- Joined
- Jan 16, 2011
- Messages
- 12
- Purraise
- 11
I'm so very desperate for advice. I dabble in a bit of independent rescue, I live in a very small community that doesn't think highly of animals so more often than not they are dumped aside and for the most part it's cats that suffer. Last summer two female cats were dumped off at a relatives farm. Normally he wouldn't mind, he has a colony of ferals that are spayed and neutered..but these cats were in various stages of pregnancy and he didn't want kittens. I took them in and the first mama birthed a litter of healthy kittens, a few weeks later her sister had six very small skinny kittens that were what sick from day one. Both moms had vet care from the day I brought them in and tested negative for diseases. The sickly litter died by six weeks of age, they were so very small even then that the vet was shocked they held on as long as the last baby did. When they passed they failed quickly, even with vet intervention they passed and by the time the last one went down hill we opted to euthanize rather than watch her suffer. The first litter all thrived and went on to new homes, both moms were spayed and also rehomed. The vet gave me a packet about fading kitten syndrome and explained this is what most likely took their lives because of poor nutrition while developing, premature birth, and the fact that no one thrived even when we stepped in to feed.
This past month a friend found a feral mom with babies on her property. One baby, the runt, was getting bombarded by his huge siblings so the vet seen him and gave him formula to begin bottle feeding. At three weeks of age he was so much smaller than his siblings, but he wanted to live and ate like a champ in my care. Yesterday, at five weeks of age, we had to put him down. He went down hill so fast, even with fluids and help from the vet he crashed. The vet had already seen his mama and his healthy siblings and made a note of how he didn't grow while in my care for the two weeks I had him. He didn't even gain weight, he got into your hand. His labs were fine, no anemia...no dehydration...no blockages or injuries...he just crashed. He assured me we did all we could to save his life, but I'm devastated. He carried the same look as the kittens we lost last year, their story eerily similar to his own and once again his death labeled as fading kitten.
My rescue friend freaked out, told me not to trust my vet because fading kitten syndrome is not popular and she swears it doesn't exist. She said its something I'm doing, something wrong with my home..she made me feel worse. I've bottle fed kittens, puppies, fed baby birds, a few animals for a wildlife rehab center, as well as newborn children. I've been seeing my vet since I was a child and had childhood pets, his office and doctors never steered me wrong.
So I come to you to ask if you have any info on how popular fading kitten syndrome is. Has anyone lost kittens to it? She swears an entire litter last year and one baby this year is too many...but none of my cats are ill and they've lived in my care for as long as 10 years...I tried to explain the mothers had no care, no food, and these babies were smaller than an adult hand even at six weeks of age. They had no disease that showed on lab work and mamas had been healthy at their own vet appointment. I can't stop thinking now that I did something wrong. I tried so hard, I'm so crushed.
This past month a friend found a feral mom with babies on her property. One baby, the runt, was getting bombarded by his huge siblings so the vet seen him and gave him formula to begin bottle feeding. At three weeks of age he was so much smaller than his siblings, but he wanted to live and ate like a champ in my care. Yesterday, at five weeks of age, we had to put him down. He went down hill so fast, even with fluids and help from the vet he crashed. The vet had already seen his mama and his healthy siblings and made a note of how he didn't grow while in my care for the two weeks I had him. He didn't even gain weight, he got into your hand. His labs were fine, no anemia...no dehydration...no blockages or injuries...he just crashed. He assured me we did all we could to save his life, but I'm devastated. He carried the same look as the kittens we lost last year, their story eerily similar to his own and once again his death labeled as fading kitten.
My rescue friend freaked out, told me not to trust my vet because fading kitten syndrome is not popular and she swears it doesn't exist. She said its something I'm doing, something wrong with my home..she made me feel worse. I've bottle fed kittens, puppies, fed baby birds, a few animals for a wildlife rehab center, as well as newborn children. I've been seeing my vet since I was a child and had childhood pets, his office and doctors never steered me wrong.
So I come to you to ask if you have any info on how popular fading kitten syndrome is. Has anyone lost kittens to it? She swears an entire litter last year and one baby this year is too many...but none of my cats are ill and they've lived in my care for as long as 10 years...I tried to explain the mothers had no care, no food, and these babies were smaller than an adult hand even at six weeks of age. They had no disease that showed on lab work and mamas had been healthy at their own vet appointment. I can't stop thinking now that I did something wrong. I tried so hard, I'm so crushed.
