Abandoned Kitten - Help!

TheLovelyFinch · Jan 22, 2018

Sarthur2 said:
Vets will usually fix a hernia at the same time a cat is spayed so it should not be a problem.

How are her eyes today?

Exactly! Hernias are very easy to fix (literally suturing that muscle wall in a simple case) so hopefully that will be the case here if it doesn't self-correct. (They're born with sort of an incomplete abdominal wall to accommodate the umbilical structures, and that naturally mends and matures in the first 6 months of life. So if the defect is part of that structure, it can self-correct.)

Her eyes seem good! She still has creepy alien eyes (dark glassy orbs - no pupil or iris visible yet. So dang cute!!) But she seems to be visual. It's hard to tell at this age, as they're functionally blind for the most part. But she's doing things that seem to suggest she can see SOMETHING - squinting at bright lights, for instance.
She also has started to turn away from the medicine dropper, but not sure if that's a taste thing, a smell thing or a visual thing.

What's funny is the difference it's triggered in mama cat! Mama is FAR more watchful now. She insists on sitting on the counter to watch feedings now. It's a natural mama reaction to the eyes opening, as visual babies can wander, explore, etc. (Whereas young blind, deaf, crawling babies tend to stay where you put them and behave! Not so much monitoring involved). But I've never noticed the change so dramatically. So the science geek in me finds this type of thing fun to watch!

Photos! She is SO photogenic! She loves having her belly rubbed when I've got her on my chest/shoulder burping her. She'll gradually flip so she's on her back. And she'll be purring away! But that's why 3 of 4 pics are on her back. LOL Be warned - the cuteness will slay you!

dustydiamond1 · Jan 24, 2018

Just checking in, everything still going great? Love the photos.

TheLovelyFinch · Jan 24, 2018

She is! (knock on wood!)

We just stopped antibiotics (can you believe it's already been 10 days?!) so that makes me a tad nervous. Especially since she doesn't always pee for me because mum cat seems to be pretty on top of the bathroom situation. (If you recall, she had a UTI or bladder infection - a bit of blood in her urine.)
I admit I was feeling pretty good about the fact that the meds were potentially protecting her from other bugs. But I'm not keen on prophylactic antibiotics for a developing body! Especially where I'm hand measuring dosage, so there's a potential we might be a tad higher than therapeutic (and when you're super tiny, that stuff matters!)

Fortunately, we've actually doubled her birth weight and then some! Birth weight was 88-90 grams and we're currently at 208!

dustydiamond1 · Jan 24, 2018

TheLovelyFinch said:
She is! (knock on wood!)

We just stopped antibiotics (can you believe it's already been 10 days?!) so that makes me a tad nervous. Especially since she doesn't always pee for me because mum cat seems to be pretty on top of the bathroom situation. (If you recall, she had a UTI or bladder infection - a bit of blood in her urine.)
I admit I was feeling pretty good about the fact that the meds were potentially protecting her from other bugs. But I'm not keen on prophylactic antibiotics for a developing body! Especially where I'm hand measuring dosage, so there's a potential we might be a tad higher than therapeutic (and when you're super tiny, that stuff matters!)

Fortunately, we've actually doubled her birth weight and then some! Birth weight was 88-90 grams and we're currently at 208!

Gosh 10 days! How wonderful. And all thanks to your total dedication and love. You are fantastic hug,hug,hug. Belated 1 week birthday to our little darling. Thanks so much for letting us share this miracle with you. I shudder to think if you had't found her when you did. More hugs and well wishes to you two and mama too.

TheLovelyFinch · Jan 24, 2018

dustydiamond1 said:
Gosh 10 days! How wonderful. And all thanks to your total dedication and love. You are fantastic hug,hug,hug. Belated 1 week birthday to our little darling. Thanks so much for letting us share this miracle with you. I shudder to think if you had't found her when you did. More hugs and well wishes to you two and mama too.

Actually, she's starting her third week today!! She was born on the 10th, so we just completed week 2! (The 10-day reference was a reference to the course of antibiotics).

I can only imagine how she felt laying on the floor! (With a bunch of cats surrounding her with intense curiosity - so lots of unfamiliar smells.) I can only think of going from a warm water world where you can move with ease to a world where you're cold, heavy and uncomfortable!
Fortunately, just judging by the speed with which she cooled down just during feedings (when I put a couple layers of paper towel beneath her, limiting the heating pad's effect) I think she was only there for maybe 45-60 min? Not too long. She was very cold, but still very alive/active. I know from my days of wildlife rehabbing that they get increasingly lethargic and then go unconscious once their body temp reaches a certain level. And then death follows if they're not warmed promptly. So while she was super cold, she was wiggling and crying so I think it was perhaps 45 min or an hour? That's what I'm telling myself!!!
I also can't bear to think if I'd let the dogs out ahead of me! They stayed in bed. But if I'd gotten them up, they'd have arrived in the kitchen first and goodness knows what could've happened. I've got a MinPin and a Jack Russell -- both breeds that have a history of "ratting" (hunting down rats) -- so they're very adept at snatching up small creatures that they happen upon! Both have a history of collecting dead creatures that they've happened upon during walks. (That's always delightful.....trying to convince your dog to give you a dead carcass!)
Thankfully the one dog who slept out in the main area of the house is very easy going and really seems to think she's a cat. So she didn't harm her.

dustydiamond1 · Jan 24, 2018

Her guardian angel was working quadruple time that morning and was so worn out that the guardian angel duties were turned over to you and you picked up the reins magnificently! :kitty: