Last Friday (September 25th), my mother heard a sound coming from somewhere outside her work. She had thought it sounded like a cat crying out but everyone else said it was just a bird. She heard the gut wrenching crying all day long until someone finally came to believe her & decided it needed to be checked. Long story short, they ended up finding 4 kittens stuck up on the roof of the one story building near the A/C unit. Sadly, two of the kittens were already gone but the other two seemed to be okay. I do remember my friend who helped find them saying that the two that were already gone were "soaking wet." Not sure if they were wet due to the area they were found even though the other two that were alive were dry or if by some chance they were possibly still born? Maybe someone else can tell me. Anyway, the two that were alive were brought down & promptly taken to the vet just 5-10 minutes of a drive from my mother's work. The vet took their temps & gave them a once over. There was a little girl & a little boy. The girl kitten, they'd told us, had a low body temp in which they brought up before my mother & friend took brought the two home. They also
informed us that they believed the kittens to be around 3 days old. I want to say that the little girl lost her umbilical cord somewhere between that vet visit & the trip home, but as of last Sunday, the little boy still had his attached. Besides the low body temp of the little girl, everything else for them checked out & they seemed to be in decent health. Although, now, we aren't too certain the vet took quite enough time to properly examine them as it was a few minutes to closing. The people at the vets were unable to feed them any formula of any kind so that became up to us to take care of. My mother & friend rushed over to the wal-mart right next to the vet & purchased HARTZ Liquid KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement) formula. As instructed by the vet, my mother & friend used the tiny 1 mL syringes that they were given, & attempted to syringe feed the two babies. For the next 2 & a half days, we kept them in a box, with a fleece blanket padding the bottom of the box, a heating pad that we made sure to only heat one side of the box so they could move to the other side if they got hot, two warmed rice socks, & a blanket taughtly draped overtop to keep drafts out. We fed them 1mL warmed formula nearly every 2 hours as we'd been instructed & read on numerous sites. They seemed to take it fairly well. After each feeding we took luke warmed water soaked cotton balls to their genitals to help them eliminate. We're unsure whether it was the girl kitten or the boy but one of them did defecate a small normal looking amount in the box during the vet visit but we were unable to get them to defecate anymore by Sunday. They were, however, urinating normal looking/size amounts following each feeding. They both seemed to be doing rather well until middle of the day on Sunday. We had finished feeding them earlier that morning (around 10ish?) but the little girl kept crying so we thought perhaps she needed just a little more formula. She took a little more & we again helped her eliminate urine, attempted to burp her, & placed her back in the box with her brother. Still, she cried, & the next time I got her out 15-20 minutes later, I noticed she had a bit of slobber around her mouth. At first, I thought perhaps it could be b/c she had been attempting to suckle but it still unnerved me a bit so I kept her out for probably about the next 45 minutes to an hour. I wrapped her up in another part of the fleece blanket so she wouldn't get chilled. I cleaned up her mouth a bit. I then noticed quite a few times that she would seemingly involuntarily toss her head back along with almost twitching or throwing herself on her back, as well. The best way I have come to explain this is that it seemed like she was having some sort of mild convulsion. It wasn't violent but it did seem involuntary. Every time I would carefully flip her back onto her belly & at some points I gently held her upside down as I was afraid it could be a symptom of aspiration. She also seemed to be trying to gasp for air every once in a while. I held her up to the light while still trying to keep her as best wrapped as I could to try & examine her nose/mouth. It didn't seem like anything was blocking it. She was still meowing every so often but not quite as much/loud as she once had. After awhile she seemed to stop spasming & seemed to be doing better. She wasn't slobbering anymore & she seemed calm. Relaxed, not necessarily just weak though I know she was. Eventually I put her back in the box with her brother. Throughout the next hour one or both of them kept crying simultaneously so I tried my best to quickly finish what I was doing to feed them as it was getting near that time again. When I checked on her this next time she seemed to have gotten even worse. She had not only slobber again all over her face but also a little bit of milk. We took her out & gently held her upside down again as we thought perhaps it was aspiration. Still nothing seemed to be working, this time. We quickly got a rice sock warmed up, wrapped her in the blanket, laying her so she was tilting downwards & headed out to the emergency vet. We didn't even make it 10 minutes out before I noticed she'd passed away.
Some things to know before you give any answers, please:
- We're rather certain that the mother abandoned the babies before any of them got the first nursing. Having said that, it is HIGHLY doubtful that either the boy or the girl kitten got any colostrum. We know this is very important for the babies & their immune systems. Yes, we know they didn't have much of a chance from the beginning.
- The little boy, though seeming much more weak than his sister at first, still seemed to be well even after his sister passing. We contacted someone who helped us find an experienced foster to nurse him through his first few critical weeks. He is still in their care but we get many updates & he seems to be on his way to being alright.
- We were informed by this foster that they do have him on medication for coccidia.
- Both kittens were covered in fleas/flea feces. I am assuming they probably got them straight from the mother.
Can anyone tell me what may have been happening exactly with the little girl? Could the coccidia have been what killed her & could've killed her brother too but we somehow got him help in time? I know they could've contracted a number of things such as FLV (Feline AIDs) or Feline leukemia from the mother but why had it killed the little girl so quickly & not the boy too? What were the convulsions I witnessed? Were they even convulsions at all? I also know that there was most likely very little we could do but still, we feel at fault. Any information would be helpful! Thanks!
informed us that they believed the kittens to be around 3 days old. I want to say that the little girl lost her umbilical cord somewhere between that vet visit & the trip home, but as of last Sunday, the little boy still had his attached. Besides the low body temp of the little girl, everything else for them checked out & they seemed to be in decent health. Although, now, we aren't too certain the vet took quite enough time to properly examine them as it was a few minutes to closing. The people at the vets were unable to feed them any formula of any kind so that became up to us to take care of. My mother & friend rushed over to the wal-mart right next to the vet & purchased HARTZ Liquid KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement) formula. As instructed by the vet, my mother & friend used the tiny 1 mL syringes that they were given, & attempted to syringe feed the two babies. For the next 2 & a half days, we kept them in a box, with a fleece blanket padding the bottom of the box, a heating pad that we made sure to only heat one side of the box so they could move to the other side if they got hot, two warmed rice socks, & a blanket taughtly draped overtop to keep drafts out. We fed them 1mL warmed formula nearly every 2 hours as we'd been instructed & read on numerous sites. They seemed to take it fairly well. After each feeding we took luke warmed water soaked cotton balls to their genitals to help them eliminate. We're unsure whether it was the girl kitten or the boy but one of them did defecate a small normal looking amount in the box during the vet visit but we were unable to get them to defecate anymore by Sunday. They were, however, urinating normal looking/size amounts following each feeding. They both seemed to be doing rather well until middle of the day on Sunday. We had finished feeding them earlier that morning (around 10ish?) but the little girl kept crying so we thought perhaps she needed just a little more formula. She took a little more & we again helped her eliminate urine, attempted to burp her, & placed her back in the box with her brother. Still, she cried, & the next time I got her out 15-20 minutes later, I noticed she had a bit of slobber around her mouth. At first, I thought perhaps it could be b/c she had been attempting to suckle but it still unnerved me a bit so I kept her out for probably about the next 45 minutes to an hour. I wrapped her up in another part of the fleece blanket so she wouldn't get chilled. I cleaned up her mouth a bit. I then noticed quite a few times that she would seemingly involuntarily toss her head back along with almost twitching or throwing herself on her back, as well. The best way I have come to explain this is that it seemed like she was having some sort of mild convulsion. It wasn't violent but it did seem involuntary. Every time I would carefully flip her back onto her belly & at some points I gently held her upside down as I was afraid it could be a symptom of aspiration. She also seemed to be trying to gasp for air every once in a while. I held her up to the light while still trying to keep her as best wrapped as I could to try & examine her nose/mouth. It didn't seem like anything was blocking it. She was still meowing every so often but not quite as much/loud as she once had. After awhile she seemed to stop spasming & seemed to be doing better. She wasn't slobbering anymore & she seemed calm. Relaxed, not necessarily just weak though I know she was. Eventually I put her back in the box with her brother. Throughout the next hour one or both of them kept crying simultaneously so I tried my best to quickly finish what I was doing to feed them as it was getting near that time again. When I checked on her this next time she seemed to have gotten even worse. She had not only slobber again all over her face but also a little bit of milk. We took her out & gently held her upside down again as we thought perhaps it was aspiration. Still nothing seemed to be working, this time. We quickly got a rice sock warmed up, wrapped her in the blanket, laying her so she was tilting downwards & headed out to the emergency vet. We didn't even make it 10 minutes out before I noticed she'd passed away.
Some things to know before you give any answers, please:
- We're rather certain that the mother abandoned the babies before any of them got the first nursing. Having said that, it is HIGHLY doubtful that either the boy or the girl kitten got any colostrum. We know this is very important for the babies & their immune systems. Yes, we know they didn't have much of a chance from the beginning.
- The little boy, though seeming much more weak than his sister at first, still seemed to be well even after his sister passing. We contacted someone who helped us find an experienced foster to nurse him through his first few critical weeks. He is still in their care but we get many updates & he seems to be on his way to being alright.
- We were informed by this foster that they do have him on medication for coccidia.
- Both kittens were covered in fleas/flea feces. I am assuming they probably got them straight from the mother.
Can anyone tell me what may have been happening exactly with the little girl? Could the coccidia have been what killed her & could've killed her brother too but we somehow got him help in time? I know they could've contracted a number of things such as FLV (Feline AIDs) or Feline leukemia from the mother but why had it killed the little girl so quickly & not the boy too? What were the convulsions I witnessed? Were they even convulsions at all? I also know that there was most likely very little we could do but still, we feel at fault. Any information would be helpful! Thanks!
