3 week old bottle baby biting me!

[OrphanMom]

Hi Everyone! I just joined this forum because I am having a problem I have never experienced before! I am a Bottle Baby Foster parent for the local Animal Control and I was called to pick up a 2 1/2 - 3 weeks old kitten last night. He is so healthy and perfect, but he has a strange behavioral problem. He is biting me. Not just biting...attacking!

He's the tiniest little thing, but he actually goes after me. It's not all the time, it seems to happen on a full stomach when we're in "cuddle mode". It started when I thought he was going to nuzzle my neck and he lunged and bit my cheek. I put him down on my belly again and a few moments later he began biting my shirt pretty violently trying to get a good bite on my skin. I let this go on for about 5 minutes, picking him up and moving him every so often. I wanted to see if I was imagining this and maybe he was just still hungry and trying to nurse. Each time I would move him to a different place on me or on the bed next to me, he'd find a way to bite me again. I finally just put him back in his carrier.

Any thoughts? Has this happened to another bottle baby rescuer before?

[MissDolittle]

Welcome OrphanMom! :)

Are you sure that he is not playing? Does he seem scared? Is he hissing
while attacking? Can you rule out a response to pain? Any info on his
history? Kittens that were around small kids are often traumatized. Lots
of question :).

I had this happen a lot with kittens around that age. They just don't know
that our skin is thinner than theirs and play rough. I had my skin broken
quite a few times. But that usually happens when I start them on solid foods.
They think I am edible lol.

I suggest you take him by the neck like momma would and keep him like
that until he has calmed down. He sure sounds like a feisty lil bugger :).

[OrphanMom]

Thanks for the quick reply! I am having a lot of fun on the forum already :)

Rhes wandered into someone's yard last night screaming at the top of his lungs. No mom, brothers or sisters in sight. Best guess is that momma is feral. Probably never met a human until yesterday!

Thanks for mentioning discipline. I was wondering if that was something I should do. I guess I will pick little Rhes up by the scruff until he shapes up!!!

He is feisty...sheesh! When Animal Control called last night, I was going to say "no" but I could hear him screaming his little baby lungs out. I have one litter here (8 weeks old, they are getting over being sick) and one litter at a friends house being quarantined. I really had no place to keep this little fellow, so now he's living on my bedside table in a carrier! He was named Rhes after the Rhesus monkey because he has the LONGEST little monkey arms. He's so cute.

Thanks again!

[MissDolittle]

I just saw the pictures you posted..absolutely adorable!

Yes, Rhes sounds feral..give him a couple of days and you probably have
to get earplugs from the purring :).

Oh I hear you on lack of space. Kitten time is over for this time of year
here in Texas, so I can take a breather. I released the last wildlife yesterday
too, a sweet lil skunk girl, so the entire rescue is empty.

I love the cage in the picture below, it has 3 stories and 6 compartments.
Once the newcomers are out of quarantine, they all go in there. Good for
socializing etc.

Somebody donated it to the shelter and they didn't need it, so they gave
it to me. Sounds like something you could use too.

What illness is your litter getting over? I didn't have much luck this year,
about 70% had leukemia..it's getting worse and worse.

All of these made it though..10 of them in one litter, that's just nuts lol:

http://www.amazes.us/album/albums/new/kittens/cage1.jpg

[OrphanMom]

Well, I don't know what happened to mine. The emergency vet said Panleukopenia. My regular vet said he suspects FELV. I've never had this happen before. I had four kittens out of nine die.

Part of it was definetly my fault. I went against everything I was told and put two litters together out of desperation. At that point, everyone was perfectly fine with the exception of a little upper resp. sneeze here and a weepy eye there. The next two weeks were horrible and three from one litter died and one from the other died.

Right now I have one left from the really sick litter and three left from the healthier litter. I adopted out one from the sicker litter already because I wanted to get her the hell out of my diseased zone house. She is doing GREAT at her new home...I get updates almost daily!

Symptoms now are sneezing, runny noses and weepy eyes. Three out of the four are thriving and play constantly and eat like horses. One of these three has a reoccurring super swollen eye that is being treated with Terramycin and a prescription eye drop called Idoxuridine. My regular vet says it's probably Herpes.

The only one out of the four that worries me right now is Finnegan. He's MUCH smaller than the rest and 3 times out of 5 I have to really coax him to eat. He sleeps a lot, but he is up and plays a little bit every now and again. He BEGS for attention and is always meowing at me, so I am hopeful for his recovery.

Ok, I'm rambling on and on but it's great to have someone to talk to about this! I have so many questions about keeping multiple litters and protecting all of them! What do you do to ensure that you're not transmitting anything between litters? Right now I feel like my skin is going to fall off from all of the washing and sanitizing! What about carrying viruses/bacteria on your clothing? What do about the littermates if you suspect their brother/sister has died of FELV? All the info I've been given says you can't really test for any of these diseases until 6 Months! Do you warn the adoptive parents of you suspicion? I have so many questions!

[MissDolittle]

Lots of good questions! My problem is that I foster for the shelter and since
this is small town, there is no vet available. The shelter can only euthanize
sick or injured animals..or the ones that nobody wants.

In the 5 years I have fostered hundreds of kittens that otherwise would have
been put down. About 40% didn't make it.

I only know that is was leukemia because one of the sick kittens was adopted
out to a friend and he had brought her to the vet when she started feeling
bad.

No, there are no tests for this young of age, you are right there, but I know
the signs by now. My vet does Leukemia test at 3 months of age.

One is mucus in the stool. Usually all kittens have the runs the first couple
to 3 days because of the new formula. But if consists you see mucus..it's
most likey leukemia.

The kitten just starts wasting away. One day she looks alright and eats
good, the other day she just sits here..next day it's ok again. Then there
are more bad days than good ones and you just can't deny it anymore.

I have not had a leukemia kitten make it past 8 weeks. If one has it,
the rest of the litter has it, because they got it from the mother.

Once cats touch noses or smell feces, it's transmitted. Saliva, stool and the
simple breath will transmit that virus. It's the worst of all. All my adult
cats have it..they can take it and they can get old with it, but not the
fragile kittens.

It will not survive on your clothing, but you know how easy it is to have a
bit fecal matter on you, and that's where it's survives.

The imune system shuts down slowly, they can't fight off infections, is
another sign.

Most of the kittens I get have infected and drainy eyes. I use the injectable
Penicillin for horses or pigs. I get it at the feed store. DO NOT inject the
stuff, just one drop in the eyes and within 24-36 hours the infection is
gone. Always, has never failed me. Saves you a lot of money on all those
meds you get from the vet. They also take much longer to work.

I use the stuff for all injuries, scrapes, cuts..you name it. For all animals!

Ok, transmitting between litters..I keep the new litters either in another
room or split the room I have for them with a blanket. I give them 5
days..if the stool is ok, no other signs of anything, I put them together.

I've done the same mistake as you did by the way..have to learn it the
hard way :? .

I had it happen quite often that one kitten died and the others made it.
Just wasted away as if it was leukemia, but it wasn't. I read a lot about
the kitten wasting disease..if you haven't yet, google it...it's worth knowing
about.

Yes, I would warn the adoptive parents.

Does that help any? Fire way with them questions! :)
I might not reply today anymore, it's late here, but I will tomorrow!
Where do you live by the way? I'm in Central Texas.

[OrphanMom]

I am in Los Angeles, California and I also foster for the local "shelter", if you can call it that. I call it the pound. The only reason that have even started allowing people to take out orphaned babies is because of the animal rights activists. They have been protesting like crazy for years and it's working slowly but surely! In May they killed 850 orphaned kittens. 850 in one month alone!

So...I take as many as I can! They started the bottle baby program 3 months ago, and sine then I have taken 21 kittens. Four died, I still have nine and the rest I have personally adopted to GREAT homes!

The bummer about this program is that a lot of the financial responsibility is mine. The pound give you formula, bottles and crappy canned food (I buy my own!) and they also give free vaccinations. The microchip when they are old enough is only $15.00 and I get them chipped before I adopt them out. They also offer a free spay/neuter voucher. Vet bills, medication, etc are all my problem though! In three months, I can safely say I've had almost $1500 in vet bills! Now that I've been through the dying kitty routine four times, I know what to look for and when to tell my vet to euthanize. It was an expensive lesson to learn keeping the first baby (Sophia) in the Emergency Hospital for over 48 hours when there was just nothing that could be done.

Ok, well Finnegan is a mess. He has food stuck all over his fur, so I'm going to give him a bath!

Say hi to all your babies for me!

[MissDolittle]

Oh geeze..sounds like a big mess. I moved here to small town Texas 5 years
ago. 12000 people in this town and they euthanize 3000 animals a year.

I had 2 huskies that broke down the screen door after a week of arriving
here. One was killed by a car right in front of the shelter. They immediately
caught the other one, where I found him.

A year later I was vice president, made a new website for them and got it
down from 3000 to 2000 euthanizations. But I butted in too much, politics
is not my thing, I tell ya lol. So I ended up taking all the orphans in as well
as the wildlife.

I get the kitten food and dog food for my dogs from them. That's it. The
rest I buy myself. That's why I can't afford a vet, even though I run the
website for one..it's just enough to take care of my own animals. They
work with me on the bill, but it's just not enough.

By the way, please don't use any canned food on cats or kittens..it lacks
protein and just gives them bowel problems. For kittens I always use
Purina Kitten Chow, because it has 40% protein.

If they can't eat it dry yet, just soak them in water. Works like a charm :).
I start soaking it and mixing it with the formula and feed it with the bottle
at about 3 weeks of age.

I buy the big 10 lbs bucket All Star Milk Replacer for 14 Dollars..lasts me
a few months. I get it here..but I just saw they are closed for renovations:
http://barnstocker.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=626400&Category_Code=
keep an eye on it.

I always add plain yoghurt to the formula to help the digestion.

Anyways, there are meds that you can get at the feed store. That's just
nuts to spend that much money! I get the shots for 3 dollars at the feed
store. I'll check out the other stuff I have and let you know.

Microchips I can't afford, just paid 50 Dollars for for one dog!

The shelter here doesn't give any shots nor de-worm nor spay or neuter,
so they get it back tenfold of course...

Do your kittens love to be bathed too? I had not a single on that hated
it..they were all purring..the little ones only of course. After 8 weeks
it's over lol:

http://www.kittenbaby.com/images/kittenphotos/kitty-bathe.jpg

[thundersquirrel]

dang, you two are talking up a storm!

not much to say, i don't know much about raising kittens, even though i LOVE them. have you thought about giving your kitty-attacker a stuffed animal? lol when my cat was young, we bought her little stuffed animals with catnip in them, and she'd roll around biting and clawing at them for a long time. very cute. :D

is your kitty still clawing?

[OrphanMom]

Well, I finally took some pictures of the little terror! I had bad lighting so it was tough!

INTRODUCING RHES: THE WORLDS MOST VICIOUS 18 DAY OLD KITTEN!

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a204/xvegankittenx/IMG_5301.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a204/xvegankittenx/IMG_5311.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a204/xvegankittenx/IMG_5314.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a204/xvegankittenx/IMG_5319_cropped.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a204/xvegankittenx/IMG_5316.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a204/xvegankittenx/IMG_5306.jpg

[OrphanMom]

So now I have another problem: Rhesie is constipated.

His first poo on Day 1 was exactly as to be expected: yellowy toothpaste consistency. He's had one poo per day since then (3 days in a row) and they have all been super firm (like little pebbles) and he's straining and sometimes crying to get them out. I've put a little olive oil in his formula for the past two days but it's not helping at all.

IDEAS?

[MissDolittle]

Plain Yoghurt! Works for both, diarrhea and constipation. It simply cleans
up the bacterias in the gut.

I feed 1/3 Plain Yoghurt and 2/3 formula for acute problems.

If all is alright, I put a 1/5 of yoghurt in every bottle. I do it for all animals,
even birds get a pinch and it cleans them right up.

Rhes is quite adorable! Try to turn up a guinea pig cage, they love it
when they can look out of every side of the cage. Constipation is gooooood.
I don't think I know an illness that has constipation as a symptom :).

[OrphanMom]

Ok, I'll get some tomorrow morning. I am definetly not worried about his health. This one is like a bull - nothing could stop him!

Also, the other sick ones I have been worried about have finally "turned the corner" so to speak. I truly believe they are all going to make it. I was really worried about Finnegan but now he's eating all the time and my boyfriend says he's grown a lot since he saw him 5 days ago. That's good news!!!

[MissDolittle]

That's good news!!! Very good news :). Give 'em all a cuddl from me, will
ya :).

[WingedCat]

Hehehe I can tell by little Rhes' eyes he has Attitude! What a cutie.

[OrphanMom]

Yes he DOES have an attitude! Goodness gracious! I took a video on my camera of him attacking the "momma" (stuffed bunny) in his crate. He's absolutely insane!

And he's pooping now! The yogurt worked wonders! Do I keep giving it to him or should I stop now?

[MissDolittle]

Hahahaha, good news that is! Yes, keep adding a spoon full of yoghurt to the
formula. The yoghurt keeps the formula from going bad twice as long too!

Say, how big is the movie? Filesize wise that is. I'm dying to see if he is just
playing or what lol.