Emergency!!!!!

Hi, i rescued a malnourished kitten two days ago. He's thin but his appetite was now improving. Even before bringing him home, i noticed his running wasnt smooth. His back leg/s seemed to give him some problem...i felt like he never fully put his weight on one of the hind legs. I thought it was all related to his malnourishment and not getting the nutrients he required. This morning something tragic happened...i woke up to find him using the bathroom. While i cleaned up the litter he spilled, he was running around playing. Then i went to prepare his food. When i came back he was lying on his side. I put the plate before him and usually he quickly gets up but today he just looked and didnt get up. I got worried so i sat him up and he just wobbled and fell to the floor! He's not using his back legs! He's trying to use them but he wobbles and falls down. Sometime he sits up and rocks side to side like he cant balance himself.

Im on my way to the vet. We're about 45 minutes away. He's now sitting in my sister's lap, still trying to get up and walk. I dont know anything about his medical history...we'll find out today. Based on what i see, he looks healthy but one cant guess whats going on under the surface. He has no discharge from anywhere. No coughing or sneezing, but i did hear him hacking once. Im not sure if that was a hairball or a cough. He barely weighs 4 pounds.

Does anyone have any experience with this or any suggestions for me? Im so sad for this poor little baby. You can tell he had a hard life on the street and now this. He's all bones. Plz pray that he makes it.
Thanks.

Thank you for rescuing this little baby and taking him to your vet! 

Get well little guy! 

Hi, Alyssa. Thanks for the well wishes. Im just getting back from the vet. She said things dont look good because he's wobbling, not walking properly. Im sure the issue is hind legs. He's negative for FIV and FeLV. She said he could be negative because he doesnt have a lot of blood cells. Does that make sense? So in other words, even though he's negative he could still be positive? She sounded like she wanted me to put him down...she was saying whatever he has, it's not good. She said i shouldnt even let my other cats in the same room! Im keeping them all seperate but my youngest sneaks in sometimes--he likes to hang out in my closet :/

I cant just put him down. Dont we all deserve a chance? I told her to run additional tests and thats where we stand. Im going to do my best to nurse him.

Do you know how i can get more replies? I need more info on how i can give him supplemental care, etc. please help me. Thanks.

I'm not sure any of us can tell you what's wrong with him, but I have to agree with separating him form your other cats if you don't know what this is.

Sorry to hear the news. I would wait for the other test results and get your vet's honest opinion. Yes, we all deserve a chance but if the little guy is suffering it would be unfair and selfish for you to try and keep him alive. It is always hard to put an animal down, especially a baby... but sometimes, it's the most kind thing you can do for them. 

Take into consideration your other cats. You don't want to risk them catching what he's got, especially if it IS something fatal.

As far as more replies, people will get to it! It is a Friday afternoon most of the TCS community may be working. 

If ever I felt pressured to put an animal down when I thought they had a chance at having an otherwise relatively normal life, I would seek a second opinion. Having an animal PTS is such a huge decision to make that I would want to be absolutely sure there could be no other way I could make the rest of their life any better.

I don't have any experience with this, but you may want to see if they can test whether it's physical or neurological. At first I thought it could have been cerebellar hypoplasia, but I think that appears right from the get-go since it's something the kitten is born with and it tends to not get any better or worse throughout their lives, whereas this little one was fine until recently.

I think all you can do for now is ensure he's kept in a safe area where the chance of any potential injury and discomfort can be minimized (falling into/onto hard objects, keeping his food on lower/flatter surfaces) and keep him well fed until your vets can find some more definitive answers. Best of luck!

@Alyssa, it's so hard to even think of making such a decision, but i know sometimes that is the best decision to be made. It's just, i lost my cat Luna (in the avatar) this past december, and it has been a very heartbreaking experience for me. I feel like it's too soon for me to go through it again
I have another cat who is sick and he's just started recovering. I feel so emotionally overwhelmed.

At this point I would expect the wobbliness to be because he's weak and malnourished. So feed him up for a few weeks, make sure he's properly de-wormed, do what you can to help him get strong. My guess is he'll be fine once he's stronger but even if he stays a bit wobbly his whole life he'll get along OK. Only PTS if his quality of life is really bad.

pinkdagger said:

If ever I felt pressured to put an animal down when I thought they had a chance at having an otherwise relatively normal life, I would seek a second opinion. Having an animal PTS is such a huge decision to make that I would want to be absolutely sure there could be no other way I could make the rest of their life any better.

I don't have any experience with this, but you may want to see if they can test whether it's physical or neurological. At first I thought it could have been cerebellar hypoplasia, but I think that appears right from the get-go since it's something the kitten is born with and it tends to not get any better or worse throughout their lives, whereas this little one was fine until recently.

I think all you can do for now is ensure he's kept in a safe area where the chance of any potential injury and discomfort can be minimized (falling into/onto hard objects, keeping his food on lower/flatter surfaces) and keep him well fed until your vets can find some more definitive answers. Best of luck!

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Hi, Pinkdagger, yr right about that...PTS is a HUGE decision and I'm so emotionally weak! But of course i don't want to be selfish and make him suffer. I will do my best to make him comfortable. I have my sisters helping me round the clock and you guys for additional support, which I'm ever grateful for!

He gave blood today-- 2 and 1/2 tubes. He's already weak--weighs only 3.5 lbs at 4 months. Not too long ago, he looked like he was having a seizure or something. His front leg and back legs suddenly stiffened up and he started rolling on the floor, but i didn't see any jaw snapping.

I feel like the vet visit was horrible. I take my other cats to her but I felt so emotionally detached from her today. We just weren't clicking on that level. I'm not saying that just because I didn't agree with what she was suggesting...I felt like she had decided and nothing I said was being heard.

The vet said he could have toxoplasmosis, which could cause neurological issues. He just went down so fast. Yesterday he was fine...not 100% but i didn't expect things to turn so drastically.

Willowy said:

At this point I would expect the wobbliness to be because he's weak and malnourished. So feed him up for a few weeks, make sure he's properly de-wormed, do what you can to help him get strong. My guess is he'll be fine once he's stronger but even if he stays a bit wobbly his whole life he'll get along OK. Only PTS if his quality of life is really bad.

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Hi Willowy, someone at the hospital said the same thing. My sister broke down and the woman was trying to comfort her and made the same suggestion. I'm not giving up on him...at least not yet. I gave him some baby foid, chicken in gravy, which he lapped up. My sister gave him some pedialyte, unflavored, 1/2 ml, and he drank that too. So his appetite is there and he's eating when I offer him food. When I came home, he managed to get into the litter box...he peed and then had diarrhea.

His diarrhea was strange...it had some white stuff in it, no blood. It didn't look like mucus...sorry don't mean to gross you guys out...it looked like it had white mozzarella cheese consistency. Could be bacterial infection? What if it is, and his malnourishment plus lack of treatment is causing these symptoms? The vet really didnt offer a lot of help, and now I have all these questions. I'm sorry guys...thanks for all your help.

i have rescued and fostered several kittens to health where the Vet told me that me kitty was too sick and was never going to make it.... well guess 10 years later he is thriving, healthy, and happy as ever. What worked for me was PEDIALYTE.  I mixed it in with his water and formula when i bottle fed him, and than even in his food. I gave it to him every 4 hours. I dont know if that will work for ur little guy but may be worth a try especially if dehydrated and malnourished as mine was.   Good Luck

Traceykim16 said:

 
i have rescued and fostered several kittens to health where the Vet told me that me kitty was too sick and was never going to make it.... well guess 10 years later he is thriving, healthy, and happy as ever. What worked for me was PEDIALYTE.  I mixed it in with his water and formula when i bottle fed him, and than even in his food. I gave it to him every 4 hours. I dont know if that will work for ur little guy but may be worth a try especially if dehydrated and malnourished as mine was.   Good Luck

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Hi! thanks so much for replying and giving me hope. i appreciate it so much. i was wondering how much pedialyte should i give him and how many hours apart? right now hes eating baby food, should i just mix it in his food and how many drops, or should i syringe it? 

thanks for all the help.

No problem I administered it to Phoenix every 4 hours, even waking up in the middle of the night to do so. Yes you can mix it directly into his food that is what i did, or mix it with water and directly feed it to him through a bottle.  I do not remember the exact dosage but googled and found

"draw out the correct amount of Pedialyte using the syringe. This will typically be 2 to 4 milliliters per pound of the cat, depending on the severity of the dehydration."   Hope that helps somewhat.

Good Luck!!! 

Yes, Pedialyte should help keep him hydrated. Try to get him eating something other than baby food, too---I like Fancy Feast Kitten turkey flavor, mixed with KMR or goat's milk. Meat baby food is a good source of protein but lacks many necessary vitamins and minerals.

The white gooey poop could be caused by something he ate on the street. Hopefully after filling him up with good food he'll pass anything nasty he may have consumed. If it continues, it could be worms.

Probiotics and digestive enzymes may help him to get more nutrition from what he eats. Could really be helpful.

@catwoman707

I don't know that his weird stool and wobbly legs are connected - unless it is by the fact that it is diarrhea and he is dehydrated, in which case it could be a lack of potassium. Thus the pedialyte. I would consider the suggestions of Willowy - and mix pedialyte into his food (if he's eating). Or mix the FF with some unflavored children's pedialyte, and syringe it into him. You do need to get his caloric need into him. You can pick up a feeding syringe at a pet store or one meant for a child at a pharmacy. The pedialyte is important, as it has potassium (and other electrolytes).

Did she take a fecal sample to check for toxo? Or other parasites? Were you given de-wormer for him?

FYI, I found this: http://www.catster.com/forums/cat_Health/thread/681299

Many, many vibes for your little rescue baby!

Willowy said:

Yes, Pedialyte should help keep him hydrated. Try to get him eating something other than baby food, too---I like Fancy Feast Kitten turkey flavor, mixed with KMR or goat's milk. Meat baby food is a good source of protein but lacks many necessary vitamins and minerals.

The white gooey poop could be caused by something he ate on the street. Hopefully after filling him up with good food he'll pass anything nasty he may have consumed. If it continues, it could be worms.

Probiotics and digestive enzymes may help him to get more nutrition from what he eats. Could really be helpful.

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Ok thanks for that advice . I tried giving him nutri-cal but he rejected it. He's drinking the pedialyte happily. I'm going to incorporate some real food by this evening.

Yesterday he ate a large can of chicken divan from Merrick, perfect bistro, throughout the day. I gave some to my 10 y/o cat and she threw it up. Maybe it's bad food.

I'm really tempted to give him some amoxicillin because I think he could be having a bacterial infection (white diarrhea--it really looked like mozzarella cheese--sorry to gross you out). He was given a dewormer today. He had no fever at the vet's. Is bacterial infection always accompanied by fever? Just curious.

I would hold off on the antibiotic. These are not something that should just be thrown at a cat to see if it works. If the vet did not feel one was merited, I'd consider that. Antibiotics are not to be taken lightly as they wipe out everything - the good and the bad bacteria - and if this is not a bacterial infection, then you'd just be wiping out his immune system for no reason.

Though I would - as willowy suggested - include a probiotic and digestive enzymes. As long as you have to syringe feed him, if you can find it locally, I would purchase Jarrow S boulardii with MOS, and give him 1/4 capsule twice a day (you can mix in the pedialyte and syringe it into him). He won't want to eat food with it in it.

I'd also find an L. acidophilus supplement that has bifidobacteria in it. I prefer human ones, but what to do is up to you. He can use up to 2.5 billion CFU 2x a day of that type. Most cats find these palatable (if they're eating).

LDG said:

@catwoman707

I don't know that his weird stool and wobbly legs are connected - unless it is by the fact that it is diarrhea and he is dehydrated, in which case it could be a lack of potassium. Thus the pedialyte. I would consider the suggestions of Willowy - and mix pedialyte into his food (if he's eating). Or mix the FF with some unflavored children's pedialyte, and syringe it into him. You do need to get his caloric need into him. You can pick up a feeding syringe at a pet store or one meant for a child at a pharmacy. The pedialyte is important, as it has potassium (and other electrolytes).

Did she take a fecal sample to check for toxo? Or other parasites? Were you given de-wormer for him?

FYI, I found this: http://www.catster.com/forums/cat_Health/thread/681299

Many, many vibes for your little rescue baby!

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Thank you so much
I've started the pedialyte. I'm giving him 1/2 ml every 30 minutes. Is that ok? I tried searching for dosing info, but didn't find how often I should give it to him.

He 's eating...very much interested in eating, which is a good sign. He's trying to even catch flies! He's fighting and I'm so proud of him. I will do my best to give him the care he needs. I'm wondering if there's something else I can do while we wait for the results until Monday

The dose should be 1 ML every 1/2 hour. And that's for bottle-baby sized kittens - so you can probably give him 2ML every 1/2 hour.