Little Rogue BIG problems

Update:

She is now up to two BMs a day. Her belly is still round but not tight anymore so that tells me she just loves her food. Still anemic, but definitely more alert than ever. She is starting to put on weight around her hips and ribs now. I can feel new muscle there.

Still need to get her to drink more, I feel a better water dish will solve this problem.

All in all, very good. If I could only find my cable to transfer pictures I would show you all. Thank you for the wonderful advice and for making me feel welcome on this site. I hope to continue to post here for a while yet.

Hopefully for things other than how to take care of a sick kitten anyway.

New kittenmom said:

Update:



She is now up to two BMs a day. Her belly is still round but not tight anymore so that tells me she just loves her food. Still anemic, but definitely more alert than ever. She is starting to put on weight around her hips and ribs now. I can feel new muscle there.



Still need to get her to drink more, I feel a better water dish will solve this problem.



All in all, very good. If I could only find my cable to transfer pictures I would show you all. Thank you for the wonderful advice and for making me feel welcome on this site. I hope to continue to post here for a while yet.



Hopefully for things other than how to take care of a sick kitten anyway.

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I'm glad she's doing better. I'd do my best to start socializing her as soon as possible. You can try coaxing her out of the cage with treats since she seems to be food motivated. Show her that you're not a threat.

Also once she feels well enough to,come out playing with her with string and feather toys will work wonders.

I don't remember, is she ferrell?

 Glad to know that she is doing well.  the Dawn soap bath has a strong perfume and that can be distressing to ferals - myself, I prefer to use a warm salt bath. also, I wet the flea comb in the salt water and comb instead of dunking the kitten.  I put the combed fleas into the salt water and that instantly demobilizes them.

It might be a little late now, but when I first take in a feral kitten, I bundle them up in a towel (which they usually try to hide in) and bottle-feed them some warm goat's milk. I have had better success with goat's milk than I have with KMR or other cat-specific, cow's whey-based products.  I use both fresh and canned - it's expensive but sometimes I can find a 4-Her who keeps goats - seems they always have extra milk that they are thrilled to give/sell for a kitten to use. I do this even with older kittens, to help them realize that I am not a predator who intends to eat them.

The play idea is also a good way to go.  Teasers and laser pointers are usually big hits!  Please keep us updated - each feral is different and I often learn something new that I can use with my own rescues.

I forgot to mention that you might consider taking her off any cat food that has corn or wheat in it. Grain-free is best, but those foods which don't use corn, wheat and soy come in at a close 2nd place. Those feeds without corn are pricier, but since the cat's body gets more nutrition per ounce, they need less and there is less mess in the litterbox, so it evens out.

Progress! I am about to go to bed, since it's way past my bedtime now, when I hear Rogue crying from the crate. I meow back to her and we chat for a minute before I scoop her out of the crate and sit with her on my chest on the couch. She relaxes after a bit of petting and soon I have her purring loudly. She's starting to look around the apartment and I place her back in the crate before she thinks about jumping down from the couch and hiding behind it.

I know she wants to get out and explore and I am pleased at how much better she is, but I feel she is not ready to leave the crate yet until the doctor gives her the all clear. Last thing I want is for her to over do it and get sick again.

I'm going to try treats and toys soon and I'm really happy to finally see this little feral start to come out of her shell.

Update

After Taking Rogue back to the vet once more and having more blood drawn, the doctor says her blood levels are back to normal and to finish off her meds. They do want to check her blood again in the next two or three weeks to be safe.

The doctor also officially confirmed her age. She is 10 weeks old. She had us all fooled when she was in her emaciated state, but she has definitely grown. I may even chance a guess that she might end up growing pretty big since she has big paws for a kitten.

She has moved out of the crate and into my room. She has her own corner for now and is starting to play. Ironic that out of both teaser toys I got her, her favorite part is the stick end. I will be getting her a cat perch or tree next and see if getting her off the ground will help boost her confidence a bit. She is also scratching at the side of my dresser which tells me she might want to climb or sharpen her claws.

She still gets scared when I enter my room and approach her on two legs. Again, I hope the cat tree might fix that.

Once she starts to bounce off the walls in my room, I will then consider her strong and healthy enough for her to explore the rest of my apartment. For now, she doesn't have much of a desire to explore, merely look for new hiding places. She's a smart one. She got into my closet once and then figured out how to open the sliding doors to it so now I have had to reinforce it shut. Hoo boy. She is going to be a handful once she gets older. 

I try pet, handle and play with her every day. She is definitely warming up to the idea. She loves being scratched between the shoulder blades especially.

I am hoping against all hope that her second test for Leukemia will turn out negative. I am prepared for maybe five happy years with her, but I hope it will be longer.

tiving children toys and they play with the box.

so glad she is adjusting to being a pet,little wild thing.

thats funny!like giving a child toys,and they play with the box.

Glad she is adjusting to being a pet,little wild thing.

It sounds like she is settling pretty well and lovely that she is enjoying some contact with you too.

Fingers crossed and lots of good vibes for the second test coming back clear, and best of chances you have a long, long happy time together.  LoL, I reckon looking for new hiding places counts as exploring for little kitties.     They love few things more than a nice, small, dark space to crawl in to and hide to watch the world go by.  As long as she spends a little time allowing you to scritch her shoulders and play with her too, then hiding places are good.  It's great to hear she is growing and eating well, and if she keeps eating well and building up her energy levels and stamina you will hopefully be posting about a whole new set of issues very soon and I for one would be very happy to see this. 

MServant said:

It sounds like she is settling pretty well and lovely that she is enjoying some contact with you too.



Fingers crossed and lots of good vibes for the second test coming back clear, and best of chances you have a long, long happy time together.  LoL, I reckon looking for new hiding places counts as exploring for little kitties. 

   They love few things more than a nice, small, dark space to crawl in to and hide to watch the world go by.  As long as she spends a little time allowing you to scritch her shoulders and play with her too, then hiding places are good.  It's great to hear she is growing and eating well, and if she keeps eating well and building up her energy levels and stamina you will hopefully be posting about a whole new set of issues very soon and I for one would be very happy to see this. 

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When did the vet say a 2nd Feline Leuk test is in order? Hopefully it was a false positive.

bigperm20 said:

When did the vet say a 2nd Feline Leuk test is in order? Hopefully it was a false positive.

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I think it's more blood tests the vet is doing?   Don't know if it's for Feline Leuk.   what ever it is for I am hoping all is clear.

I think she will be due for a new blood test soon to see if her blood cells are still normal. I think her next Feline Leukemia test will be in January or so. I hope things are clear too. She is definitely one of the toughest little animals I've ever had. We've finally bonded in a way and I will be working now on getting her to explore the rest of the apartment. Her fleas are gone and she is starting to discover the magical world of "Up." 

Groovy!

New kittenmom said:

 
........ I will be working now on getting her to explore the rest of the apartment. Her fleas are gone and she is starting to discover the magical world of "Up." 

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   Sounds like Rogue has been coming on quite literally in leaps and bounds!      That exploration phase is great fun but also full of hazards as many kittens and their humans find out - with subsequent vet visits as a result.   I hope you are Rogue-proofing your home nicely.  I will have my fingers crossed for you that Rogue is less accident prone than Mouse who was a complete 'plank' at that age.  He would fall off a flat floor if it were possilble.  He mastered the art of 'up' pretty quickly but sadly struggled more with getting down.  So far the only techniques Mouse has demonstrated for getting down have been the  'help human, I'm stuck'  meow and the verticle drop 'technique' which he does usually manage to end with 4 paws down but not always. 

Rogue definitely doesn't need my help in getting down. I've noticed she has quite a little independent streak. Probably from her first few weeks of life in the wild. Yes, I have had to get her down from some places that might hurt her like the top of my hermit crabs' tank which is very unstable. She did not like that at all and showed me by hissing. I think that was more out of anger than fear though. She no longer scratches me unless she is playing with my hand and yet for a kitten, she is very gentle.  

Are we ever going to see any pictures of little Rogue? Here's one of a different Rogue to start us off:

LoL, it does sound like little kitty Rogue thinks she may have some of those super-powers so here's hoping she is going to be using them for good and will enjoy cuddles and human contact as she learns her abilities.  

Much as hand play is fun try to encourage her to play with toys between you and her teeth or claws as it saves on scratches which can get pretty nasty as a cat gets bigger.  Just hold little toy mice or large Kong like toys as you play so you can still be hands on but not encourage her to think of your skin as OK to bite and scratch at.

I agree with bigperm20, photos!    (If you can get her to stay still long enough).

... and be sure to wear gloves when you are playing with her as any skin to fur contact will leave you totally powerless.

Rouge was always my favorite of the
X-men, in case you couldn't tell.


But seriously though, I agree with MsServant with regards to not playing with her bare handed. Beans was especially bitey, and scratchy as a little kitten. A stuffed animal between her and myself worked wonders. I'd also correct her with a firm NO if she bit or scratched me.

I was able to find my cable that allows me to transfer my pictures from my phone to my computer so here are my best pictures of her and how she has grown.


This was when she was about 8 weeks old and still under the weather.


I had moved her to my room at this time. This was when she first came up to me for attention.


This is her now. She loves a corner of my bed under my pillows and has adjusted her sleep schedule to me. I think she is going to be pretty big when she grows up. Her paws are big for a kitten.

Gloves or no gloves, she has me utterly powerless anyway lol. As for her scratching me. I'm okay with it. She doesn't bite or scratch that hard, and I'd like to teach her early to play gentle. I did this with my sister's cat Minnie. She knows what "soft paws" mean.