Emaciated Stray just found!!

Hi guys,

My partner has just brought home an emaciated stray cat home from her work, it is really boney, has flee's, an ear infection and has weak back legs.

Thus far it has had 2 pouches of whiskers, one this monring and one tonight and some cat milk. We have just front lined it and want to know if it is ok to bath it after 24hrs? (its very smelly).

Can anyone tell us how much and how often to feed her? am i right in saying not too give her too much too soon?

We have a vets appointment booked for Monday night and will be keeping her in the kitchen till then.

Thanks

Steve & Faith

No to the bath. You'll need to wait more than a couple days before you can do that.

Please be very careful feeding this cat. Skinny and emaciated are two different things. A skinny cat can be fed normally if carefully, but a cat that is truly starved and weak cat will start to have organ damage as it's body digests whatever it can to fuel itself. This kitty's liver and kidneys may not be able to handle much protein and ideally you start feeding slowly under a vet's supervision.

Get this cat to a vet ASAP. An ER vet if you have to.

Thanks for the info strange wings, our next door neighbour is a vet but they are out at the moment.

The feeds she has had have been small but we wont feed her again until she has been seen by a vet tomo...

You can feel her back bones but whether if she is skinny or emaciated i dont know, i will take a picture and upload so you can see..

Thanks

Steve

Steve and Faith, Thank you for showing this stray some love. How fortunate your neighbor's a vet. I am sending the kitty and you vibes

Thanks, we love animals, we have a staffie and a horse... our Staffie Chip was a rescue, he normally chases cats out the garden but Tes (she was found outside a Tesco store) doesnt run so he just stares

Well, you're going to have to feed her again. You've got her body working for food now, it'll want more. Just try to keep it a simple food, or a baby food (nothing but broth and meat type) and only a little at a time. A tablespoon or two at a time. You don't want to upset her stomach. Ask the vet about bloodwork... if they can get any blood from her.

And it's a given that she'll have tapeworms and roundworms. When healthy enough for her body to handle it, she'll need to be dewormed. Until then make sure your dog doesn't go sniffing around her litter box and treat him for fleas just in case.

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We have tried to upload some pictures for your opinion, I think if you copy and paste these links into your web browser you should be able to see them (fingers crossed).

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http://s1142.photobucket.com/albums/n617/chipdiddy/?action=view&current=Photo0372.jpg

One of them broke. And your the cat looks better than your description. Skinny, but not in the completely near death area. Feeding should be fine if done slowly and with caution - no rich foods.

Do have the vet check liver and kidney function, though. Who knows what kitty had to eat or drink just to survive.

Oh, and don't forget to have her scanned for a microchip. There's a possible chance someone stopped at the store and lost her.

Great, thanks for the advice, her spine is really boney but glad she's in better shape than we thought.

Faith found her in newport and had her checked for a chip at a vets just as they closed, she isn't chipped.

i'll post again when she has been seen by a vet...we'll get a full MOT on her

Steve

Then she's all yours if you decide to keep her. Do make sure Chip knows she's a house mate and to behave himself around her at all times. Once this is made clear pits and staffies are pretty good with cats. Though younger ones can get worked up and push a cat to play with them too much. Past experience, that either ends up with a cat running off or a scratched dog.

Provided she recovers and there's no lasting weakness in the back legs (could she have been hit by a car?) then look into getting her a nice tall cat tree. Even when cats and dogs get along wonderfully it's a good idea to give a cat a space where a dog can't go.

I agree, she doesn't look emaciated, though it is difficult to tell - she looks like she has quite thick fur. I have a cat whose backbone you can feel easily, though she eats and eats - she is just naturally that way. So do feed her small amounts for a few days and get her wormed and deflead as soon as you can. By the way, supermarket cat milk has almost no nutrition in it. Give her kitten milk from the pharmacy or goat milk if you want to give her milk, though I would say she is probably OK with water. You are good people to take her in and I wish you the best of luck.

Those hip bones are pretty prominent, but she looks like she's not in terrible shape. If she's hungry, feed her a little bit at a time, like maybe 1/4 of a can of wet can food (like the standard Little Friskie's, or some such thing). Too much dry food would definitely be a no-no, since it's much richer.

If you can find some canned kitten food, that would be good, too.

I would agree.. small amounts, frequently. Every couple of hours perhaps... so as not to overtax her system. Wet food is good.. .as others indicated... adds moisture which I am sure she needs.

our cats really like the juice from the quick-frozen chicken tenders that I cook

I use one frozen chicken tender, put into a microwave bowl - pour a little spring water on over the c. tender, I add a couple of crumbs of chicken bouillon cube into the water for flavor

I microwave for about a minute or so, and serve the juice slightly warm

that's my version of chicken "soup" for my cats. I was serving it when they had colds and wouldn't eat anything else - but, they still enjoy the juice as a treat now

Maybe something like that juice will be gentle, but nourishing for your precious cat.

(I tried the canned chicken broth - but they didn't like it ?? - go figure.)

By-the-Way - she has beautiful markings.