You plan, kittens laugh

Things were going well with the kittens.. apparently, too well. They were absolutely determined to take a u-turn on the way to adoption town.

See on Thursday I had figured out what food Aaron would eat and he was gaining weight well. He was 1lb 11 oz so I emailed the shelter to let them know so they could plan on when they might like them back. Aloe made weight earlier in the week.

Friday morning I found several piles of vomit in the kitten room. My first thought was that they needed to be dewormed again. It is very common. I went in and sat down and examined each kitten and Aloe was fine and Aaron seemed a little lighter and possibly a little dehydrated. I weighed him and he had lost an ounce, so I guessed that he was the one vomiting. I put some food down to see if they were interested in eating and went to clean up the vomit. Both went to have a little something to eat, so I figured that was a good sign.

When I moved the cat bed to make sure I got all of the vomit, I saw something black moving. My first thought was one of the chunky spiders we get in that room. I grabbed it with my paper towel and went right for the window to toss it out.  As I was trying to dislodge it I realized it had two segments a head and a body. I don't know of spiders around me that have that. I was still trying to figure out what it was and make sure it didn't touch me (because - ewww) and get it out of the house. It fell just as it hit me that it looked very much like a large black ant without its abdomen segment. I felt a little sick wondering what kind of half-life that ant would have, but I wasn't about to go out and try to find it.

As I was cleaning up the vomit, I found the abdomen. I took a photo of it just in case. Since the kittens were eating, I went to work and reported what was going on. The shelter wasn't worried, and by the time I got home from work they were doing just fine. No more vomiting.


Then Sunday morning I went down to feed them breakfast and found more vomit.  Checked over Aaron and he was fine.  I put down food and Aaron went right to it. Aloe is usually too busy investigating everything to eat, so the fact that he didn't go right to the food didn't worry me at all. I cleaned up the vomit and sat down and grabbed Aloe to give him the once over. He seemed bright eyed and he struggled to get down, so my first thought was he was fine. I held on to him and noticed he felt a little warm.

Now Aloe has very little fur on his belly so he has always felt a bit like a warm bag of hot water when you have your hand on his belly, but because of the vomiting, I wanted to be sure. I took his temperature and it was 103.5 on my thermometer.  I reported this to the shelter and I was asked to bring him right in. I was asked to bring both of them to be safe.  I took the above photo after taking Aloe's temp and put him down to go and call the shelter. He climbed right up on Happy Bear and apparently when I was gone Aaron climbed up to cuddle with him. I love the look on Aaron's face like he can't believe I'd disturb them.

So, that is where they are right now. I am hoping that by the time I got them to the shelter the fever resolved itself. (I have had that happen before, makes me look incredibly foolish) and they ate up a storm and so they decide to keep them to get them neutered. That would be ideal. Next would be that the fever resolves itself and they decide Aaron needs a few more days and they come back to me. After that would be a cold where they need medicine for a few days. Way down on the list of 'what ifs' is that they have become very ill - but that is so far down I don't even think that is a possibility. I'll let you know when I know.

Fading Kitten - Purrs needed

So this wasn't a good morning.  I went down to feed Snow and change out the bedding yet again.  As I was moving looking around I noticed one kitten sitting in the corner behind Snow.  I started moving the kits out of the box and into the smaller box to change the bedding and when I got to this kitten I knew immediately it wasn't good.

No, it wasn't the wee one, nor was it any of the three that have had the diarrhea the worst, it was one of the gray boys.  I put him on the couch and move the rest of the kittens over and changed out the bedding quickly hoping he would 'wake up' and start moving around but I knew pretty quickly he wasn't just sleeping heavy.

He wasn't rolling over, he laid right where I put him.  I picked him up and he felt cold.  I wrapped him in a face cloth and held him to me hoping that my day didn't just take the turn that I was seeing happening, but no, warming him up wasn't helping.  He needed professional help.  I packed up mom and the kits and tucked him in my shirt and ran for the car.  I got there and was so fearful for him that I went into the house to get some Kayro Syrup for him.  Sadly I didn't have any (or I simply couldn't see it) so I warmed up some goats milk and tried to get some of that in him.  He wasn't thrilled with that but took a few drops.  I was more worried about him inhaling it so I gave up quickly and off I went.

I stopped at the Kennebunk Vet near the shelter and they told me they couldn't help me* and tried to send me off to the emergency clinic.  I continued on to the shelter who told me that they didn't have anyone to put him down.  I said I've already done that this year I'd very much like to try to save this one, so after some phone calls and some paperwork (and he is now temporarily called SMVC) (OMG.. Smivick.. I like it ) I went on the 20 minute car ride to another vet.

Tucked in my shirt snuggled by my heart I kept patting his head and his little body to keep his blood flowing and talking to him. There were a few times I was afraid because he stopped mewing and because he was so darn cold, but we did make it.

The vet took his temp and it was 92ish.. (could have been a bit higher but the vet didn't leave the thermometer in that long) and he talked about how hard this road would be.  I explained I've been doing this for long enough to know exactly what we were facing but having lost a kitten this year with out even trying I really needed them to try.  They are going to snuggle him up to some warm water bottles and give him some warm fluids and glucose and some antibiotics..

Since I brought the rest of the family and since we had diarrhea issues in some of them I asked if they could just watch the family today so I didn't have to worry about another one going down.  He said they would, so the whole family is there right now..   Paws crossed that I get the whole family back when the day is done..


*while I too was upset that they couldn't help me, please do not be too mad at them.  They had their own emergencies from the weekend (being Monday morning and all) and they said they did not have an available vet who could deal with it.  While I am not happy with the outcome, I can understand it.  Also the shelter is just not equipped to deal with sick kittens, and the chances of our little Smivick making it is kind of low, so I can sorta understand the though of not putting him through more trying..  *I* needed them to try..


**UPDATE**

I just got a phone call from the vet.  Smivick passed away.

Going back to the shelter

Ok, I can't handle this any more.  The looks, the coughing, the sneezing, the wheezing, the lack of eating.. it is near killing me.  Ginger does NOT believe that my forcing things on her is helping her and that girl has the worst case of guilt eyes you have EVER seen..

I ran out while I was at work today and picked up a few cans of the food she ate last time she ate at the house and when I got home I medicated her first and than offered her food.

Well the medication caused her to cough all over again, and then she started sneezing something fierce. So she didn't eat the food.  DH came in at that point and tried to help..

Nope, she out and out refused.  At least she sniffed and gave it a lick for him.. so I stepped in.. (and no pictures of that mayhem) and force fed her.

I am fairly certain I felt babies move this time, but I can now also feel her entire spine.  I called the shelter to report what was going on and I got "give the antibiotic time" - well she stopped eating before she started sneezing, so I think that is secondary.. and "some kitties stop eating before they give birth" which is true, but not a week before they give birth, and they most certainly do not lose this much weight.  Seeing as I had a sick mother cat who refused to eat abort in my care before, I just can not deal with this emotionally.  As much as I hate the idea of her sitting in a cage at the shelter, I know she sits in her box all day so it isn't like she is using up all the space that she has.. and they will have two people to give her fluids and can get her to the vet if they feel they need to.  I intend to leave her there tomorrow.. possibly even Thursday.. if they feel that they want to put her into another foster home I won't like it because I hate feeling like a failure, but I fully accept that there are things I can't do.. and watching a pregnant mom not eat for days on end is one of them.

Many many purrs Ginger.. I hope this works out and you come back and we get to go through your labor and watch your kittens grow up..

The worst has passed

Well to go look at them all now you'd not know they suffered from anything worse then a case of the sniffles.  Occasionally there is a horking cough type noise, and there are a few more sneezes then I'd like, and everyone has snotty noses, but the mayhem that was in the kitten room was pretty normal.

Nario still isn't completely himself.  Not that anyone who didn't know him prior to last night would notice.  When Eliza showed up on the couch and enticed him to wrestle he took her paws down.  Probably could have done so with a paw or two tied behind his back.  Ezra showed up when Eliza was crying "UNCLE ALREADY!! Geeze" but he just sat down a foot or two away. Not quite sure why he showed up if he wasn't going to help.  I eventually went and broke things up, and Nario then started with Ezra.  I'm not exactly sure he wasn't actually trying to win and not just playing... but I "saved" Ezra.

now if we can just get that snot to go away..

Nario - the next morning

as we left things, he had a fever of 105 but he was nursing off his mom so I went to bed.  I slept hard, and woke up at 7, all be it with some serious reservations about joining the waking world.  When I realized it was 7 I had to force myself out of bed and head down to check on the kittens.  Part of me hoped that it was all better and I didn't have to deal with any of it, but I figured that wasn't going to happen.

I got down there and Nario was in the cat bed in the sleeping position but eyes open looking around.. he lifted his head to me and seemed brighter then last night so I opened up the cage and let Ezra and Eliza run.  Nario watched them run around so I got out my thermometer and he was much less willing to get his temp taken this morning (good sign) and it only went up to 103.5.  So a wonderful improvement, but still something that should be seen, so I was about to pack him and his brother up (who was also doing a hard wheezing cough) when Fiorella decided to nurse him.. 

I couldn't interrupt that!

So I sat there and watched the news with a mother and a kitten nursing on my lap.   Fedele decided to join them and Fiorella was beside herself wanting attention and was trying to wiggle around to get me to pat her.  Well my lap is just not all that big and soon she was about to fall off it onto the floor, so I'm attempting to pat her, hold her and move her back into a position where everyone isn't going to fall.. :) 


Finally she was perturbed that I was paying attention to something other then her (because keeping her from falling wasn't actually attention TO her) and left, so I scooped up the boys who were wondering what just happened and plopped them into a carrier and off I went.


The shelter tech asked me what I wanted to do with them, if I wanted to leave them or bring them home.  I explained what was going on and with the improvement I had seen I was willing to do either.  She looked them over briefly and decided that some zithromax would be a good idea and sent them home.


Nario is not 'out of the woods' but it looks like he is on the right path and I've got fingers crossed he'll be much improved by the time I get home from work today.


Thank you all for keeping him in your thoughts.

update

I was surprised how easily I found the paperwork.  I gave the shelter manager a call and she said bring him in first thing in the AM.

Of course I would have preferred she say "oh take him right to the e-clinic" (even though I am so NOT a fan of the e-clinic from my few experiences with them) but I understand the wait.  My husband said we could take him and pay if I felt the need, so I went back down to spend some time with him.  He's definitely running hot, and he is moving as little as possible.

He didn't want me to poke and prod him any more, and he had some distrust of me.  Once he understood I wasn't going to stick anything else in his input slot (food) or his output slot (temperature) he came over and snuggled up to me (awwwwww).  I got him into my lap (which was a mistake, as it is very late at night and he's not all that interested in moving) and he snuggled down and seemed to go to sleep.

Well my husband gave in to fatigue and went to bed.  I re positioned myself and got comfortable and was considering just falling asleep for the night when Fiorella finally decided to let his siblings nurse and he jumped down and started to suckle.  

I'm not sure it did him a lot of good because he couldn't seem to latch on.  He'd suckle one nipple and then move to another... but seeing him willing to eat made it easier to leave and go to bed (and update you)


that and the fact that he wasn't on my lap any more made it SO much easier.. 

105.0

  He's got a fever of 105. 0    "The web" says anything over 105 is very serious..

Guess it is time to dig out my fostering manual and see what they say to do.  Before this I was friends with the foster coordinator and I just called her at home, but she's not working there any more (and don't I miss her there terribly)  

just where is that paperwork??

Nario

Nario is one very sick little kitten.  He had been the healthiest and most outgoing of the bunch.  We have had some sneezing going on, but not him; even this morning he was being his goofy energetic self.  Then we had some snot bubbles and I wrote to the shelter and told them (I realized when I got home from work that no one answered me so I'll have to go in tomorrow to get something) when I went to check on them he was in the box sleeping.  I let Eliza and Ezra out to run for a few minutes and when I went to put them back Nario was still in the box.

I put my hand on his ears and they felt cold - not that means a whole heck of a lot as he was sleeping - and then I put my hand on his little body and I couldn't tell if he was purring or shivering.  I picked him up and he did neither.

I fed them and everyone ate but Nario.  I put a little in his mouth and he ate that and almost seemed interested but then turned around and walked away.  I tried offering him some baby food, and no go.

Unfortunately I don't seem to have a thermometer in the kitten room (it's probably hiding out with the 100 or so pairs of nail trimmers that have gone missing in that room too), so I'm off to get one (and a few other things)    

Not sure if I'll get another chance to update you before the AM, but I'll let you know how it goes

Warning - this post will get graphic

Oh what a long long day. When I got home Jack was waiting by the door, then Muffin was on the tree so I hugged her, then I medicated Emerald, and went to sit down, when I did, Jack and Ollie jumped up on my lap. it was nice.

As expected, all five of the kittens she gave birth to last night were dead this morning. Alex looked absolutely horrible, but she didn't want to come out of the cage at all. When I finally pulled her out, her back end was quite a mess and she smelled. I didn't have time to clean her up, but as I was pushing her into the carrier I felt what I assumed was another kitten inside her. I wrapped up the towel she gave birth on and brought the kittens in with her in my kitten carrier. They were very undeveloped. I think the worst part about all this was that they were very much alive when I was in there with her last night, wiggling around and crying out, looking very much fully developed, but I knew they weren't. They were so small and hairless. *sigh* anyway.. the doctor who examined Alex on Saturday was there, and he said he was quite surprised she gave birth as she wasn't that sick, but Alex is fairly young, and she wasn't ready to be a mother yet.

Anyway.. They took an x-ray of Alex, and sure enough, there was a kitten still in her. She was still quite dehydrated, so they left her on fluids this morning and did surgery on her this afternoon. They spayed her as well as taking the other kitten out which had also passed.

So she is, at the very least, spending the night at the clinic.

Sally ate.

Well.. sally actually ate this morning.

We went down to see her last night, and she was still refusing me. Hubby pulled a few pieces of dry food out of the bowl and offered it to her and she ate. Confirmed everything I believed that she really needs someone else right now.. She didn't eat much.. a couple of mouthfuls.. but she went over to the bowl almost acted surprised there was a whole bowl of that food in the room :)

This morning I got a call from Denise. Saying the only thing she could think of that they could do for her is give her fluids. I reminded her that I am giving her fluids. She recommended I call the vet anyway. I don't think the vet can do much for her, but I think she'll take more kindly to someone else forcing food down her throat.. so I got very frustrated.

I went down to see sally. She was her usual pathetic self. I opened up a can of Friskies, and that she was interested in. Or more correctly say she's interested in the jelly. That goop is pure nectar of the kitty gods.. I swear. I got her to eat maybe a quarter of the can. Hey.. its a start. I replaced the old dry food with new dry food, and she had a few nibbles.. then went off to wash herself. Since I hadn't pilled her yet this morning, I grabbed her and pilled her, then threw a few more bites of food into her. the first two she took okay, but the last two she was trying to rip my arm off. Gonna try and heat the food up this afternoon.. Didn't work a few days ago, but who knows.. it might work now.

I have to say this whole experience has left me very frustrated. I know there isn't much that can be done for URI.. and if she were just sitting here miserable that would be one thing, but this whole not eating thing.. its scary. She hasn't had a decent bowel movement in a week.

Kodi is sick.

Ok..
*takes deep breath*

I took Kodi to the vet today. He's in pretty rough shape. One of his eyes is discolored and he's still running a fever. The vet gave me some more doxi for him and some eye ointment. She also took a ton of blood from him to run tests.

I went out shopping and just got home a few minutes ago. There was a message on my machine. I called, and found out that he tested positive for Lukemia. She still wants to run the tests for feline infectious peritonitis.. which if he has that is BAD

oh man.. what have I done?

We are going to have to test all my kitties for lukemia, but we are going to wait till the other tests come back to see where we stand on all the other issues. If its just lukemia, and we can get this URI under control, he could live a long normal life.. or it could wreak some major havoc with him..

We just don't know.

sigh.. One cold night, and one suggestion from a staff member at the shelter, and now this..

*prays* Please don't let anyone else be infected..

(update 2015 - I now know there were no 'tests' for FIP, I do have to say this whole thing was a complete and utter mess from start to finish and sadly it disrespects Kodi's life so I am not going to get into it any more than I have.  Kodi, I still miss you)

Sick kitties

Ok.. I've had it. Kodi has been sick way too freakin long. Not to mention Moe.. (or mojo jojo, or dweezle) at least moe is acting like he's not sick.. well of course except when he sneezes. This afternoon his nose was all plugged up. I just poked at Kodi, and his nose was plugged too, along with the runny eye thing. My vet said to get them off the antibiotics, but they aren't getting better.. I need to call their old vet and get some more antibiotics.. and if they wont give them to me I'll have to talk to the shelter. I do not want to take them back in for another vet visit (my vet wont give me any with out another visit, even though they were just there. I'm not too pleased with that)

the toys I got them yesterday are still a big hit. so that's three I can highly recommend. Bubble nip, the mouse that squeaks when its moved, and the piece of fur attached to an elastic that's on a pole that you can attach to a window.

:D