Im desperate... its life or death for this wee girl. (long)

levi68

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I started fostering Ava the first week of October. She was three weeks old. The long story short, she didnt thrive. She would eat but always act like she was starving, even if it had only been an hour. She spent some time at another foster home due to an illness in my family and the other foster mom called me in tears one day. She was convinced something was terribly wrong with her.( I agreed) Unfortunately, our shelter does not get any funding and is reluctant to spend hundreds of dollars on one kitten. She took her in when she turned 8 weeks old in Nov. and she has been at the shelter since.

She has been dewormed every way but Friday. She has had Panacur and a dose of Sulfa.

Her symptoms are bouts of diarrhea and failure to thrive. Her coat is dull.

The shelter was going to make a call (euthanize) but then a staff member took her home at night and was trying her on slippery elm which seemed to help her diarrhea.

Basically, she is 13 weeks old and looks like a 5 to 6 week old kitten. She weighs 1.4 lbs.

She has not put on any weight in 2 months!

I am convinced she has some type of malabsorption or EPI. I spoke at length with the shelter manager and said a blood or stool test should tell us if she is producing the proper enzymes to actually absorb the nutrients. I have offered to bring her home and try out a regime of enzymes, raw beef pancreas and am consider either a low fat and fiber kibble or switching her over to raw.

Does anyone have any experience with this.. or could offer some suggestions. If she responds to the beef pancreas and enzymes, I will take her to my vet and see if she would give her a shot of B12 as well. If there is any hope for her, I will try my best. Not many will adopt a cat with this many problems. I am so sad that her life so far has been one big struggle. :(
 
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violet

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What kind of food is this baby eating? 
 
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levi68

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They have her on Science Diet Kitten and supplementing wet food
 
 

ritz

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I think your instinct is correct--raw feeding or at the very least a high quality, limited ingredient, wet food, is the way to go. 

My first thought was the kitten is allergic to something in the Science Diet (grain, byproducts, protein, chemicals) and/or a protein in the wet food.

I'd also give her pro biotics; her gut is clearly unhappy.

Poor little girl....
 
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