premie kitten and constipation...

Question
I have a kitten born roughly end of sept/11 due only mid oct/11.  Only survivor in a littler of two.  Mom is a tiny girl, and is now all dried up, got the little one on mamalac for felines and she was gaining weight and looking good again but after 2 days on the formula she's now looking like a blimp, waddling as she walks. In the litter box she tries to go but no more then a pea size amount comes out.  Eyes full of tears, I can just imagine the pain.  She is not as playful as she had been just a few days ago.  I've called our local vet to get some advice, was told to dilute the formula even more, add a hot water bottle or heating pad to where she sleeps, plenty of water. But everytime I get close to her with milk or food she moves away. Drinking very minimal amounts of water.  Was told NO PEOPLE meds, but is there anything I can do for her. I know she's hungry because when mom comes around she follows her and tried to latch on but mom won't let her.  Very sad to look at, poor little baby and won't take the formula.  I cannot afford to take her to the vet, family of 5 on very limited income but I have to try to help her.  I also tried to bottle feed and she keeps moving her head from side to side to avoid the nipple.  I keep stimulating her, and watching while she's in the litter to see how much or how little came out.  I've been weighing her in the morning to see if she's gaining weight but now I'm not sure if it's all because she's bloated/constipated.  I just hate seeing her like this, I want to try to do everything I can for her. I figure once her bowels are empty the appetite would slowly return.  How do I know she's getting anough fluids.  Please if you have any advice it would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Sue

Answer
Hi Sue,

Because she's so constipated right now, you need to give the kitten an enema. This should consist of mild, soapy water. Mix 1/2 cc of mild hand washing dish soap into 10 cc's of warm water. Gently agitate it so that it's mixed but not sudsy. Put the water into a needleless syringe, and push any air out of the syringe. Then, you need to insert the syringe into her anus 1" and administer 5 cc of the liquid. Allow her 5 minutes to start to move her bowels. I would place her in a sink or bathtub right away, since she is likely to leak liquid, before she can make it to a litter box. If no stool is produced, administer the other 5 cc's. If still no bowel movement is produced, you can try repeating once more, but too much can lower the body temperature, so keep her warm with a heating pad until she is comfortable. If she is able to start to push some stool out, you may need to manually remove it. If she is unable to pass any stool, removal of stool with forceps is probably going to be her only salvation. She will likely pass away within a couple of days without vet intervention.

You can try giving her a hairball medication as a laxative if the enema doesn't work. Give her one cc with a syringe each day and hope this will lubricate things enough to get things moving. A small maintenance dose can be given each day after constipation is cleared up (no matter which method you use) if she seems very prone to it on the formula, as some kittens are. Typically, a quarter cc is enough to prevent constipation in babies. I would go back to full-strength formula, as diluting it too much will deprive her of nutrients.

Good luck!

Jessica