until it gets checked out by the vet keep it away from your other cats, it should be in isolation to avoid passing on any possible infection. Get it a nice box with a comfy blanket, make certain it has food, water and a kitty litter box. And cuddle cuddle cuddle - it has been studied and shown that kittens who are pick up and handled more often are healthier (of course this can be taken to an extreme and can make a kitten sick with too much handling, but I think you have the right idea) Good luck.

Oh, absolutely- it's in the detached garage, and I washed my arms and changed shirts after I came in.

It's in a large sized dog kennel with food, water, litter box and a blanket folded up in a kitty litter tub (it wanted to hide, so I made sure it had a place for that).

Here's a pic of the baby- it snuggled into its kitty litter tub!

{{!gwi}}

He is cute :), and you are a great human!
The vet will get you started with the meds ...and in the meanwhile, lots of warmth, which you have obviously provided...
With all the discharge, the kitty is losing a lot of liquids and needs to stay hydrated. I found that goat's milk does wonders for little kittens - it is not upsetting their little stomachs like cow's milk would. Here in Publix (grocery store), I buy condensed goat's milk and let the kittens drink it undiluted ...They love it, and it fattens them up well :)

Good luck and thank you for helping the little guy
Olya

Aw...what a cutie! Thanks for helping this little guy out.

You might find this website helpful. There are several links and videos on caring for a young kitten.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cat Basics 101: Caring for Newborns and Orphans

Awww, what a cutie! I hope s/he will recover quickly. Lucky kitten to have found someone who cares.

Poor lil' guy. It sucks that people treat animals like disposable items. Thanks for taking him off the streets!

He's sweet. Thanks for taking care of him. Kittens are tough. Give him warmth , food, and lots of love.

God bless you for taking that baby in. When I saw the title to your thread my first response was "the story of my life." LOL

I would see about getting Amoxi for the kitten as it's obvious it has an upper respiratory infection and without it, he'll fade. Good luck

Thanks for the encouragement and links! We're calling it Tanker for now since it (I can't tell whether it's a boy or girl) rumbles around like a little tank.

It's a very spunky little thing! I've been afraid it wouldn't live, but I think it's out of the woods. Unfortunately, it does seem to be blind in one eye.

It is possible it has the herpes virus which would not be uncommon for a emaciated stray kitten. I've had many come my way. My Bonnie came to me with both eyes glued shut from infection, every bone in her little body protruding and barely able to walk. I nursed her back to health and she too unfortunately lost partial site in one eye. If you can, you should get that baby to a vet to determine what exactly is wrong with the eye.

I rescued a grown cat after Katrina who was blind in one eye due to an injury as determined by the vet. I consulted with a feline opthamologist asking if removal of the eye was the best course of treatment and she informed me that when a cat keeps a eye that it has lost sight in due to injury, a lot of times, they can develop cancer in that eye. So I took her advice and had the eye removed. My Cocoa hasn't missed a step and is living the good life now.

I'm glad the baby is feeling better.

Brutuses, what a sweet baby Cocoa is!

I am thinking herpes virus as well..right now in Florida, it is "the season"..We are seeing lots of kittens coming in with URI and eye herpes...
Prompt actions can save the eye! Supplements such as l-Lysine can help the kitten fight off the virus, along with good food and medications the vet will prescribe

Good luck
Olya

I'm afraid the ship for "prompt action" may have sailed well before we even knew Tanker existed, but we have been giving it l-lysine since the neighbor brought it over.

Tanker just keeps getting spunkier! Its appetite wasn't weak to begin with, but it's just about gorging itself now. The vet appt. is tomorrow, so I should know more then.

I'm afraid the ship for "prompt action" may have sailed well before we even knew Tanker existed

I hope you did not get upset at my suggestion for prompt actions - not sure how to read your message :[
English is my second language - something might be getting lost in translation

Is the eye already gone? :( Well, the kitties sure do adjust - my fastest cat is a tripod

Good luck with the kitten boy

My oldest cat had upper respiratory infection after I adopted her. Her eyes were really runny and stuck shut. I got drops from the vet and almost poked her eyes out administering them, but happy to say 9 years later, her sight is fine in both eyes.

Olya, I'm not offended or upset with you at all- we did what we could, I'm just not sure we ever had enough of an opportunity to save his eye.

One promising bit was that Tanker closed his eye when the vet shined the light into it- so it's not hopeless.

Diagnosis so far was a URI, and to add Clavamox to the l-Lysine and Erythromycin that I'm doing now, so we'll see. I just hope he's ok and that we can find him a good home. Poor kitty's suffered more than he should have already (his tail was also broken and has healed).

I think he already found a good home.

I second that.