I found a little baby kitty (6 weeks?) full of fleas and he eats but won't drink! With or without bottle! HELP

Question

I found a little baby kitten today. She has been out and about in someone else's yard and I finally got a hold of the owners and found out that it wasn't there cat. So I went ahead and swooped the adorable little kitty up. She looks maybe 6 weeks old, it's hard to tell. She was COVERED in fleas though, it was awful. I've spent the last four or five hours giving her a flea bath, picking out her hair, and giving her flea spot treatments, a long with a new flea collar. She was hard to catch but since then she's not active. She mostly likes being all balled up in a blanket being warm. I tried to give her a cat baby bottle with some fake milk stuff I bought that was for baby cats and she wouldn't drink it, tried water, and no go on that either. She would eat and eat her little cat food I bought her though. She ate quite a bit of that stuff. So what is my next step? How do I know if she's not thirsty b/c of other reasons or b/c she is sick? I really need help on the next steps! PLEASE!

I would really appreciate it!

Answer 1

For one I would suggest wet food, which I suspect you are already doing, as this will help keep her hydrated.  The other thing that would be worth trying is turning a tap on very low, just a slow stream, and setting her in the sink with it.  Cats instinctively prefer running water over still water.  The don't out right know its got less parasites in it, but generations of cats that avoided drinking still water survived better to pass on the trait.

Answer 2

Fleas cause a disease called erlichiosis to cats. They transmit a blood parasite that causes them to lose appetite, stop drinking water and become anaemic.

You would do well to take your cat to the vet to be checked.

Answer 3

I would say since she is eating regular, just try giving her fresh cool water in a bowl and see what happens, and if that doens't work, check with the vet.  

Answer 4

put a little honey on the tip of the nipple then try nursing her or put a small bowl with water in it and see if she will drink from it. good luck and hope your new family member is fine

Answer 5

im not a vet or anything, but i have a cat and he hardly ever drinks. I read that they only like drinking 'dirty' water, like from a pond or out of a  toilet. They dont like the chemicals in the tap water.

Answer 6

Oh dear! You could be potentially causing more harm than you are good...if you check the labels on those flea treatments, they all warn you NOT to use the products on kittens that are not a certain age, and you truly do not know it's true age, so you're really making a gamble with the kitten's health here. You should be using natural, non-toxic alternatives to get rid of the fleas and keep them gone for as long as possible. If you just recently applied the liquid flea medication, I would bathe the cat to try to wash it off of her skin. Also, they warn on the labels NOT to combine the flea med application with any other form of medicines intended on flea control!!

I know you mean well, but you need to seek help and assistance from professionals (such as vets and vet techs) when you don't know any better (that's what non-mechanics do when they know that something's wrong with their car, because they don't know how to fix it). Hurry and take off the flea meds/collar and call a vet and/or a cat rescue group in the morning!

Here are some COMMON QUESTIONS answered:

http://www.catsofaustralia.com/kitten_fl...

Best of Luck...

Answer 7

take her vets to be checked out. also you could try dipping your finger in the cat milk to see if she will suck the liquid

Answer 8

Wet food.  As long as she's eating wet food she'll probably be fine.  Get her to the vet asap to make sure she's healthy.  The vet can tell you if she's dehydrated and how to handle it.  In the past I've added unflavored pedialyte to my cat's wet food or plain meat baby food but you should get your vet's opinion.

And ditch the flea collar.  They aren't safe even for healthy adult cats.  And make sure that what you've used on her is safe for her age, many flea treatments are for kittens over 8 weeks old (many, not all).  

Drinking isn't all that normal for cats, if they were wild they'd get most of their water from their prey so if she's eating wet food that will probably be fine.  Once she's feeling better she will probably figure out drinking.

Good luck!  Cheers to you for saving her!