Anyone here have experience with neonatal/injured kittens?

[mel_la_fee]

I've raised kittens before, but never one that was found in this bad a shape. There are literally TONS of places to get information about what I should do, but it's definitely a case of too much information being a bad thing-especially since a lot of the information varies drastically, even just between the different humane society pages for different states (!). I figure we're all animal loving people here, so maybe a rehabber has some experience that could help in this case as well? Forgive me for non-squirrel related issues, but this little doll is so bad off....(also, if a moderator wants to move this message, please put it in the appropriate category for me with my humble thanks and apologies).

He's about 2 weeks old and when found (Monday), his entire hind quarters were covered/crusted over with old blood. His eyes were sealed shut because of dried mucus from a serious eye infection, with one eye appearing to be protruding WAY off of the head because of all the puss that was built up and trapped beneath the crusted/sealed eyelid. His nose was partially clogged with dried mucus and his fur across his face and chest was matted with it. One of his front paws appears to have been injured too- almost as if the pad of his foot was partially ripped off, though it is already scabbing over. Add that he is extremely malnourished and tiny...which means my guess about his age could be off in either direction :/
He smelled like death and my sister only got him because an elderly woman had called to complain about a "dead cat" lying on her porch. When janitorial services went to clean it up and realized it was still alive, they called my sis (known animal lover). Even when my sister saw it, her immediate reaction was, 'maybe we should kill it before it suffers any longer'. THAT'S how bad this baby looked.
She decided to inspect it first of course and eventually realized that the blood all over it's back and sides did not appear to be from the little one itself. She cleaned it up, warmed it, and gave it fluid until she could get it to me later that evening. We used infant strength Erythromycin eye ointment because it was all we had on hand, though I did give him some baytril as well after looking up the contraindications for kittens and the dosing instructions.
Didn't really think he'd make it through the first night but we are now on day 3 and the little one pees regularly, (but never when stimulated for some reason -always sometime after or right before)- and he has yet to poop even once. Both of his eyes are open now and it appears he can see, so that's something. But the poor thing cries almost constantly.

Anyway, we don't know how long he'd gone without eating before being found and it's tough going to get him to eat even just over half what he needs for his weight (about 6 oz) in a day. In all fairness that first night was spent just hydrating and warming him- but it's been approx 72 hours and he hasn't pooped yet. His belly appears full pretty much all the time but not exactly tight or distended. I've given him gas drops, warm water dips, belly massages- I'm hoping it's just that he hasn't processed enough food to make a solid yet but it's getting very disconcerting. My understanding is that cats have fairly short intestinal tracts so I'm getting quite worried. He goes to the vet tom, but if anyone has any advice or experience in this arena, PLEASE let me know. I'd love any knowledge or wisdom I can get at this point.

[HRT4SQRLS]

Sorry, I don't have any advice to offer but thanks for helping this pitiful little kitten. Poor baby.

[Shewhosweptforest]

Gosh....maybe you could pm Island Rehabber or SammysMom...I think they both have done cat rescues praying for this sweet baby and you

[mel_la_fee]

Good News and (Sad) Bad News:

Bad News: it turns out the elderly woman who initially called to make a complaint about the kitten being on her porch, is in fact the one responsible for the whole mess. It was her cat that had the kittens and apparently after a week, she decided she would not be able to support a mother cat and the babies (she's likely on a fixed income, so I'm understanding on that point). But her solution was to set the babies outside and keep the mother cat IN. The mother went nuts and eventually the woman put the cat outside, I guess because she didn't know how else to calm her down (she's looking for her babies-duh!). The problem is that the mom was a young cat (first litter) and an INDOOR cat- so she had no idea what to do once she was outside with her little ones.

My sister went by the woman's house again and saw the mother cat running around frantically outside, carrying a dead kitten in her mouth as if she thought she could still save it (it was already stiff) They had to chase her down and take it away from her.
Further inspection revealed a baby in the bushes, one under a car, and a last one on the porch- all dead...the poor mother cat hadn't known where to put them or what to do with them, and they had likely suffered from exposure and hunger before the old woman let her back outside anyway (no one knows how long they were outside before she let the mother out). A traumatized mother cat and 4 lost little ones for no d@*$ reason.
My sister almost cursed the woman out, saying- if you knew there were other kittens and that you'd put them outside, WHY didn't you just tell us when I picked the first one up?! So senseless. I hope the little dears didn't suffer too long.

So, Good News: The baby boy finally pooped and now that he's passed stool, he's eating like a little champ. The vet gave him a mild flea dip and deworming but said his eyes were clear enough that he didn't need any further medicating and that his paw was already on the mend. A stool sample was taken to test for internal parasites. We still haven't figured out where all the crusted blood came from, but he doesn't seem to have any serious injuries. And he has at least, ceased his incessant crying. It looks like he's going to be alright- which makes me super happy! I just can't help thinking that even one of his siblings might also be with us if that woman had admitted the truth a day sooner...:sigh: Ef people sometimes, man.