Any thoughts on what may have happened to my kitten :(

oleander

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
64
Purraise
27
Location
USA
I foster for a cat rescue and I specialize in neonatal kittens... I usually have a dozen or more kittens under 10 weeks and have never had any pass away unless there was a major underlying issue (4 newborns with birth defects and one 8 week old with a liver shunt.) However, this morning I lost my sweet little Zeus and I don't know why.

His history is this: I pulled his litter of 5 at 3 weeks old from the local animal shelter where all kittens under 6 weeks are euthanized upon intake. They were sitting in a carrier behind the intake desk. Bottle/syringe fed for about a week in a half then they all decided they no longer would take formula so we moved on to baby food chicken mixed with baby rice cereal and then a grain free canned food with access to babycat dry food and then blue wilderness kitten (once they were big enough to chew the pieces.) At about 6 weeks old one of the kittens, Zeus, started having major digestive issues. He was having constant and unyielding diarrhea. It was not liquid, just like a toothpaste consistency and was always coming out of his little butt, while running around the room, sleeping, eating, playing etc. He ate tons though so he never had any issues with dehydration. After trying to clear it up with a diet change to chicken and rice and some canned pumpkin, and having a fecal done at the vet (came back negative for everything) I opted to send him to a fabulous cat rescuer that has many more years of experience than me. In 2 weeks she got his bowels in order and he was fine. What did the trick was Science Diet Kitten (something i never would have fed, lol) softened in warm water and mixed with a jar of baby food chicken. This was like some sort of magical food for him, he was back to normal!

I got him back from her a week ago and he was doing SO good! Growing, playing, super healthy and having normal stools. It was fabulous and I was so excited. Then, yesterday, I heard a kitten dry heaving in the litter box and went to check and it was him. I picked him up and a clear, gooey, almost gel like substance poured out of his butt. I put him in a kitten bed with a heating pad and tried to get him to take some baby food chicken which he would not. I checked and he was dehydrated. His gums were still pink but not as pink as they should of been so I got him to take some karo as well as some pedialyte. After a few minutes he was getting more lethargic so I decided to rush him to the emergency vet. We were there for several hours where they ran tests and fecal, all of which came back fine. He had low blood sugar and was dehydrated. He got 35ml of subq fluids and when they did the fecal they found traces of blood so after discussing he history with the vet, the vet agreed that he had colitis and gave him Baytril by injection (something I have never used) and sent me home with more to continue him on. He got nutri cal at the vet and was starting to perk up so they discharged him around 3 am. On the way home he was climbing out of his carrier and road home laying on my lap. After getting home he seemed to be about the same. He was not dehydrated, his sugar seemed to be ok as he continued to take some nutri cal and his breathing was somewhat labored but not too bad. He was mostly sleeping but did get up every now and then to walk around a bit. By 7am i had decided to go ahead and take him in to my regular vet when they opened as I though he might get some help breathing from some oxygen. However about 7:45 he started meowing loudly like he was in pain. I picked him up and he started vomiting in a really harsh/uncontrollable way. He then started having violent seizures and after a minute or two he passed. It was the most horrific death I have experience. He was 9 weeks old.

I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on what could have happened. He was healthy and happy and this came on so suddenly. He did not get into anything harmful (the entire upstairs of my house is kitten proof and there is nothing to get into) and he did not have any food besides his special mix, which his whole litter has been eating and they are all fine.
 

denice

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Messages
18,836
Purraise
13,144
Location
Columbus OH
I am sorry about this.  Kittens are so sweet but also fragile.  I really don't know I am just guessing but I wonder if maybe there was some kind of congenital problem with his digestive system.  As time went on and he needed to eat more solid food that is when he started having problems.  I know the seizures happen with extremely low blood sugar.  If there was some kind of congenital defect he wouldn't be absorbing nutrients from his food and it doesn't take long for a small kitten to get into trouble with low blood sugar.  That's just a wild guess on my part which means it's just as likely to be wrong as right.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

oleander

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Oct 22, 2012
Messages
64
Purraise
27
Location
USA
 
I am sorry about this.  Kittens are so sweet but also fragile.  I really don't know I am just guessing but I wonder if maybe there was some kind of congenital problem with his digestive system.  As time went on and he needed to eat more solid food that is when he started having problems.  I know the seizures happen with extremely low blood sugar.  If there was some kind of congenital defect he wouldn't be absorbing nutrients from his food and it doesn't take long for a small kitten to get into trouble with low blood sugar.  That's just a wild guess on my part which means it's just as likely to be wrong as right.
Thank you for the reply! Kittens are really fragile but I always feel like I am prepared for anything because I have been doing this for awhile, but this one has totally stumped me and broken my heart :( So far my research has given me basically zero clues as to what could have happened, so I am leaning towards some kind of congenital problem as well. I also read that Baytril can lower the seizure threshold, so if he was already having underlying issues, the Baytril could have exacerbated them. It just kills me because I feel like I should have noticed something sooner! He had been doing so well though and if he was getting sick or going down hill prior to last night it was not obvious at all. The rescue that had him for 2 week thinks maybe it was an allergic reaction to the Baytril, and the initial issues last night may have just been his digestive issues coming back, but I really don't know. That rescuer works at a vet clinic and so he was checked out and closely monitored, so I also feel like if something else was really wrong it would have been found. I'm also researching FIP although I don't think that is it, I guess it could be possible.
 

thevegancuddler

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Nov 17, 2012
Messages
172
Purraise
14
Location
Athol, Massachusetts
I don't have any answers, but I hear the mortality rate is actually quite high for kittens without mothers - I read somewhere between 15 and 27 percent. I'm so sorry about Zeus. Poor baby. ):
 
Top