Kitten Update (tags #cats #pethealthcare)
I promised a kitten update, so here it is. First allow me to introduce them. The Humane Society called them Dora and Diego (they are getting new names). I currently call them Little Girl (the basement-cat-in-training) and Little Boy.
This is them last week. Little Girl isn't feeling well in this pic.
Timeline:
06/20 - We meet them at the Humane Society. They came in on 06/17, were spayed / neutered on 06/19, yet both seem energetic and happy. Both are attacking the same toy mouse on a string, completely ignoring each other, then wrestling with each other, and generally having fun. Little kid seeing another kitten notices a flea on unrelated cat. (important note) We adopt these two, bring them home, and put them in a separate room with their own litter, food, water, and some of the older girls' toys. The Humane Society has previously treated them for fleas, microchipped them, etc. We get full medical records to take to our vet and instructions not to bath them for 7 to 10 days. Records say Dora weighs 1.6 lbs and Diego weighs 1.9 lbs.
06/21 - 06/23 We try to feed older girls outside the kittens room. They aren't having any of that. They can smell intruder and are NOT happy. We take turns locking up girls and letting kittens get to know the house, then locking kittens back up and letting girls run around. We even crack door of kitten room open. Older girls hiss a bit, etc. The kittens have soft stool. The SO tells me to mention that to the vet.
06/23 - Time to meet the vet! She looks them over, tests their appetite by pulling out cheez whiz and canned cat food. They are voracious (though basement-cat-in-training doesn't like cheese). Both kittens weigh in at 2 lbs. Weight gain! Good going! Vet is pleased with their energy level and appetite, warns me that they are the skinniest, scrawniest, tiniest 8 week old kittens she's ever seen. She shows me her 9 week old by comparison. D & D are more like 6 week old kittens in size, but with 8 week old kitten eyes. Since HS did most of the medical stuff, nothing gets stuck up their butts, but vet would like me to collect fecal samples because of the soft stool. Might be coccidia (a parasite). Cost of visit - $171.53.
06/24 - Something is going on with Little Girl. She is getting very cuddly and not as interested in playing with Little Boy. She nibbles at her food now, eating a lot more slowly than she did. Is she lethargic or is it just my imagination? I saw this behavior when Phantom was in end-stage renal failure, so I'm on high alert now. Little Girl sneezed a lot over the first weekend. SO told me to tell the vet yesterday, but I forgot. I thought she was just a quiet kitten, but when I pick her up, she tries to hiss at me. TRIES. Lots of breath, no sound. Then I see her try to meow. Uh-oh. Icarus had a herpes virus that took most of his ability to vocalize. When I drop off the samples to the vet tomorrow, I should mention all this. Maybe she's got that same virus? Except her eyes are clear and fine. No discharge.
06/25 - Oh, dear. Vet wants to see her. So I bring her in for an "emergency" check an hour after I dropped off the samples. Vet introduces me to the phrase "failure to thrive kitty." Because some cats just don't survive past kittenhood for reasons vets never learn about. In fact, vet says if kitten was with another household, she'd likely be dead by now because most people don't want to spend this kind of money on sickly kittens they just got. Vet says she'll have the fecals checked for additional parasites. If there's a respiratory disease Little Girl caught, we won't know for another several days. So keep a close eye on her. In the meantime, feed kitten 1 tsp of wet food an hour (because kitten stomachs are tiny and she'll eat more in smaller doses than trying to stuff her in two or three sittings). We need to "fatten her up" before the vet feels comfy starting her on any treatments. Cost of visit - $37.58.
06/26 - 06/27 -Little Girl getting more lethargic and feeling more fragile. Little Boy is still bouncing off the walls. Fecals come back clean on coccidia. On 06/28 we see signs that someone is having accidents. Twice in the cat bed, once on our bed as we are going to sleep. SO blames Little Boy for this, even though we aren't sure which kitten. Still, we decide to lock the kittens back up in their own room until they properly learn to use the litter box.
06/28 - In the morning, someone has left a blood stain in the litter box. But neither kitten seems to have an injury. We watch through the day and I see tapeworms left in the litter box (dead). Still don't know who is doing what. Finally I find tiny moving "grains of rice" worm segments on Little Boy's tail. Well, that mystery is solved, but someone just bled on the cat bed. It looks like it could be urine, but I don't smell anything. I leave a message for the vet on her answering machine. Then look up UTI. Google tells us that urinary tract infections can be fatal. So I bite the bullet and take the kittens into the vet's recommended animal hospital. They figure out that Little Girl is pooping blood (she has a little accident in front of them). They also tell me that if she wasn't "shedding" at the time of the last visit, that might be why no one found coccidia. They test the sample and find "multiple flagellate organisms... Possible Giardia seen also." They also do a blood test for anemia. My fears of her lack of vocalization are put to rest as I hear her screaming from the back room. The hospital gives me Metronidazole for both kittens (.06ml by mouth twice daily for 5 days) to resolve these "organisms." They do nothing about the tapeworm. Cost of visit - $134.00 (Kittens are still locked up away from older girls).
06/29 - Vet calls me back. Ask me to bring kittens in that afternoon. Prepares tapeworm shots when she finds out the emergency hospital didn't treat for it. Little Girl weighs 1.5 lbs and Little Boy weighs 2.25 lbs. She's lost half a pound over the past several days. Not good. She's also not eating food so much as licking the gravy off things. Vet is really worried now. But at least Little Girl's still grooming herself. All is not lost if she's still grooming. More fecal samples must be collected (this time for her alone). There is no such thing as "possible giardia. They either saw giardia or they didn't." Vet says to leave out wet food all day. Even if I have to throw leftovers out at the end of the day, we must not let kittens get dehydrated. Kittens are still locked up away from older girls at night, but we put her in the bathroom with a single litterbox and a cat bed so we know we're getting samples from her and her alone. Cost of visit - $184.00
06/30 - I collect parts of three samples. One from the litterbox (left from the night before), one from the accident she had in the cat bed, then the third chunk from a poop she has right after breakfast. If the vet is testing for parasites, and it's possible for coccidia to be shed on and off, then I'll get as much poop in that container as possible from as many different moments as I can. The SO drops sample container off at vet a few hours later.
In the evening, though, Little Girl seems to be eating with more enthusiasm. She's not chowing down like her brother, but she definitely seems to have her appetite back. This is after 4 doses of metroidazole and the tapeworm shot. SO declares this a success and "everything is fixed!" I tell him not so fast. She can easily go downhill the next day after a spurt of energy.
07/01 - Test comes back positive for coccidia. Vet will have medication for this in the evening. In the meantime, keep kittens separated and feed, and keep giving them other meds. Little Girl definitely has more energy, though. She's playing again (not quite vigorously, but playing) and I caught her eating dry food without prompting. YAY! Vet is happy to hear news about eating. Says that one thing wouldn't have caused Little Girl's issues, but if she had three things (tapeworm, coccidia, and stomach parasites), that would explain her dramatic weight loss and other symptoms. We get 3 days worth of meds, premeasured out in syringes, for both kittens. Because of the weight difference, the syringes are separated and marked with who gets what. Cost of meds - $46.00 (approximately. I can't find the receipt for this one).
07/02 - 07/03 - Final doses of medication dealt out. Little Girl is definitely feeling better. She's started chasing the toys and wrestling with her brother, though he outweighs her by quite a bit at this point. The diarrhea has stopped, but the stool is still a little soft. We're going to give it another day before we let them back out with the girls.
07/05 - All litterboxes are emptied, bleached, and refilled with fresh litter. The kittens are allowed out into the world to be with the girls. There is still the occasional "you got in my way, back off" hiss, but cats all seem relatively civil. Wet food treats are helping the girls deal with the intruders a little better.
As of today (07/07) Little Girl has put back a chunk of that weight that she'd lost. She no longer looks quite as scrawny and she's filling out. I wish she'd catch up to her brother faster, but I'm told cats gain weight slowly. Still, I feel like the immediate danger is past and Little Girl is no "Failure to Thrive Cat." Yes, I spent a lot of money on new kittens, but I feel it was worth the effort. Vet is very happy with Little Girl's recovery. We go back in on the 14th for our next vaccine / checkup visit.
Sae hai to kittehs. Little Boy on left, Little Girl on right.
This is them last week. Little Girl isn't feeling well in this pic.
Timeline:
06/20 - We meet them at the Humane Society. They came in on 06/17, were spayed / neutered on 06/19, yet both seem energetic and happy. Both are attacking the same toy mouse on a string, completely ignoring each other, then wrestling with each other, and generally having fun. Little kid seeing another kitten notices a flea on unrelated cat. (important note) We adopt these two, bring them home, and put them in a separate room with their own litter, food, water, and some of the older girls' toys. The Humane Society has previously treated them for fleas, microchipped them, etc. We get full medical records to take to our vet and instructions not to bath them for 7 to 10 days. Records say Dora weighs 1.6 lbs and Diego weighs 1.9 lbs.
06/21 - 06/23 We try to feed older girls outside the kittens room. They aren't having any of that. They can smell intruder and are NOT happy. We take turns locking up girls and letting kittens get to know the house, then locking kittens back up and letting girls run around. We even crack door of kitten room open. Older girls hiss a bit, etc. The kittens have soft stool. The SO tells me to mention that to the vet.
06/23 - Time to meet the vet! She looks them over, tests their appetite by pulling out cheez whiz and canned cat food. They are voracious (though basement-cat-in-training doesn't like cheese). Both kittens weigh in at 2 lbs. Weight gain! Good going! Vet is pleased with their energy level and appetite, warns me that they are the skinniest, scrawniest, tiniest 8 week old kittens she's ever seen. She shows me her 9 week old by comparison. D & D are more like 6 week old kittens in size, but with 8 week old kitten eyes. Since HS did most of the medical stuff, nothing gets stuck up their butts, but vet would like me to collect fecal samples because of the soft stool. Might be coccidia (a parasite). Cost of visit - $171.53.
06/24 - Something is going on with Little Girl. She is getting very cuddly and not as interested in playing with Little Boy. She nibbles at her food now, eating a lot more slowly than she did. Is she lethargic or is it just my imagination? I saw this behavior when Phantom was in end-stage renal failure, so I'm on high alert now. Little Girl sneezed a lot over the first weekend. SO told me to tell the vet yesterday, but I forgot. I thought she was just a quiet kitten, but when I pick her up, she tries to hiss at me. TRIES. Lots of breath, no sound. Then I see her try to meow. Uh-oh. Icarus had a herpes virus that took most of his ability to vocalize. When I drop off the samples to the vet tomorrow, I should mention all this. Maybe she's got that same virus? Except her eyes are clear and fine. No discharge.
06/25 - Oh, dear. Vet wants to see her. So I bring her in for an "emergency" check an hour after I dropped off the samples. Vet introduces me to the phrase "failure to thrive kitty." Because some cats just don't survive past kittenhood for reasons vets never learn about. In fact, vet says if kitten was with another household, she'd likely be dead by now because most people don't want to spend this kind of money on sickly kittens they just got. Vet says she'll have the fecals checked for additional parasites. If there's a respiratory disease Little Girl caught, we won't know for another several days. So keep a close eye on her. In the meantime, feed kitten 1 tsp of wet food an hour (because kitten stomachs are tiny and she'll eat more in smaller doses than trying to stuff her in two or three sittings). We need to "fatten her up" before the vet feels comfy starting her on any treatments. Cost of visit - $37.58.
06/26 - 06/27 -Little Girl getting more lethargic and feeling more fragile. Little Boy is still bouncing off the walls. Fecals come back clean on coccidia. On 06/28 we see signs that someone is having accidents. Twice in the cat bed, once on our bed as we are going to sleep. SO blames Little Boy for this, even though we aren't sure which kitten. Still, we decide to lock the kittens back up in their own room until they properly learn to use the litter box.
06/28 - In the morning, someone has left a blood stain in the litter box. But neither kitten seems to have an injury. We watch through the day and I see tapeworms left in the litter box (dead). Still don't know who is doing what. Finally I find tiny moving "grains of rice" worm segments on Little Boy's tail. Well, that mystery is solved, but someone just bled on the cat bed. It looks like it could be urine, but I don't smell anything. I leave a message for the vet on her answering machine. Then look up UTI. Google tells us that urinary tract infections can be fatal. So I bite the bullet and take the kittens into the vet's recommended animal hospital. They figure out that Little Girl is pooping blood (she has a little accident in front of them). They also tell me that if she wasn't "shedding" at the time of the last visit, that might be why no one found coccidia. They test the sample and find "multiple flagellate organisms... Possible Giardia seen also." They also do a blood test for anemia. My fears of her lack of vocalization are put to rest as I hear her screaming from the back room. The hospital gives me Metronidazole for both kittens (.06ml by mouth twice daily for 5 days) to resolve these "organisms." They do nothing about the tapeworm. Cost of visit - $134.00 (Kittens are still locked up away from older girls).
06/29 - Vet calls me back. Ask me to bring kittens in that afternoon. Prepares tapeworm shots when she finds out the emergency hospital didn't treat for it. Little Girl weighs 1.5 lbs and Little Boy weighs 2.25 lbs. She's lost half a pound over the past several days. Not good. She's also not eating food so much as licking the gravy off things. Vet is really worried now. But at least Little Girl's still grooming herself. All is not lost if she's still grooming. More fecal samples must be collected (this time for her alone). There is no such thing as "possible giardia. They either saw giardia or they didn't." Vet says to leave out wet food all day. Even if I have to throw leftovers out at the end of the day, we must not let kittens get dehydrated. Kittens are still locked up away from older girls at night, but we put her in the bathroom with a single litterbox and a cat bed so we know we're getting samples from her and her alone. Cost of visit - $184.00
06/30 - I collect parts of three samples. One from the litterbox (left from the night before), one from the accident she had in the cat bed, then the third chunk from a poop she has right after breakfast. If the vet is testing for parasites, and it's possible for coccidia to be shed on and off, then I'll get as much poop in that container as possible from as many different moments as I can. The SO drops sample container off at vet a few hours later.
In the evening, though, Little Girl seems to be eating with more enthusiasm. She's not chowing down like her brother, but she definitely seems to have her appetite back. This is after 4 doses of metroidazole and the tapeworm shot. SO declares this a success and "everything is fixed!" I tell him not so fast. She can easily go downhill the next day after a spurt of energy.
07/01 - Test comes back positive for coccidia. Vet will have medication for this in the evening. In the meantime, keep kittens separated and feed, and keep giving them other meds. Little Girl definitely has more energy, though. She's playing again (not quite vigorously, but playing) and I caught her eating dry food without prompting. YAY! Vet is happy to hear news about eating. Says that one thing wouldn't have caused Little Girl's issues, but if she had three things (tapeworm, coccidia, and stomach parasites), that would explain her dramatic weight loss and other symptoms. We get 3 days worth of meds, premeasured out in syringes, for both kittens. Because of the weight difference, the syringes are separated and marked with who gets what. Cost of meds - $46.00 (approximately. I can't find the receipt for this one).
07/02 - 07/03 - Final doses of medication dealt out. Little Girl is definitely feeling better. She's started chasing the toys and wrestling with her brother, though he outweighs her by quite a bit at this point. The diarrhea has stopped, but the stool is still a little soft. We're going to give it another day before we let them back out with the girls.
07/05 - All litterboxes are emptied, bleached, and refilled with fresh litter. The kittens are allowed out into the world to be with the girls. There is still the occasional "you got in my way, back off" hiss, but cats all seem relatively civil. Wet food treats are helping the girls deal with the intruders a little better.
As of today (07/07) Little Girl has put back a chunk of that weight that she'd lost. She no longer looks quite as scrawny and she's filling out. I wish she'd catch up to her brother faster, but I'm told cats gain weight slowly. Still, I feel like the immediate danger is past and Little Girl is no "Failure to Thrive Cat." Yes, I spent a lot of money on new kittens, but I feel it was worth the effort. Vet is very happy with Little Girl's recovery. We go back in on the 14th for our next vaccine / checkup visit.
Sae hai to kittehs. Little Boy on left, Little Girl on right.
