye gel for the eye infection. The eye medicine will probably cost around $30 and the antibiotics like $15 or $20. If you include that with an office visit fee your probably looking at around $60 to $70 for the whole deal.

She is probably too small to get any flea or tick medication, but the vet will probably want to give her shots also, so I'd add another $30 to $45 dollars onto that.

Answer 5

I had a friend thats baby kitten had the same eye problem (sounds like). When she took her to the vet they gave her a type of antibacterial cream to rub on her eyes daily. I guess until monday you could try lightly cleaning her eyes with a warm rag. Would probably be best to use a clean rag each time to not spread whatever the infection may be. Your a good person to take her in. Most people would leave it there to die. Thankyou!!! (I'm a cat lover lol)

Answer 6

Fix her a nice soft bed, somewhere inside, where she can be safe and warm.  Put a large stuffed sock in the bed, for her to "cuddle" with.

Give her a lot of love, some warm KMR (kitten milk replacement)...no milk, unless it's GOAT's milk.  Cows milk will give her a bad case of diarrhea!  Fix her a litterpan...(dishpan works great), and a bowl of fresh water.

Keep on cleaning her eyes......from the nose-side to the ear-side, so you don't get any of the gunk IN her eyes.  It may be that her eyes aren't infected, just filthy from the hay, etc in the barn!  If you have mice in your barn, she could have the germs from their droppings in her eyes, and that's what causing them to "crust up".

Sounds like you're doing just fine..........Good luck with her, and thanks for being willing to get her to the vet on Monday.  You're a good person!