8 month old female kitten ... hair loss weight loss vomiting

by Shari
(BC Canada)

I have a 8 month old female kitten who first showed signs 5 days ago of loosing her fur not a normal spring shed yesterday she was vomiting every few hours a small amount of milky liquid . I am not seeing any worms in this but as we all know we cant see hook worms she is an active cat she is now laying around a lot trying to stay close to my wood stove she is not eating she took a bit of water today but did not yesterday ... so in a nut shell she is loosing way to much hair vomiting a milky liquid lethargic and not eating or drinking its been about 36 hours now and I have seen her take only a small amount of water once ... she also appears to have lost weight ... she is not bloated or tender in her stomach she is an avid outdoor cat who a couple of weeks back was in heat which she is not now and she was not caught . She still displays some strength . I also believe she has ear mites ... she has generally been a healthy kitten I have had her since birth . I was going to worm her and all the other cats and see if this helps but I dont see the hair loss as a sign of worms so I am hesitating ... I may be wrong there though ... I would be grateful for your thoughts on this ... thanx !!

Answer from Kate
Hi
This sounds like a very unhealthy kitten.

Ear mites need to be treated as they can cause infection and deafness, so you should treat for this anyway. see this page for more information on this

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-ear-mites.html

The vomiting and bloated stomach could be a sign of worms
https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-worms.html It is important that all cats are treated for worms on a regular basis.

Also you need to make sure she is flea free as this can be very dangerous especially to kittens. they can cause infections and carry the tapeworm larvae.

https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-fleas.html

As for her weight loss and balding this could be due to one of the factors above also as a distressed cat will sometimes over groom causing fur loss.

Poor little soul sounds like she needs a thorough medical. Kittens can go downhill very quickly and dehydration can hit them quickly if you are not careful so make sure she is getting plenty to drink.

Your best option would be of course to take them to see a vet and have a thorough check over as it is impossible to say whether of not she is suffering from any other illness without an examination.

Hope she is better soon
Kate

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