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- Jul 20, 2015
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One of our three rescue kitties died recently. We took him (Winterfell) to the adoption center where we were fostering him from to have the vet tech check his vitals in late July because he had been so lethargic since we took him home; he never seemed to be active/playful in the entire two weeks we had him, and he had loose stool the night before. He was very cuddly though and loved to jump on our bed and nap with us despite having his own little bed and full run of the entire apartment. He would purr all the time which could have meant that he was in pain. I explained to the tech how Winterfell got along with our two other kitties well enough, but that he still spent a lot of time hiding and wasn't interested in play like the others; therefore, I would even try to separate him to play one-on-one with me from time-to-time during the day because I didn't want him to feel overwhelmed as he was the youngest nor that he needed to share his toys, bed or food. I also noticed that ironically our oldest kitty (Salem Skywalker, who is a year-old) would always be very gentle with him as if he sensed something was off. Salem would sniff/groom Winterfell and then leave, despite being extremely playful with our 15 week-old kitty (Professor Earl Grey Blitz) yet he always only just groomed Winterfell, never even pushed him to play more or playfully pounce like he did with Blitz despite Winterfell hissing at him on occasion if he got too close which always just seemed to ultimately amuse Salem who would then scamper off and let the little one do his thing. The vet tech concluded the visit by giving giving Winterfell a clean bill of health that morning; her only recommendation was that we add milk tracer to his food to increase his appetite which we purchased that same hour and did for the remainder of the day. I spent the next waking hours vigilantly watching over him. I thought I might have been being overly concerned since the vet tech assured me I was being paranoid, but I enjoyed seeing him get better (or so I hoped). I even have pics of him napping in my lap and eating from his private food bowl near his toy that day because we spent it together, and I was excited that the milk tracer might actually lift his spirits. That same night, I woke up feeling off ... like something was wrong. Then, I found him on the floor under an easel struggling to breathe. I started screaming. I shouldn't have lost it like that and frightened my sleeping kids, but I just did not expect to see his eyes rolling back like that, his pained breathing or his limp body. My college aged daughter and her boyfriend immediately took him to the emergency vet hospital where he was pronounced dead. The vet could not perform the autopsy herself because the shelter would have to do so but she said he was not poisoned and there was physical trauma. We actually had to take his little body back to our apartment and store it overnight until the shelter vet could see him the next morning and perform the autopsy herself. His blood tested negative for all diseases and the autopsy revealed nothing, so simply they concluded that, because he was such a young stray, he was likely weaned too early from his mother and therefore, he never built the necessary antibodies he needed to thrive. I felt so helpless when I heard the news. I was hoping the results would have been more conclusive. I have tried to research this sort of thing happening to other kittens. Did Winterfell die of kitten fading syndrome? Is this what this is? Or could he have been depressed and I just missed the signs somehow?
Here he is on my lap that same day napping away:
Here he is eating that same day:
He died a few weeks ago, but we still are in mourning. Even Salem looked all over for him the following day and seemed to notice his absence. He kept meowing at us to follow him to all of Winterfell's usual hiding spots because he didn't see him leave the apartment. Blitz seemed unaffected for the most part thankfully but he's younger than Salem. I feel Salem feels the hierarchy change the most as he's the oldest and dominant male in the house.
Winterfell was less than a pound and a half when we began fostering him, and he had lost two ounces when we brought him to the vet tech that day which is why she thought the milk tracer would combat the issue. She also had advised us to keep him away from Salem's dry food to avoid him having any more loose stool. When I found him that night, I also found bloody loose stool by my bed. Could someone please offer me their advice? I know we did the best we could as a family to show Winterfell a loving home, yet I feel so sad about his tragic outcome.
Here he is on my lap that same day napping away:
Here he is eating that same day:
He died a few weeks ago, but we still are in mourning. Even Salem looked all over for him the following day and seemed to notice his absence. He kept meowing at us to follow him to all of Winterfell's usual hiding spots because he didn't see him leave the apartment. Blitz seemed unaffected for the most part thankfully but he's younger than Salem. I feel Salem feels the hierarchy change the most as he's the oldest and dominant male in the house.
Winterfell was less than a pound and a half when we began fostering him, and he had lost two ounces when we brought him to the vet tech that day which is why she thought the milk tracer would combat the issue. She also had advised us to keep him away from Salem's dry food to avoid him having any more loose stool. When I found him that night, I also found bloody loose stool by my bed. Could someone please offer me their advice? I know we did the best we could as a family to show Winterfell a loving home, yet I feel so sad about his tragic outcome.
