My 2-month-old kitten is dehydrated, won't eat, has flu. What to do?

Common causes for diarrhea and flu-like symptoms in a kitten include intestinal parasites, bacterial or viral gastroenteritis (like feline panleukopenia), GI blockage, among others. You can get a pet dewormer and try to slowly syringe water or pedialyte with a little honey in it. Make sure he is swallowing so that the water doesn't go into his lungs. If he has a bacterial infection, he needs to see a vet for antibiotics. If he has panleukopenia, his prognosis is very poor even with veterinary care. Keep him warm and clean and try to get fluids into him.

Poor kitten! I suspect the kitten is very sick and that’s why it is not eating or drinking. Although it may not work, giving subcutaneous fluids every day and force feeding may be needed until the kitten feels better. Feed a diet such as a/d or r/s as they are high calorie. You also have more aggressive options such as hospitalization with intravenous fluids or even a feeding tube placement. Sometimes these kittens need a lot of intense care and time to feel better. Make sure it stays warm and visits the veterinarian as needed. The vet may be able to show you how to give subcutaneous fluids if needed. I hope this is helpful and best of luck.

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. A kitten this young & dehydrated needs to be seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible. She may need supplemental fluids, either give intravenously or under the skin. Then, we need to know why Acil has become dehydrated. Is she sick with an infection, was there any trauma, or does she have a large intestinal parasite burden? If she is eating, you can give her any food that has a high moisture content ( ie canned ), but if she is already dehydrated, it is difficult to remedy this just depending on what she eats on her own. I hope she is well soon. Take care.

I'm sorry to hear about Chukka's problems. Sounds like the vet gave him quite a bit of medication. I am assuming that he also sent home some oral medication for you to continue administering for the upcoming days. Medications often take time to have a positive effect, so I would not assume they aren't working just yet. Unless matters are getting progressively worse, i would give the drugs some time to work before assuming the worst. If matters are looking worse, then you may want to consider returning to your vet for some diagnostic testing instead of just symptomatic treatment. This might include imaging modalities like x-ray and ultrasound, and some laboratory blood work to look at vital organ function. Hope this helps.

I would highly recommend bringing her back to a vet. She most likely needs some fluid and nutritional support. This can be a virus that she is fighting off but to fight it off properly she needs nutrition. Her glucose can drop very low if she does not eat and cause seizures and even death. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would recommend that you take Arfa to your vet for a physical examination and possibly diagnostic testing, such as bloodwork, parvo testing, or x-rays. The symptoms you describe are a little vague, but could be caused by bacterial infection, viral infection (such as panleukopenia virus), intestinal parasites, intestinal obstruction, among many others. At this point, offer Arfa many different types of dry and wet cat food and even kitten milk replacer to see if you can entice her to eat. You can also syringe her water or pedialyte to try to maintain hydration, however this can worsen nausea. Many times kittens that aren't interested in eating need IV fluids to stay hydrated. Periset is an anti-nausea medication. Mega CV is an antibiotic. Polybion is a vitamin supplement.

If Harry is very anemic and dehydrated he needs to be seen by your vet in person. They will likely have to give him some IV or subcutaneous fluids along with medications to help treat the anemia. If he is refusing all food, your vet may also recommend inserting a feeding tube to help make it easier to force-feed food until he starts to recover. If he is at home with you, you can try to keep offering bland wet food, however it sounds as if hospitalization or at least in-person care from your vet is needed at this point.