Hi! I want to keep this fairly short, but I desperately need someone to tell me what to do. I took in my brothers cat and her 2 kittens when they were just 2 days old. My brother wasn’t looking after them correctly and 2 kittens passed away. Just 2 left and I wasn’t prepared to let them die too.
Initially, they both seemed to be gaining weight. Little boy more than the girl, but we assumed it was normal.
long story short, at 3 weeks old (last week), little girl started losing weight. As previously advised by my usual vet, as little girl has lost some weight (she’d gone from 220 to 210) I gave her some milk from a syringe (she’d refused a bottle every time I tried her with one, and I’d tried lots of different ones.). She’d been quiet in the day and in the afternoon, became cold and her breathing seemed laboured.
I took her the emergency vets (it was a Sunday) and they gave me some “Kittystim” paste and said that although her hydration and temp is good, it’s hard to tell when they’re this little. She was 170g at the vets.
I’d weighed her at 200g the day before. The vet said that she might “just” have some congenital issues and that she might not survive. “Some kittens live, and some just don’t”. There must be something wrong as I can see her feeding from her mum, her mum is doing everything she can. But little girl just isn’t developing. I went home devastated.
She’s been to the vets and/or Ive phoned them for advice every day since.
she’s been on 1ml 3x per day of kittystim and some antibiotic drops as her left lung sounded a little noisy, the vet also said it sounded a lot smaller than the right.
1 week on, we’re still going with the kittystim and antibiotics, I’m syringe feeding her as much as I can (she’s managing no more than 8ml per day) but she’s feeding from mum. She’s now on 140g.
I don’t know what else to do. She hates having the medicine, it’s horrible and goopy. It would be worth it if she was improving, but she isn’t.
For the past 2 days, we’ve really struggled to get her medication down her, and she’s not wanting to take milk. She’s probably bad around 3ml per day (from me, she’s still feeding from her mum), max. She’s tired. She’s weak and she’s bony. All she’s doing
her mum is now losing interest in her.
I feel like I’m being unfair by “forcing” her to keep going. She hasn’t moved from her bed all day (apart from when I’ve gone in to her).
I don’t want to give up on her, but I need to say “enough is enough” at some point.
I need her to be happy and comfortable.
I’m so out of my depth, and just want the best for her.
As silly as it may sound, despite her not having a proper personality yet, I’m so attached to her. I love the little thing so much.
despite not being a cat person, I’d decided to keep her. She was going to be best friends with my dog, she was going to come on adventures with us I’m sure she recognises my voice, sometimes when I stroke her, she purrs.
Can anyone please offer any advice?
A large part of me thinks I need to let her go, but I need to know that I’m not giving up on her.
We’ve named her “Thumbelina” because she’s so tiny
Initially, they both seemed to be gaining weight. Little boy more than the girl, but we assumed it was normal.
long story short, at 3 weeks old (last week), little girl started losing weight. As previously advised by my usual vet, as little girl has lost some weight (she’d gone from 220 to 210) I gave her some milk from a syringe (she’d refused a bottle every time I tried her with one, and I’d tried lots of different ones.). She’d been quiet in the day and in the afternoon, became cold and her breathing seemed laboured.
I took her the emergency vets (it was a Sunday) and they gave me some “Kittystim” paste and said that although her hydration and temp is good, it’s hard to tell when they’re this little. She was 170g at the vets.
I’d weighed her at 200g the day before. The vet said that she might “just” have some congenital issues and that she might not survive. “Some kittens live, and some just don’t”. There must be something wrong as I can see her feeding from her mum, her mum is doing everything she can. But little girl just isn’t developing. I went home devastated.
She’s been to the vets and/or Ive phoned them for advice every day since.
she’s been on 1ml 3x per day of kittystim and some antibiotic drops as her left lung sounded a little noisy, the vet also said it sounded a lot smaller than the right.
1 week on, we’re still going with the kittystim and antibiotics, I’m syringe feeding her as much as I can (she’s managing no more than 8ml per day) but she’s feeding from mum. She’s now on 140g.
I don’t know what else to do. She hates having the medicine, it’s horrible and goopy. It would be worth it if she was improving, but she isn’t.
For the past 2 days, we’ve really struggled to get her medication down her, and she’s not wanting to take milk. She’s probably bad around 3ml per day (from me, she’s still feeding from her mum), max. She’s tired. She’s weak and she’s bony. All she’s doing
her mum is now losing interest in her.
I feel like I’m being unfair by “forcing” her to keep going. She hasn’t moved from her bed all day (apart from when I’ve gone in to her).
I don’t want to give up on her, but I need to say “enough is enough” at some point.
I need her to be happy and comfortable.
I’m so out of my depth, and just want the best for her.
As silly as it may sound, despite her not having a proper personality yet, I’m so attached to her. I love the little thing so much.
despite not being a cat person, I’d decided to keep her. She was going to be best friends with my dog, she was going to come on adventures with us I’m sure she recognises my voice, sometimes when I stroke her, she purrs.
Can anyone please offer any advice?
A large part of me thinks I need to let her go, but I need to know that I’m not giving up on her.
We’ve named her “Thumbelina” because she’s so tiny