r/fosterkittens

(hey i just want to start of by saying thank yall. its so good to learn from experienced people on this matter.)

long story short: we found him and locals told us his mother was absent for three days at least. he was covered in fleas and was extremely underweight. he was 200 grams at three weeks old.

its been almost 3 weeks since i got him. so that makes him about five weeks old. he's been doing good. his bladder infection is gone thanks to the antibiotics but i have a diffrent problem now. his huge belly.

i dont remember him having this big of a belly a week ago. he is growing up fast but still weights less than he should (375gr). he started weaning and now he can eat dry kitten food confidently. i always assumed his belly was because of worms but vet told me he was too young to deworm. now i saw couple of people sayig kittens can get dewormed as young as 3 weeks old so i didnt understand the vet but didnt push it untill today. his well being was okay besides the belly. i know its not poop because he poops a good amont each day and im hoping its not fip. thats my worst case scenario and though he doesnt show any affects besides the belly, im worried

anyways the vet gave him the dewormer (only a small amount). im hoping it will cure his large belly. also can kittens get fip when theyre 3 weeks old? im so worried that my older cat who is 10 years old will get it from him.

Edit to add: although this looks like one tiny worm (which would make us think tapeworm) if you watch until the end, you can see the other end of this huge worm moving. It’s the same size as that other one that’s not moving on the side. It’s suuuuper long. My other cats had tapeworms from fleas but those were tiny, like the ones you see inside apples. These worms the fosters have are huuugeee I’ve never seen ones this long outside of the brown ones that live on dirt.

Original post:
For context. I’m a single mom. On a single mom budget, but have a big heart and want to do all I can to help during kitten season.

I have a litter of 5 that will be ready for adoption in a few days, and two 1.5 years old resident cats. And a 6 year old dog.

I just got three new kittens that I’m keeping separate, and I knew they were coming with diarrhea but then one went #2 and my daughter and I saw this.

I am freaking out. I can’t afford my resident cats or child to get sick or get worms.

The medicine they gave me I don’t think it’s for this. It’s called Alvin 50mg/ml and a hydration supplement.

Is this something that’s going to be problematic? I don’t have a washer machine as I live in an apartment and having to disinfect everything constantly is too much for my current state of mind. Should I return them to go to a better Forster with more resources or am I freaking out for nothing and it should be okay?

AI spit out that I could even be carrying their eggs in my socks and taking them around the house and now I’m really freaking out.

Please help this new foster parent out with some of your experience! Thank you!

This is my 2nd time fostering 4 week old kittens. They spend a lot of their time in their enclosure, but we let them loose in the room to play and get some energy out several times a day.

Last night one of them peed under my desk instead of using one of the 3 litter boxes in the room. I used a carpet cleaner and went over the area with My Pet Peed. Today I caught one of them scratching under my desk so I put her in the litter box so she went in there, but then when I looked away for a moment her brother peed under my desk in a different spot.

Could this be because they aren't feeling 100%? They are all on amoxicillin for some tummy troubles one was having. Or are some young kittens not great at using litter boxes yet? This wasn't an issue with the last litter I fostered.

Thanks!

edit to add: we clean their litter boxes many times a day! I had just cleaned their litter boxes when they were enjoying some lunch, then they decided to pee on the carpet.

Willow (foster kitten) using our Tigger as a pillow

Pic for attention this is my 3rd neonate foster Mei who will definitely not be our last neonate so I'd like to get better prepared.

I'm starting to realise I need a better setup for keeping the babies warm as using reusable heating pads isn't simple as they start off too hot and lose heat overtime it's making the temperature fluctuate.

Im thinking of getting an electric heating mat but I'm struggling to find one that's safe and can be completely sanitised between kittens.

Wires aren't too much of a concern as I can drill a hole in the box I use to contain the neonates which the wire would feed through and the whole floor area is covered anyway.

It can't have an automatic 2 hour shut off and needs to allow me to set the temperature and it needs to be safe as although it will be covered with bedding we all know their little claws can get through bedding easy. Also being between 30-45cm in size would be best

I'm based in the UK any recommendations would be great as I'm a bit stumped

long story short: we found him and locals told us his mother was absent for three days at least. he was covered in fleas and was extremely underweight. he was 200 grams at three weeks old.

now its been a almost two weeks since i found him. we was eating well, always drinking milk no matter if he was full or not and he was always screaming. i noticed his urine beeing a bit thick at the end. the color and overall was normal but i texted my vet and she said it was mostly an infection. i feel bad for not acting on it sooner. i told the vet earlier but she didnt checked him. his peepee looked normal and all. anyways we got antibiotics for him but since he was still smaller than most kittens his age, the vet said to wait till he weighted more than now to get dewormed but she still prescribed antibiotics.

anyways i was gone for a single day and i trusted my parents that they would take care of him but i just found out they didnt gave him the medicine ever. i started today with the antibiotics but he is acting quieter. my questions are

-do kittens start to act diffrent when they are 4-5 weeks old? he's not meowing frequently like he used to

-he pooped by himself on the mat. is that a sign he is growing up normal?

-should i feed him every two hours like a newborn or 4-5 hours apart like a 4 week old kitten? like i said he is still underweight.

im asking all of this because im still paranoid and vets dont give me my answers

Posting to rant. Yesterday morning my kitten was acting lower energy than usual, and I told the shelter and they told me to think nothing of it and ofc I’m not allowed to take him to the vet. I pleaded bc I thought something was seriously wrong after he wouldn’t eat lunch and still they wouldn’t believe me, and finally I brought him in to get checked at the shelter and lo and behold he is severely dehydrated at the least. They took him to the hospital and also picked up his sister from my house (which was a shock) for observation. She is still at the shelter and is apparently fine, though I’m worried she’ll pick something up there since they said something is going around.
I can’t stop crying. This is my first time fostering and I was ready to foster fail because I fell in love with them. I’m so worried about him and I’m worried this is somehow my fault, that he ate something on the ground or I accidentally contaminated him. They’re only 8-9 weeks old.

Neonatal cuteness alert, if you’re into baby Yoda looking creatures 😁

Oh hi! Make sure you get my good side ✨

I got roped into helping trap kittens at a newly-discovered cat colony in a rural area this week. They are SNEAKY and we've only caught 2 so far and there are probably about 8 - multiple litters. A tiny long-haired gang, a couple slightly older orange fellas, and what appears to be a mom with a single black kitten that follows her around. I've never fostered before & these two are currently living in my tub/bathroom - at least until I can get the MANY fleas treated. Poor little tabby girl was so bitten up that the water tinted red when I gave her a Dawn bath. She's the liveliest of the two right now - really playful and happy. Little orange man obviously doesn't feel so hot (had a bit of diarrhea) - who knows what he's been eating since he's definitely fully weaned and the teeny-tiny was likely still drinking mom's milk even though she doesn't have to. He's more reserved and scared, but they both seem tame for babies who were living in a dilapidated house and outbuildings full of actual garbage.

Going to catch the rest of them (at least 8, we think!) and then give them some goofy themed names. I collect vintage toys (50s through 90s) and will probably name them after like... Rainbow Brite characters or something.