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- Apr 9, 2016
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So we found a stray kitten last night. He seems to be around 3-5 weeks old. I am not sure if he was abandoned, or somehow got lost. he seems to have been taken care of, at least by his mother. He was not malnourished. He may have been estranged for 1-2 days. He had been crying by our fence for a few hours. We first heard it right before we left for the evening and he was still at it when we got back so we decided to investigate. Other than being covered by about 100 burs, he seemed like he had been cared for or at least had been fed recently. We de-burred him, bathed him with a light amount of dawn soap and got him fed and watered. He is on about a 2 hour feeding schedule, and I was up with him several times last night, feeding and then making sure he did his business in the litter box. We were doing great until about 6am and I couldn't make myself get out of bed due to the way my sleep cycle was at that moment. He had an accident and then I didn't have any trouble waking up at 6:30 to diarrhea all over the blanket. It was then that I noticed a slight swelling around his anus, which seems logical to me. Butts get swollen with diarrhea.
I called the vet as soon as the opened at 8am but it is Saturday and they were booked. The also close early so with having to work, and other nonsense, I wasn't able to secure an appointment for Monday morning which is my preference. I gave him half a capsule of cat pro-biotics I had on hand, recommended by the vet that I had for a previous issue with our other cat. My husband has arranged with his work to be able to take some time off that day to get him in a vet, so hopefully they will not be booked again, and I really don't know when I will be able to get him in. Probably Monday but maybe not until Tuesday or Weds. At this point his swelling in his behind seems exaggerated to me. We had some other strays several years ago not make it past 3 or 4 days with similar issue but much much worse swelling. I am so paranoid that I am either going to get my cats sick, or that we will not be able to save this baby.
So I say all of that to ask this: What is the likeliness that the swelling is a normal reaction to diarrhea/ and or the beginning of an internal parasite infection that can easily be treated next week, and with the young age of the kitten, how likely is he to make it to next week. It had not occurred to me, because I'm an idiot, to keep him in a strict quarantine. He hasn't had any direct contact with the others but they had been using the same little box for about 8 hours last night. Food and water were kept separate and trying to keep our hands washed before handling the other pets.
Any advice or insight is appreciated. I am a nervous wreck.
I called the vet as soon as the opened at 8am but it is Saturday and they were booked. The also close early so with having to work, and other nonsense, I wasn't able to secure an appointment for Monday morning which is my preference. I gave him half a capsule of cat pro-biotics I had on hand, recommended by the vet that I had for a previous issue with our other cat. My husband has arranged with his work to be able to take some time off that day to get him in a vet, so hopefully they will not be booked again, and I really don't know when I will be able to get him in. Probably Monday but maybe not until Tuesday or Weds. At this point his swelling in his behind seems exaggerated to me. We had some other strays several years ago not make it past 3 or 4 days with similar issue but much much worse swelling. I am so paranoid that I am either going to get my cats sick, or that we will not be able to save this baby.
So I say all of that to ask this: What is the likeliness that the swelling is a normal reaction to diarrhea/ and or the beginning of an internal parasite infection that can easily be treated next week, and with the young age of the kitten, how likely is he to make it to next week. It had not occurred to me, because I'm an idiot, to keep him in a strict quarantine. He hasn't had any direct contact with the others but they had been using the same little box for about 8 hours last night. Food and water were kept separate and trying to keep our hands washed before handling the other pets.
Any advice or insight is appreciated. I am a nervous wreck.