Kitten advice please

[Cocopogo]

I asked a few weeks ago whether I should get one or two kittens, as the single kitten I was to get from rescue had been bonded with another kitten.
Now I have two kittens and they are completely different and def not bonded. One is a typical boisterous kitten and the other barely moves. He sleeps all day and struggles to clean himself.
Both don’t seem to be eating much. How much should a kitten eat?
They are having 1/4 to 1/2 a pouch each, each day.

Sadly I think you are right. The rescue has massively messed up and failed this kitten. He needed supportive care not rehomed.

Exactly - he should have been taken to the vet in the first place, not sent home with someone so inexperienced.

A rescue that incompetent is unlikely to spend a lot of money on treatment at this stage, sadly. Poor little thing.

I really don’t think people should be having a go at the Op. She sought advice from the rescue who she trusted. She didn’t know not to trust them. Don’t know if she could report them.
She’s paid hundreds to a vet and will have been following their advice, not the Kitten Lady on YouTube, good though she may be.
We don’t know the rescue will pts, although I agree it’s a possibility.

@GardeningIdiot and @Wolfiefan no idea why you thought I didn’t listen. I absolutely listened and followed all advice. Including trying bottle feeding until the teat was bitten off and then syringe feed on advice of vet.

I have spent £450 this week. As a single parent on minimum wage that’s a lot of money to me but I wanted to do the best for him.

The rescue absolutely are not looking to PTS. I asked them whether PTS would be best and they said they would fight to avoid that and have taken him to an experienced foster carer until he is well enough to come home.

I really don’t think people should be having a go at the Op. She sought advice from the rescue who she trusted. She didn’t know not to trust them. Don’t know if she could report them.

I think people are just upset. There are lots of really experienced people on here who work with underage animals and who have raised kittens - we all gave up our time and advice for free - and unfortunately we were all shouted down and told we were wrong, putting the kitten at even more risk.

You did not. It's here in black and white. And you still trust the rescue that put you and the kittens in this situation?

The rescue "who weren’t concerned and think I’m doing everything right and that the little one just needs settling in time."

I guess at the beginning, OP had no reason not to trust the rescue that she says she's worked with for a while. She followed their advice but as they say - you don't know what you don't know.

However there are lots of really experienced posters on here who gave up their time and knowledge to help - and they were roundly shouted down and told they were wrong, that OP was doing everything right and that the lethargic kitten would be fine once it had settled.

Unfortunately, to those of us with more experience, it was obvious that that kitten should never have been sent home with OP. It's never normal for kittens to be lethargic and even a quick google will tell you that if your kitten is showing lethargy or lack of appetite then it's an emergency and they must see a vet as soon as possible. That's even more essential when the kitten in question is only 4-5 weeks old.

We said all this, multiple times, but no vet treatment was sought for two days. It's upsetting to know that OP had a kitten that was clearly failing to thrive yet wasn't doing the right thing to help it.

I don't think all of that is OP's fault - she was sent home with insufficient training and equipment, wasn't told the kittens were so young and didn't have enough experience - but that doesn't make it any less upsetting to read, especially when, despite continuing to help, you're still being told you're wrong.

Exactly…

Firstly. This was a very careless use of glue at the cattery. That said, I suggest trying two different bowls of food and feeding the kits separately.

You may want to RTFT :)

One kitten is now under the care of the vets due to severe lethargy and weight loss.

I totally agree - the rescue aren't fit for purpose and should maybe be closed down.

If I were OP I'd be trying to reclaim my costs from the rescue - they were incredibly irresponsible to do what they did and put this poor kittens life at serious risk :(

I agree with you @urbanbuddha .
The real problem lies with the rescue who don't seem to know what they're doing. Any rescue place doing it's job properly would surely not hand over part-weaned kittens with out any follow up or support. Shocking 😪

It's definitely a visit to the vet or the Blue Cross who are fantastic in emergencies.

www.bluecross.org.uk/

Also well worth a donation.

I would worry less about the money and more about the fact the OP has returned a sickly young kitten to a rubbish “rescue” who have already failed in its duty of care to this animal.

Yep, there's that too.

I suspect, regardless of what the rescue says, they'll have him PTS. It sounds like they don't have a clue.

I kind of hope they do pts to be honest-he's been buggered about with by incompetents long enough. I am so angry about this.

Shouted down? What a load of drama.
I got an appointment with the vet as soon as it was recommended. I also read the thread about kittens going down hill fast and fading kitten syndrome yet you contradict yourselves and say the rescue should have had a crystal ball and known the kitten would rapidly decline.
Everyone is doing everything they can to save the kitten. All volunteers. But you lot would rather start blaming everyone instead of being supportive.

Also, there has been lots of support just some wanting to point fingers when my kitten is still fighting for his life.

UPDATE
The kitten has an infection in its foot which my vet missed but gave generalised antibiotics anyway. Luckily thanks to the rescue centre volunteers taking him to their vet it was picked up on and hopefully now can receive the right treatment which my vet wasn’t giving him.
For this reason and the fact a fosterer is now looking after my kitten for me I have no ill will with the rescue. Once my kitten is well and out the woods I will speak to them about things but as I said a few pages but I strongly suspect they are so overwhelmed at the moment for so long that they are struggling. No excuses but if I can help in anyway I will.
Also, RSPCA emailed back saying they couldn’t help me so it’s a good job things are in place now.
It’s just wait and see.

This is the reason why I disregarded your comments. You are just spouting nasty unhelpful comments.

I've been following your thread and I'm really pleased to hear that your kitten seems to be getting the help he needs. I hope he will perk up and be back with you soon. I do feel that some of the comments made about how you've looked after him have been very harsh and unkind when you've been trying to help him. I can also appreciate how much of a blow it must have been for you to have had to find so much money for the vet's bills when you weren't expecting. Now that the kitten is receiving the treatment he needs, I think you're right to leave the concerns about the rescue rehoming him way to early for now, but you should raise this with them when he's better and you've got him back.

‘What a load of drama’

What I have seen is people who are experienced in helping failing underaged kittens try to help another person who asked for help. Kittens can’t wait days for vet support ( antibio, subcutaneous fluids, iv) etc they need it within hours if they start to fail or show signs of infection.
What I have seen is people who are frustrated at the lack of urgency shown.
What I have seen is people continue to try and give positive advice despite being ignored for the advice of a rescue who have failed a little creature.
I send best wishes to the fosterer now trying to get this wee one through and really hope he/she can do that.
At the risk of being told I am spouting a ‘load of drama’ for the wee kittens sake please spend the next weeks researching the effects of having no Mum, being rehomed too early, having failure to thrive etc on his behaviour so you can learn how to support/teach him what he needs ( if he survives) to help him grow into a happy cat not one with behavioural issues caused by his poor start/lack of litter mates/lack of socialisation etc.

@Potentialmadcatlady thanks for taking the time to respond. As I said earlier, I have listened to everyone and taken their advice on board and kitten is doing well.
I’m not too concerned about socialising as I’m just dealing with medical stuff now but hopefully he will come home to my other cats and get socialised that way.

Hello. Any update on the poorly kitten?