Stunted Growth in my cat...

Hi everyone - I am new to the forums and the proud owner of 5 cats Or smallest kitty is named Velcro... we obtained this wonderful little fellow just before halloween this year. A barn cat, he was living on a farm and was abandonded by his mother. Rather than attaching himself to the other cats in the barn, he was attaching himself to humans. Concerned that he wouldnt survive the winter, the began asking people if they wanted to take him. We stepped up to the plate in an effort to ensure he would have at least a fighting chance to survive.

We went out to the farm to get him, only to find that he had fallen in a slime infested pool. They pulled him out of the water and "tried to keep him dry" but didnt bother to take him into the house where it was warm... we live in Ontario and the days were getting quite cold. Once we brought him home he fought a chest cold and slept for the first two weeks solid. After that, he began to rally around but about three weeks ago he came down with another sinus cold - this time with an infection. We were keeping him warm and watching his symptoms but yesterday we went downstairs and found him unable to walk - his head tilted to the left side and his eyes were "shaking" from side to side inside their sockets. We rushed him to the vet who diagnosed him with a perferated ear drum and perscribed antibiotics. I also had the doctor take a look at him and he confirmed that Velcro is indeed 4.5 - 5 months old but he is almost half the size that he is supposed to be... and he weighs in at a whopping 3.5 pounds.

After ALL of that, my question is this: will he suffer from long term health issues because of his stunted growth? Will his small size affect his range of life? We just want our little boy to be as healthy and as loved as he can be. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Keep doing what you are doing, keep up with routine vet visits until he gets his feet under him. He probably picked up a nasty bacteria from the slimy water I would either start him on bene-bac or GSE (grapefruit seed extract) to fill his system with good bacteria.

This is very normal. Kittens really don't grow when they are very sick. All their resources go toward recovering from the illness. Most often they catch up, but sometimes they remain smaller than average. Regardless, they usually are just fine as adults. You're doing everything right at this point and even though it may be a long road, I think your little guy will do well in the long term.