- Joined
- Jun 24, 2014
- Messages
- 19
- Purraise
- 8
Hey all,
We've been in close contact with a vet about this little guy but I'd like to post here for a bit of emotional support and helpful discussion since I know a lot of people on this board have extensive experience with raising young kittens : )
So, we found the little one (we call him Kit) in a pet store and he was very ill, curled up in a corner while his brothers and sisters were playing around him, his eyes all goopy with an eye infection. We learned that at the home the kittens originated from, one of his littermates (the mother gave birth to 8) had already died, but we don't know the cause.
Long story short, he was given to us and my mom and I took him straight to the vet. His papers say that he is 8 weeks old, but he weighed in at 180g (no typo -- 180g, he was very small, all skin and bone and considerably smaller than his littermates), was anemic, had enlarged kidneys, and had a body temperature of 33. We took him home with KMR and gave him round the clock KMR feedings, lots of cuddles and hot water bottle heating, and medication for his infection.
He began to bounce back very fast -- each day we saw an improvement in how he groomed himself, how much energy he had, his coordination and stamina for playtime (he was sooo rambunctious!) and his stools were formed and brown. He was roughly 430g.
Well, yesterday he began to go downhill a bit with a bout of very persistent diarrhea -- light brown with the consistency of applesauce -- and last night he began to lose his appetite a bit and only eats about half as much as he did (and he's beginning to turn his nose up at the wet food so we're giving him a bit more KMR to supplement). Weighing him this morning, he's down to ~410g. He whined a little bit last night when he was eating, so I gave him KMR instead of the wet food and cuddled him all night, I think it helped him a little bit.
We're taking him in today for bloodwork, FeLV/FIV testing, and fecal testing just to figure out 1. why he is so tiny, and 2. what is the cause of this current illness. The vet is very concerned because if he truly was 8 weeks when we got him, then he's extremely tiny for his age and of course something must be causing this (and the fact that one of his littermates died before the pet store took him in is very concerning).
What also concerns me is that according to his paperwork he was given his first round of vaccinations and deworming but there is no weight listed for him! We have absolutely no idea of his medical history before we took him to the vet ourselves, and we don't even know if maybe somebody lied about his age or the fact that he was vaccinated/dewormed.
Anyway! Like I said, he's getting the full gamut of tests today and we should have results tomorrow, but we're scared. I'm looking at him right now and he's bright eyed and happy and batting around a mouse and he has visibly grown into a slightly taller frame. He purrs when we put him and he's still snuggly and happy, just eating a bit less and with runnier poop (and just after I started writing this mom noticed visible traces of worms in his poop, but then I think that was a foregone conclusion...)
Sorry for rambling! What I'm looking for is advice I guess, and honestly, my mom and I are just very worried that he won't make it, or that he'll have FeLV and we'll need to make an awful decision (multi-cat household, he's being quarantined in a room of course but it's a small room). What do you guys think? If he's younger than his paperwork says and if he was vaccinated, could that have damaged his organs and stunted his growth? Do you have experience with vets lying about giving animals vaccinations? I live in Canada, for reference.
We've been in close contact with a vet about this little guy but I'd like to post here for a bit of emotional support and helpful discussion since I know a lot of people on this board have extensive experience with raising young kittens : )
So, we found the little one (we call him Kit) in a pet store and he was very ill, curled up in a corner while his brothers and sisters were playing around him, his eyes all goopy with an eye infection. We learned that at the home the kittens originated from, one of his littermates (the mother gave birth to 8) had already died, but we don't know the cause.
Long story short, he was given to us and my mom and I took him straight to the vet. His papers say that he is 8 weeks old, but he weighed in at 180g (no typo -- 180g, he was very small, all skin and bone and considerably smaller than his littermates), was anemic, had enlarged kidneys, and had a body temperature of 33. We took him home with KMR and gave him round the clock KMR feedings, lots of cuddles and hot water bottle heating, and medication for his infection.
He began to bounce back very fast -- each day we saw an improvement in how he groomed himself, how much energy he had, his coordination and stamina for playtime (he was sooo rambunctious!) and his stools were formed and brown. He was roughly 430g.
Well, yesterday he began to go downhill a bit with a bout of very persistent diarrhea -- light brown with the consistency of applesauce -- and last night he began to lose his appetite a bit and only eats about half as much as he did (and he's beginning to turn his nose up at the wet food so we're giving him a bit more KMR to supplement). Weighing him this morning, he's down to ~410g. He whined a little bit last night when he was eating, so I gave him KMR instead of the wet food and cuddled him all night, I think it helped him a little bit.
We're taking him in today for bloodwork, FeLV/FIV testing, and fecal testing just to figure out 1. why he is so tiny, and 2. what is the cause of this current illness. The vet is very concerned because if he truly was 8 weeks when we got him, then he's extremely tiny for his age and of course something must be causing this (and the fact that one of his littermates died before the pet store took him in is very concerning).
What also concerns me is that according to his paperwork he was given his first round of vaccinations and deworming but there is no weight listed for him! We have absolutely no idea of his medical history before we took him to the vet ourselves, and we don't even know if maybe somebody lied about his age or the fact that he was vaccinated/dewormed.
Anyway! Like I said, he's getting the full gamut of tests today and we should have results tomorrow, but we're scared. I'm looking at him right now and he's bright eyed and happy and batting around a mouse and he has visibly grown into a slightly taller frame. He purrs when we put him and he's still snuggly and happy, just eating a bit less and with runnier poop (and just after I started writing this mom noticed visible traces of worms in his poop, but then I think that was a foregone conclusion...)
Sorry for rambling! What I'm looking for is advice I guess, and honestly, my mom and I are just very worried that he won't make it, or that he'll have FeLV and we'll need to make an awful decision (multi-cat household, he's being quarantined in a room of course but it's a small room). What do you guys think? If he's younger than his paperwork says and if he was vaccinated, could that have damaged his organs and stunted his growth? Do you have experience with vets lying about giving animals vaccinations? I live in Canada, for reference.