Sick, possibly FIV+ Feral Kitten

She looks so much better and I love the photo of her in the tree.

My little girl has become a woman. 

Happy started getting very vocal yesterday. I tried all her favourite foods and treats but she wasn't interested. The only thing that would calm her down was if I sat beside her and gave her constant head and belly rubs.

After a very yowley night I decided to let her out for a walk around the enclosure, as she'd been caged for about 5 days. It wasn't until she started spraying the fence that I realised what was wrong. She's in heat!



It's a holiday weekend in Japan so the vet won't be open until Tuesday. I'm going to call as soon as they open again and try to book her in for a spay. I guess it's a good sign that she's healthy enough to start having heat cycles. Just hope the vet says she's strong enough for surgery.

What do others think about spaying an underweight FIV+ cat? Is it better to wait a while longer?

I think it's better to do it now/asap rather than wait.

If she is strong enough to yowl all night and go out and spray the fence she should do fine being spayed.

Edit-On second thought, is she very anemic? I don't remember now.

She's so cute! I loved reading all of the posts you've written about her. Please keep us informed on her health and lots more pictures please. And thank you for taking such wonderful care of her.

catwoman707 said:

 
I think it's better to do it now/asap rather than wait.

If she is strong enough to yowl all night and go out and spray the fence she should do fine being spayed.

Edit-On second thought, is she very anemic? I don't remember now.

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She was very anaemic when I first found her but she looks a lot better now, very pink nose, gums and tongue. I've been trying to weigh her but I only have bathroom scales and they're not very accurate.

She's looking a lot healthier, all considered.

I would go for it now then

Was she blood tested as anaemic, or did you deduce that from her colour? Asha was virtually white when I found her, yet her bloods were normal - the paleness was severe dehydration. I'm just wondering if the same was true of Happy. Might help in deciding when to spay.

The vet checked her gums and said "Looks anaemic". They didn't change colour after she'd been on a drip but gradually got pinker over the next weeks of four meals a day.

She's finally quietened down, fast asleep in the long grass now.

Oh dear.. poor Happy.. and poor you.. I don't know enough about spaying when potentially unwell, but from what you and catwoman707 have said, I'd be going for it.

Even though she is very loud, it isn't all bad. I don't know if any of the other cats did scare her the last time she was out, but she's not acting timid at all with them now. She keeps walking up to them, yelling her head of and rolling over in front of them. Their main reaction is to look at her in horror and gallop off.



I'm surprised Digby, the ginger tom, hasn't been past yet.

I've decided to e-mail the vet, let him know what's going on and then call him first thing Tuesday morning to see if I can bring her in some time next week.

She's being very affectionate. I've just managed to get her to eat a can of deli mixed fish and there is dry food and water in her house, if she decides to go back in. It's a warm dry night so I'm going to let her stay out, if that's what makes her comfortable.

She's still so tiny, I can't believe such a loud noise comes out of that tiny little cat.

I've been told by many, many people that it is hard to turn a feral cat into a loving, responsive sweetheart. I say their crazy. Two of our cats are rescued ferals that showed up and they are the best cats. They love attention and seem to have no desire to even go back outside. It looks like Happy is going to prove them liars as well[emoji]128515[/emoji] I'm so glad everything is working out.

Rhondalee said:

I've been told by many, many people that it is hard to turn a feral cat into a loving, responsive sweetheart. I say their crazy. Two of our cats are rescued ferals that showed up and they are the best cats. They love attention and seem to have no desire to even go back outside. It looks like Happy is going to prove them liars as well[emoji]128515[/emoji] I'm so glad everything is working out.

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Yes, you're right. I'm caring for 19 rescued ferals and 3 abandoned strays at the moment. Some of the feral cats came to me when they were 3~ 4 months old but some of them were much older. It can take time, but it's never to late for them to learn to trust people.

I'm glad your 2 found someone to love them. It's so nice when they choose you, isn't it?

Norachan yes it is. I'm so glad they chose me. They give me so much joy!

Hello,

I just wanted to give you all an update on Happy. She continues to have her ups and downs. She'll go for a while eating four meals a day and looking very bright eyed and healthy, then she'll have a couple of days of runny nose, sticky eyes and no appetite. I was going to get her spayed at the end of July, but the spay appointment coincided with one of her "down" days so she got another course of cold medicine instead.


Too sick to be spayed.

She spent most of the past two weeks in her cage out on the deck, with occasional trips out to climb a tree.


She really likes trees. She'll climb up and call to me so I'll go and coax her down with her favourite snack. As soon as she's eaten she'll dash up the next tree and start the game again.

I made her an enclosure of her own, so she can get used to the other cats without being scared by them.


She's got logs to scratch, a little tree to climb and an insulated dog house to sleep in.




She prefers under the dog house, but I guess that's just because it is so hot at the moment.



Hopefully she's going to be healthy enough to spay at the end of this month.

She is so cute and that name suits her perfectly. She really does look happy all the time. I love that top picture in the box and the one in the tree is adorable too. I bet she'll be a full fledged member of the gang before you know it. Have you tried L-Lysine for the runny nose and sticky eyes??  

She looks so happy to be with you. Such a lucky girl to have her own private garden! Your cats get such a great life Norachan . I think I want to be reincarnated as one of your clowder :lol3:

I hope Happy gets properly well and strong soon. She really is a beautiful little girl :heart3:

Did you ever think about giving her some probiotics? Shes been on a lot of antibiotics and that can mess her little belly up, and cause her immune system to be down. I give my cats extra probiotics when they're not feeling great and it is also in their food. Seems to perk them up. Our vet gave us some fortiflora to try and they all love it. Its made by purina. I dont think you need a prescription for it. Maybe mention it to your vet and see what his/her thoughts are on it. Thanks for the update on happy. She sure is adorable.

Columbine said:

 I think I want to be reincarnated as one of your clowder

I hope Happy gets properly well and strong soon. She really is a beautiful little girl

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Me too!!!  You have such a magical place and are just the kitty goddess. 

She is just so lucky to have found you...

It can't be good for her hydration to have her tongue out a lot.. it's probably quite uncomfortable.  I wonder whether anything can be done about it?

Thanks for all the nice comments.

@Kat0121  I tried her with some treats that contain L-Lysine but she didn't like them. Not many of the other cats did either. I thought I'd ask my vet if it's worth trying the liquid form which I can mix into her food. Do you use it with your cats? What kind works best for you?

@Rhondalee  I hadn't thought of probiotics.     I'll ask the vet if they would help.

@Mani  She does drink a lot, I guess it could be because she gets a dry mouth from having her tongue out. She tend to dribble, she's missing her bottom teeth. I'm going to ask the vet to check her mouth when she gets spayed.

Lots of great suggestions, thank you.