Ok I won't tell you to take them to the vet (which would be my first thing to do) Are your Kitties still nurseing or are they on solid food. Regurtated milk will have a real sour smell. At 8 weeks they should be on soft food either can kitten food or wet dry kitten food. Keep them as clean as you can. All kittens usually have to be wormed. This is small doses from a vet. I hope they don't have any of the feline deseases since they have not been vacinated or checked out. You might try feeding them a little bit of yogurt (plain no flavorings)
As for the older cat. it might have the cat flu.This can be mild to extremely severe and potentially fatal. it can be transmitted from cat to kittens so keep him issolated from the kittens or any other cats you may have. Also keep the kittens away from any other cats till they are well also. Cat flu usually is bad the first week and then they start to become better. Kepp his nose area cleaned and the same with his eyes.Groom the cat or pet him to induce purring as this can ease breathing. Just a few minutes several times a day. Get a bottle of unflavored pedialyte for drinking water. As for vets you might try to see if there is a vet.school around. Sometimes they let the students see sick animals and treat them for free. Or you may call your local apl and see if there are any clinics that are around that help treat animals for little or no cost. There are also some web sites that offer very good advise like www.petplace.com. Hope this helps you some.

Make up a formula of ORGANIC milk (with no antibiotics hormones etc)UNFLAVORED pedialyte and acidophilus (the good bacteria your intestines need)and give it to them by eyedropper two or three times a day,as many dropper fuls as you can get into them. This will help rehydrate them and address the diarrhea. Give them meat flavored baby food (chicken or turkey are best). Feed them by hand if necessary. Keep them in a room away from the rest of the household (both for easy cleaning and to keep them from spreading germs). Disinfect anything they've touched before exposing other cats in the house. Always wash your hands after handling them. That's what I would do, right off the top of my head. Might come up with some more suggestions later on...Good luck!

Thanks so much for the advice.I will sure give these things a try.The kittens are kept in my sons room at all times until they get bigger.I would have never thought of giveing them pedialyte.The hand washing is also in place.Unfortunately thier is no low cost help in my area,believe me I have been on the phone to everyone..This angers me because vets are suppossed to care for animals but all they really want is MONEY!!They should help people out that are trying to take in unwanted animals.i give them a home,food & love but unfortunately i cannot always afford the vet.Last year i had a cat that had to have its leg amputated,it was over three hundred dollars.i know its my responcibility i just wish thier was more help.thanks again.

I lost a sick cat earlier this year because there was no money. No one would help and no one would even look at her without a couple hundred dollars up front. Makes me sick. Vets are no better than doctors these days. It's all about money. Disgusting.

Fortunately I live in Cleveland where we do have a clinic. It was started by a bunch of Vets from the local APL. You don't get apointments you just come and take a number and wait your turn unless it is a real emergency. Their charges are half of what my other vets have charged. I've seen them give free service to some people who could not pay, I've seen them have others pay as low as $0.50 per week. There are people who work at cleaning up the poop etc. around the building that volunteer to do this so that they can get some free health care for their animals. Then there are others like me who pay the bill in full and once in a while leave a little extra in the donation jar to help pay for those who can't. These vets have a big heart and would rather see unwanted strays find a home and be loved and cared for then suffer a slow death out on the streets. They also pitch in and help with fund raisers for any of the animal shelters in the area. They would like to see more people volunteer at shelters so that they can all be turned into no kill shelters. I love these vets and I am so happy to find them rather than go to my money hungry vets that I have been to before. I wish you well with your kitties and keep in touch. Let us know how things work out for you.

Next time my cat gets sick I'm going to Cleveland!
Around here the 'Humane Society' will take care of your sick cat.....as long as you sign it over to THEM first! Once it's well they'll adopt it out to a new home, but usually they'll just put them to sleep when they come in. Either way you never see them again. There's a clinic attached to the Humane Society thatdoes low-cost spaying/neutering. I was told they did exams but when I went there they rudely told me that they don't take emergency cases and don't look at anything without an appointment. They said they COULD see her but they'd have to rearrange their ENTIRE day to accomodate us and that wouldn't be fair to the OTHER people who'd made appointments in advance. Said they probably wouldn't be able to help her anyway and I'd be wasting my money. Then added 'So what's it gonna be?'. I left. Meanwhile I'd dragged a sick kitty all they way down there in the car, stressing her out no end (which of course didn't help her condition any). The whole thing left me so disgusted with the veterinary field that I'll NEVER take ANY cat of mine to a local vet again. I'd rather treat them at home with the herbs and vitamins I learned about in my own studies. I don't want them to suffer of course but why put myself and the cat through all THAT stress and insanity when no one will help you anyway? Glad there are SOME vets out there with a heart because there ain't any around here.

Oh Stitch ,every area should have such careing vets..There are so many pet owners out there that are willing to take animals in but end up in financial crisis now and then.I have definately gave my share of money to them over the years.The thing that bothers me is ,in some areas around here they have a spay and neuter and release program where thier are many homeless and wild cats.they come to your house or neighborhood catch the cats,fix them and release them at no cost.but when a person like me calls for help to get my pets fixed whom i am houseing and feeding they say sorry...it just doesnt make any sense..well sad to say i did loose one of my precious babies..the other three though seem to be looking better.they are clean, eating and two are acually playing like they should be..my five month old who had the sniffles is still a little stuffy but after two days of cuddleing and keeping him purring and warm ,today he is running around terrorizeing the older cats.My oldest cat ,and i dont know how old because he was dropped years ago with me ,he is just a mess and i am not sure what keeps him going.He has four teeth and drools constinantly and is the nasty one who goes in my heater vents but i give him soft food,warmth,baths and patience..he is the one who has a terrible runny nose and gets it every winter.i think that is why my five month old became sick.anyways enough about my babies.thanks again for all the advice and careing.many hugs xoxoxo Tammy

Maybe what we need to do is get and article published in the local papers. letters to the editors or something. If it was told how the the neuter and spay program will fix ferrel cats and then release them but not help others get their's fixed at no or little cost. Also how there area lot of stray that need homes. That there are a lot of people who would love to have an animal but can't afford the high vet cost. That maybe if they started a clinic that would do free or low cost vet service these strays would get a home. People can afford to house an animal, give it food, and love but not always afford the vet care when needed. There should be some way that the vets and the apl can work together to create such a clinic. Stress that fact that people would even volunteer to do things around the clinic in exchange for some free vetinary care. People who can pay will and those that can't won't or just pay what they can afford. donations and fundraisers will also help to fund the clinic. It has been done in other places so why not here. It would be interesting to see what kind of responce you would get from the area.

It's amazing what you can get done when you get the media involved. But be careful. If the 'humane society' finds out you have sick cats and can't afford to take them to the vet they may try and seize them claiming neglect. Every action has unintended consequences and not all unintended consequences are good.

Such Wonderful ideas,thank you i will see what i can do ..a woman who runs a cat haven that i finally got a reponse from said she can help with spay and neuter of 60 dollars for a female cat and 50 dollars for a male.still quite high if you have more than one to fix and of course they dont offer any other veterinary services.plus there is a waiting list.so by the time you wait you could have two more litters.you just cant win. well, i picked up some pedilyite and baby food to try with my kittens.thier favorite food is tuna fish.i still have the mother feed them off and on because i keep giveing her a capstar pill for fleas and when she feeds the kittens ,it keeps fleas off from them.at first i thought maybe that was what made the kittens sick but i called the vet and pet store and they said it wouldnt.i have such a hard time with fleas and the only thing that works is capstar and then frontline.