Anemic foster kitten

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  • 9 January, 2018 at 6:57 pm #865194
    Lee
    Participant

    Hello,
    I foster kittens for our local animal control and the one I have now is pretty sick. When I picked him up, they said he was about 4 months old and 1.5 pounds and anemic. I was given 2 different wormers, 3 days worth of pain meds and sub q fluids – 10ml twice a day. When I got him home, I realized just how sick this guy was. He wouldn’t even lift his head. I ended up force feeding mush that night and by the next morning he seemed a little better. He started eating on his own a day or 2 after that but he still doesn’t really move at all. He will sit up every once in a while but that is about it. If I set him down, he will usually fall over and then try to walk toward me but he’s super wobbly and falls a lot. He’s almost up to 2 pounds now, purrs all the time and isn’t in any pain that I can see. He goes in for a recheck on Thursday but his is my first experience with anemia so basically I am looking for advice as to whether this is normal or not and also how long is the typical recovery period for anemia? Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

    9 January, 2018 at 8:00 pm #865198
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    http://www.vetstreet.com/care/anemia-in-cats

    I posted a link for you to check out. My concern with your anemic kitten, is why is he anemic in the first place. My mind runs to having a severe infestation of parasites, so my next question is did they give him a dewormer and take care of the problem, and also check for coccidia. Does he have diarrhea? The best thing you can do is keep feeding him by getting food into him any way you can. Any wet food, diluted with goat’s milk or kitten formula for the extra nutrition and also more fluid. I always add water to my cats’ wet food — it can’t hurt and they love the ‘soup’ it makes. I hope this helps your poor little guy. Keep us posted on him please.

    I wanted to add also, you can add pedialyte to his food to up his electrolytes, raw egg, even some baby vitamins. Did you check him for fleas? Fleas can cause anemia and kill an animal fast, so if you have to bathe him with Ivory soap or Dawn, it will kill the fleas. Get a flea comb and comb eggs out also. Make sure you dry him with a blow dryer, so he does not get a chill.

    9 January, 2018 at 8:09 pm #865199
    Lee
    Participant

    Thanks so much for the reply and link. He was horribly infested with fleas and I know they did some sort of treatment at AC because by the time I picked him up they were all dead. They also gave him 2 different dewormers. So far very normal bowel movements although he falls over when he goes. I gave him a bath once he stabilized a little and it was the worst I’ve seen so far. The water was literally blood red from the flea dirt. Maybe I’m being impatient, I just hoped for more improvement by now. He is just so listless. And when he does manage to get up he falls over.

    9 January, 2018 at 8:13 pm #865200
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    It takes the body a while to manufacture red blood cells, so have patience and keep doing the good work you are doing with him. Hopefully, with time and patience and lots of love, he will pull through this bad start to his little life!

    9 January, 2018 at 8:18 pm #865201
    Lee
    Participant

    Fingers crossed!!! He’s a sweet boy, I would love to see him blossom into a typical crazy kitten!

    10 January, 2018 at 12:27 am #865205
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    My instinct is to put him in a blankie and carry him around. He can only benefit from your extra warmth and love.

    You can give him plain pedilyte too. It’s water and electrolytes which generally help babies and kits with low energy.

    I hope we get to hear about this wee tyke romping around soon.

    PG

    10 January, 2018 at 12:41 am #865207
    Lee
    Participant

    Hey PG! Thanks for the reply. Great minds think alike I guess – he’s sitting on my lap in front of the fire right now! Even when I can’t hold him, I try to keep him in whatever room I’m in. He can’t really move much but he follows me with his eyes. I hope I’ll be able to come back soon with stories of normal kitten antics!

    10 January, 2018 at 1:31 am #865208
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Have you seen those hoodies with the pouch on the front for carrying your kitties? Just sayin….. 😉 😛

    https://saleondeals.com/products/cat-lovers-hoodies-with-cuddle-pouch-mewgaroo-nyangaroo-dog-pet-hoodies-for-casual-kangaroo-pullovers-with-ears-sweatshirt-3xl?gclid=Cj0KCQiA7dHSBRDEARIsAJhAHwhQC-3KDDWgcGaEKl-3hMvr-Lzw3wZjs-0U_xaOyDzGG-ylKHqApB0aAje_EALw_wcB

    10 January, 2018 at 2:09 am #865209
    Lee
    Participant

    I just showed those sweatshirts to my husband a few days ago! For now I just tie a scarf like a sling and put him in it. He seems to enjoy hanging out and since he can’t really move, I don’t have to worry about him jumping out of it!

    11 January, 2018 at 5:38 pm #865243
    Lee
    Participant

    Hello,
    I just wanted to give everyone a quick update. The kitten had a recheck with the vet this morning and while we still aren’t sure what is going on, they do see improvement. He is still very calm and quiet and can’t walk well at all, but he seems a little better so we are going to continue what we are doing and they will check him again in a week. Oh, they did decide that his tail is dead. I thought that it might be but the vet confirmed. I’m not really sure how that plays into everything but I guess its another clue. Thanks again for all of the help and suggestions.

    11 January, 2018 at 10:59 pm #865246
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Hi Lee,
    Thanks for the update. I hope you will continue to keep coming in and visiting with us and keeping us updated on your little kitten. I’m wondering if he got hit or mauled by a larger animal and maybe suffered some spinal damage since his tail is no longer viable. Time and patience and your loving care will pull him through.

    12 January, 2018 at 1:12 am #865249
    Lee
    Participant

    I wonder about that too. He has no wounds or road rash at all and he isn’t at all scared by my dogs in fact he likes to nap with my big one (always supervised and the dogs have years of experience with tiny kittens!) but who knows. We’re seeing small improvements daily so we are happy! Hopefully it will continue!

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