Syringe-feeding poorly kitten

[NotDarkGothicMama]

I've been a cat owner for the grand total of 3 weeks. My poor 5mo kitten has been suffering from d&v for a week, hasn't been eating and has lost a lot of weight. He's skin and bones :( He's been to the vet's 3 times for treatment and IV fluids and there's nothing obstructing his guts or obvious parasite or infection. We've resorted to syringe-feeding him just to get some nutrition in. I'm reading up as much as I can on what to do but I feel completely unqualified for this situation. Any advice?

Kitten formula milk is great stuff for ill cats. Not the normal cat milk but actual formula milk for newborn kittens. It's about £10 a small tub.

Great, I'll get some today. He's actually been amazing this morning. He had his meds and a syringe of food, then wolfed down some warm poached chicken! I put the leftover syringe food in the bowl as sauce so he's had plenty of that. I really hope he's on the mend. I doubt it'll be that straightforward though.

One formula milk feed done. He wouldn't take any solids so I mixed it up with some mousse. He started yowling like he was going to be sick afterwards, but didn't actually throw up. It was only 10ml so will try 5ml next time and see how that goes.

Next syringe done. He's curled up for a nice nap with his favourite toy.

He's lovely.

Try putting out some fresh warm formula in a bowl when he wakes up so he can have a drink when he wants aswell.

What food is he on? Grain free is gentler on their stomachs. Doesn't have to be expensive, webbox naturals for kittens is decent enough.

Wishing him well!

Thankyou. He's a gorgeous little boy but needs to eat!

He's usually on Applaws tins and Royal Canin Kitten biscuits. The vet put him on Royal Canin Kitten Gastrointestinal biscuits, then the mousse when he refused to eat the biscuits. Right now I'm mixing the mousse with the kitten formula milk and feeding it to him warm with the cooked chicken.

How is he today, OP?

Thanks for asking. He's doing ok, still having d&v and not eating but he's looking a bit brighter. He wanted to go out so he's had a sniff around the garden in his harness. I contacted the breeder and she recommended Smilla paste so he's licked a good bit of that off my fingers as well as having the syringe mixture.

We had a video call with a vet at lunchtime to go through what's already been done and what there is still to do. We're collecting stool samples and he's back in for a blood test on Monday. Poor kitty. I asked how far it's fair to go with force feeding and medicating him and subjecting him to invasive testing, but she said he's got a way to go before we give up on him. I'd steeled myself for the PTS conversation so I'm very relieved.