What should i do when my 8 day old kitten has diarrhea i don't know what caused it and is diarrhea fatal to ki

Answer 1

Yes it is serious & can be fatal. If you have a mama cat, that is best; if no mama & you are bottlefeeding, use a food like KMR . Don't give it milk to drink as that causes diarrhea. Also, no canned food - its too young - they don't start eating solid foods until they are about 5 weeks old. Don't overfeed. Be sure it is warm enough - kittens can't digest their food unless the temperature is warm enough. If no momcat, put kitten in a tall cardboard box with a heat lamp aimed onto it on 1/2 the box & put in a thermometer so you can see that the temperature - think it must be about 102 degrees on the warm side, but it needs to have a cool side to the box to crawl away if overheated. Take kitten to vet do run a fecal check - it is common to have worms, or other parasites. Medication doesn't cost much & can save their lives. they are a little young to deworm yet & don't buy dewormers at the grocery store as they can be lethal. Kittens can get some other diseases that start with diarrhea, but often its just a case of overfeeding or worms. Be sure they get plenty of water to replace fluid-loss. Use a medicine dropper or small needle-less syringe to squirt it in the side of their mouth, a drop at a time. Be sure to keep them clean. They need small frequent meals if you are bottlefeeding. (Like every 4 hours, round the clock).

Answer 2

Diarrhoea has many causes, so without seeing a vet you won't know what caused it, and certainly no one on here can tell you. We can only suggest, but your best bet is a vet.

Have you changed diet recently? Presumably an 8 week old kitten is only just weaned - what food are you giving?

The wrong diet should only really cause soft squishy poo. If it's really runny or there's lots of it, or especially if there's blood in it or it's accompanied by vomiting you need to get to a vet asap. Profuse diarrhoea can certainly be fatal to such a young kitten, they dehydrate quickly.

Worms are the most likely cause of diarrhoea in kittens - if nothing else, please go to the vet for a proper worm treatment suitable for an 8 week old kitten. The cat should be wormed anyway as a preventative measure.

If this diarrhoea has a viral or bacterial cause, you could definitely be in trouble. Please take the kitten to the vet, especially if diarrhoea has been present for 48 hours or more as the cat will already be dehydrated.

Chalice

Answer 3

My answer has been edited because I overlooked that your kitten is only 8 days old. Call your veterinarian and ask if there's anything you can do, but I believe that diarrhea in a cat that young is indeed fatal.

Answer 4

There's nothing you can do, it is fatal.