New Re-homed cat, very lethargic and non-reactive.

[aislinn]

She's still adjusting. Her appetite will come back. If she's back on the bed, then she doesn't associate it with a bad experience. Patience is key, and as long as she's hydrated, she'll be fine. Just take it slowly. Read a book in her company, and she'll see that you're not a threat. It seems to be going in the right direction. You are so dedicated and that is just so heartwarming. I can't wait for the next update.

 

[aislinn]

Another thing to add to this - if you are able to buy some Bach Rescue Remedy, the one for pets, not humans, as that contains alcohol, place a few drops in her water. That will ease her stress. Health food stores will likely have it, or you can order it on amazon. It's natural herbs, with no chemicals, so nothing harmful. I use it all the time.

 

[ginny]

 
Update - got the formula, and after a little bit of delicate wrangling, managed to get at least 10 mls into her. 

Good news is she did put up a bit of a struggle, which I'm taking as a good sign - if she'd done nothing and stayed limp I'd be more concerned. 

After feeding her in small doses, she jumped off the bed in a huff and went and sat on the bathroom rug for about an hour (while me and Meowcraft played with his new catnip toy).

Then she came back into the room and sniffed around at the cat carrier (where she usually sleeps) and the cat tree - and then jumped back on the bed to sleep. Is that a good sign?? She's not avoiding the bed (which is where I syringe-fed her).

Anyway - first update for now, will keep everyone posted!

Thank you all again so much

Mariel

I don't know that it matters much, but maybe you could syringe feed her somewhere else other than the bed and let the bed be her go to spot where she feels safe.  But I'd say it's a really good sign that she jumped right back up on the bed.  I'm glad you got her to take 10 ml's!  I'm wondering how much she should have?  @StefanZ  , how much should she have?

 

[red top rescue]

I can't tell you how much she should have, but the 5 week old kitten I have here takes 45 ml. at a feeding!  That's when he eats every 6 hours.  We're trying to get him onto solid food now because that's about the maximum a kitten should be drinking at one feeding.  So that's about 180 ml. per day.  And he weighs less than 2 lbs. but he's growing like a weed.  He weighed 8 oz. when he came in at 10 days of age  healthy guy. 

When I've used formulas with sick ones, I usually give 10 cc. every couple of hours if they will tolerate it.  better still if they like it and will drink it themselves.  I do agree that you should do the syringe feeding somewhere other than the bed.  I do mine on top of the washing machine, because I have put a bathroom rug there so there's no skidding, but it's at my height so easy to hold cat under one arm while feeding with the other.  You might try putting some in a small dish and seeing if she maybe will lick it., now she knows what it tastes like.  Mine all love it when they are healthy.  They always get what's left over when the kitten has finished his bottle.  Lately, that's not a whole lot!

 

[ginny]

I saw that Stefan was here so I paged him instead of you.  Sorry!  I'm just wondering how much she would need to not risk hepatic lipidosis. 

 

[StefanZ]

 
I don't know that it matters much, but maybe you could syringe feed her somewhere else other than the bed and let the bed be her go to spot where she feels safe.  But I'd say it's a really good sign that she jumped right back up on the bed.  I'm glad you got her to take 10 ml's!  I'm wondering how much she should have?  @StefanZ  , how much should she have?

Im not really sure on adults.  A kitten shall have 8ml / oz a day.  But kiitens are growing so they need relatively  more than an 16months adult.  But with a weak its better to give little but often.   Say 3kg = 100 oz, gives 800 ml a day.  Which is too much for an adult...   Still, you get the idea.   Even half of it is more than 10 ml now and then.

So she got a breakthrough, but its not enough yet.

Also, its one reason why adults shall have more energy tight food,ie real food, and not just kmr or goats milk.

Still, in such a situation its the kmr or goat milk which is the trick.

Im happy you began to forcefeed her, and she is visibly better...  Just to proceed now!

Her pooing in the wrong corner is probably because she has diarrhea not behavior as such, When the diarrehea problem disappears, the elimination problem will probably

disapperar too.

And yes, I think it could be the vaccinations.  Some react stronger for them than others....   Still, it may be a real crisis sometimes.

 

[mariel]

Thank you all for that info! I was only able to give her about 10mls before she started getting really upset...didn't want to go any further in case it led to her throwing up. I am going to give her some more now, see how much she will have this time. There is a good height table in my kitchen, so I will try it there.

Thank you!

 

[ginny]

I hope it works!  It's good that she didn't throw up after that 1st 10ml's.  I hope the vet can help her tomorrow.  

 

[mariel]

So - update 2: I haven't given her the second feeding yet, but first, I did as @RedTopRescue suggested and put some in a saucer for her to see if she would ingest it herself. She didn't, unfortunately - but, she did jump off the bed for another small pee, and then, did a very small half-tour of the apartment, sniffing at some of the cat toys and checking out the scratchers (she didn't scratch on them though). At this point I left her for a few minute just to keep the big boy distracted so he wouldn't infringe on her exploring. When I came back to check on her, she was nearby the water bowl, don't know if she drank anything. Again, I left her in peace if she wanted to drink - but then, after a few minutes.. I 'lost' her completely! Did a quick look around and found her curled up in the bathtub!! So.. she is more exploratory for sure!

I am going to try another feeding now, have warmed up the milk (slightly more than body temp) and will see how much she will have this time.

**Edit** - after much fussing and wriggling and dribbling, I managed to get about 50-60mls into her, maybe a bit more, it was difficult to say. I need to find a syringe with a longer and narrower tip, and maybe it will be a bit easier for her. 

She is sulking now in the cat-tree... but, I will take putting up more of a fight as a good sign!

Thank you all again!

Mariel

 

[red top rescue]

Good job.  She is certainly getting enough to keep her out of hepatic lipidosis, which was why there was urgency.  Maybe all of her symptoms were due to depression, or maybe some to the shots, and why doest really matter, it's fixing the problem tht matters.  Feeding her is fixing the biggest problem, and it sounds like yur love is fixing the rest as she is now exploring AND she comes back to the bed.

 

[mariel]

Morning everyone

Not much to report this morning - she's still very withdrawn. She had a small poop during the night (very runny, but that's probably because of the formula?)

I have given her a small dish of regular food, a bit watered down to see if she'd eat it, but no luck so far. Not sure how much she wandered around during the night, but when I woke up she was in the bathroom again. 

Also saw a small poo-paw-print in the kitchen (she's still not grooming herself) so she must have been around a little bit. 

Vet appointment is this afternoon... so, will give her more formula this morning and see what he says. 

Thanks again all

Mariel

 

[ginny]

Good morning Mariel!  Hope things go well at the vet today.  I'll be checking back to hear your update. 

 

[mariel]

Hi Ginny!

So - managed to get about another 50mls into her (maybe more) - I'm underestimating a bit since there was a lot of dribble this morning. She also put up a lot more of a struggle.. and when I tried to clean up her bum she growled at me, first time I've heard her make a noise!!

Once we got into a feeding rhythm (I had to swaddle her, only way she wouldn't move) it would be about 5mls formula (half a syringe) then stop for a bit of comforting, and then the next bit of formula etc. 

During each break I would try to give her a few slow-eye-blinks, and talk to her, which seemed to calm her down a bit - she *kindof* gave a very cautious half-blink in return... but now she mad, oh she so mad!  

She is on my pillow, seems to be pretty cozy for now while her bother gets high on the 'nip. 

Will send another update tonight after the vets. 

Thank you all and I hope you and your animal companions all have a really lovely day!

Mariel

 

[aislinn]

It sounds like things are going in the right direction. You're determined to make her comfortable, so she will get there. I'll bet her little growl was adorable.

 

[ginny]

Awww, kitty mad!  Actually showing some anger and growling is a good sign.  There's still some fight in her.  But she needs to start eating on her own so I hope the vet is a good one and can find out why she won't eat and fix that.  I think it has more to do with rehoming than the vaccines at this point since it's been (over a week?) since they were given.  It sound like her bum is sore, poor kitty!  If I recall correctly, Gracie's vet had me apply an ointment to her bum when it was red.  But you can't just apply any OTC ointment, it has to be ok for kitties. 

I got a good laugh out of your comment about her brother getting high on catnip!  He's just settled in without a single hiccup, hasn't he?  But not so for little Koi

I hope that changes for her!  I think she is in the right home and I'm so glad you've got both of them!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

i've been following this thread, and how your little Koi progresses in settling into her new home.

i, too, am hoping your vet is able to help your little girl.

i wanted to mention jar baby food, the meat kind (chicken, turkey, ham -- with gravy, gerber or beechnut, the kind that's pureed smooth and only has the meat, water, and some have a bit of cornstarch in them). it's very easy on the tummy and easy to digest, and many/most cats just love it. i'm thinking that the jar baby food might be something to try, to help entice your girl to try eating on her own. you can also wipe just a bit on their front paw, and usually the kitty will lick that off. and with water mixed into it, it can be syringe fed.

 

[red top rescue]

The formula will not give her diarrhea, unless you got the liquid kind which doesn't have the probiotics in it.  My bottle baby has eaten it for 6 weeks and had solid poops all along.  She came to you with diarrhea -- whether as a result of nerves from the rehoming, or because of some illness she may have picked up at the shelter, or even maybe had when she came in?  Divorcing parents who gave up the cat may have not wanted to deal with it.  It would be good if you could talk to them or if not, get the shelter to ask some questions for you, like about that, and if she was attached to either of her humans, and how she got along with her housemate in her original home, important things.  Oh, and what she likes to eat.

 

[mariel]

Hi All

So.. update on Koi, I just got back from the vet, and he had to admit her immediately. Dehydration (even with the water mixed with formula) and a very high fever - 40C. Her heart rate was also 200, which is crazy considering how lethargic she is. 

So they have her there for 3 days, maybe more, doing a battery of tests, blood/urine etc. They have no idea what's wrong, or how long this has been incubating in her. 

I am waiting on a call from the vet tonight - he is going to get in touch as soon as the first blood results come back in. 

Sorry it's not better news .. I will post back later.

Thanks

Mariel

 

[aislinn]

Oh, sorry it's not better news. She's in the right place. They'll get to the bottom of it. Poor little thing. No wonder she was so lethargic. Fever and all that. Please keep us posted. We're rooting for her!

 

[ginny]

Oh my!  Well a high fever will dehydrate you and run your heart rate up that's for sure.  Poor little girl!  I'm so glad she's getting treatment and tests.  No wonder she didn't want to do anything, because she felt like crap!  Did the vet think it could be a reaction from one of the vaccines she got?  How are you doing?  How's her brother?  Did he even notice she's not there tonight?  I would definitely call the shelter and let them know!  Perhaps other kitties there have what she has and could provide a clue.  Shoot I have to work tomorrow, but I can still check in from time to time.  I know you will keep us posted, Mariel.  I hope she gets better real soon, bless her!