Meet Noodle - yet another needy kitten

babywukong

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Another needy kitten has walked into my life. Meet Noodle! He was found wandering outside my friend's apartment. Due to her landlord's foolish superstitious notions, my friend is unable to keep Noodle and sought my help to rehome him.

Unfortunately, Noodle's health is a growing concern. The first thing I noticed about him (apart from the fact that he is SO gosh-darned adorable) was that he was super skinny. This bag of bones may also have a more serious underlying health issue as he looks like he's using a lot of energy to breathe.

I first saw him on Saturday evening, most vet clinics were already closed for the day. Finally found a tiny vet clinic which I don't really trust. But since I thought it would just be a routine check up, I brought him in anyway. The vet assured us that there was nothing wrong with him, aside from being dehydrated. She gave him some subcutaneous fluids and sent him home.

Since then, he's been getting regular feedings of good canned food and lots of fluids, but his breathing hasn't gotten better.

Worried about him, another friend decided to bring him to another vet clinic yesterday, and they said his heartbeat is very soft on one side which may be the result of water in his lung.

Unfortunately the clinic they sent him to did not have an xray machine, so I will be sending him to a trusted vet later this evening after work.

I really hope the little guy will be alright. He's such an affectionate little fluffball! Some pics...

Resting on the bed.


Resting again my friend's arm. You can see the tip of his tongue sticking out! He's always forgetting to keep his tongue tucked safely inside his mouth... No idea why.


Having a snooze... Something he does alarmingly often.


Resized version of the first picture
(Thanks for the heads-up, Rosiemac!)


 
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babywukong

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Here's another pic of Noodle sleeping. In this picture, you can see very clearly how terribly skinny he is.

 

valanhb

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Aw, poor little Noodle! I hope he's OK and food, shelter, water and lots of TLC will help him grow big and strong.

About the tongue thing...my Trent sticks his tongue out when he's happy and content, usually when he's getting loves.
 

tab

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bless you for taking little noodle in.
he does look so tiny, poor little guy.

both coco and shinobi often forget to put their tongues away, always makes me smile when they do that!

here are tons of healing for the little fella. he looks so small and vulnerable but i know he is now in the best possible place.
 

addiebee

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Bless you for taking in this little guy! Hope everything turns out ok!
 

kaete

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What a sweetie! I hope that he makes a full recovery. With you on his side, I'm sure he'll be all right.
 

beturtlement

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What a total sweetie.
He reminds me a lot of Niko when he was a kitten. When I got Niko from my local shelter, he was sickly and categorized as a special needs case because of various, but non-serious, health issues. If you just found Noodle this past Saturday, you still have time to see if he can get better.. so there's always hope.


I really hope they find that nothing is seriously wrong with him, and like Niko, he gets better from having love, proper care, and attention.
 

jaffacake

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Awww, he`s gorgeous! How did you get on today at the vets? Fingers crossed you can nurse that sweet boy back to health. He`s lucky to find you



Get well soon Noodle!
 

proudmamiof4

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he is such a cutie pie
my Itty Bitty is perfectly healthy and she is also a thin girl! she eats like a horse and stays thin!she is long and thin.she has been tested and treated for parasites.Some cats are just naturally thin!!Good luck nd he is adorable
give him some time,good food and lots of tlc!I am sure he will be fine!
 

yosemite

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Maybe wee Noodle is just catching up on rest and now that he's eating better, he will get more energy. Good vibes coming your way to help this little fellow.
 

rang_27

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He sure is cute, but there is nothing so sad as a skinny kitten. (I still want to know how cats can always pick out the house that will take care of them??)
 
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babywukong

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Well folks, I have lousy news. The vet did an Xray on little Noodle and he's diagnosed as having diaphragmatic hernia.

A diaphragm is basically a muscle that sort of separates the organs in the front of the cat's body (lungs etc) and the organs at the back-end (intestines, liver etc). A hernia is a protrusion of a tissue, structure, or part of an organ through the muscular tissue or the membrane by which it is normally contained (from Wikipedia). So Noodle either was born without a diaphragm or born with a faulty diaphragm, or he suffered some impact that ruptured it. Once the diaphragm got damaged, his organs which normally would be at the back-end came spilling to the front-end.

If you'd like to know more about diaphragmatic hernia, here's a site you can visit. Of course, a Wikipedia search will do fine as well


The vet said it was unlikely that he was born with this condition, but more likely to be a result of abuse, causing the diaphragm to rupture


Anyway, Noodle's hernia is so bad that a large part of his intestines have moved to the front of his body, crushing against his lungs. One lung has already been flattened, so he only has one remaining functioning lung.

Of course, the choices are surgery vs PTS. We aren't letting this boy go without a fight. He doesn't look like a cat who's gonna just lay down and die. He's just starting to enjoy life, and he deserves a chance. Cats do have nine lives right? So we've decided to send him to a reputed vet who reportedly works miracles (this vet just brought my friend's dog with autoimmune disease back from the brink of death - dog is recovering beautifully now) and hope that he can work another one on this little boy.

This miracle vet will see him today, not sure if he will operate today. I can't leave work today, so my friends will be taking Noodle down. I will get updates later in the afternoon and will post some up here.

Many many many vibes please... Noodle needs them!
 

beturtlement

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Oh, no... I'm soooo sorry that his condition turned out to be serious. If what your vet speculates is true, that he endured some type of abuse, it's SO good that he has found someone like you who isn't willing to give up on him at the first sign of bad news. He's a very lucky little kitten. Please do keep us posted.

Sending many well wishes and vibes from New Jersey.
 

valanhb

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Many for Noodle! He is a lucky little guy to have found people like you and your friends. Amazing that he's still so trusting and loving, if your vet's theory is right. Says a lot about the amount of heart and love this kitten has!
 
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babywukong

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My friend brought Noodle to the miracle vet and called with an update. The vet examined him and is going to send Noodle in for an ultrasound before surgery.

He said that Noodle was likely to have been run over by something. He also said that there are lots of fluids in his body cavity, which isn't a good sign. The next bad thing is that a lot of Noodle's organs are not in their right place.

This is going to be one tricky surgery, and it doesn't help that Noodle is so young. Vet says he'll try his best.

Needing vibes that the vet will have steady hands and a cool head to help him through it, and that Noodle has a strong-enough will to survive this ordeal.
 
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