Hi. I’m new to the board. I’ve read some posts & this looks like such a nice place. I hope you don’t mind my venting, but I am so worried about our new kitten.
I’ll try not to make this too long.
On June 20th, my daughter and I found the cutest black crying kitten in our yard near the road late at night. I estimate he was 6-7 wks. He came right to us when he saw us & wanted to cuddle. He was clean, and had no fleas. I don’t live in a neighborhood where there are strays. My neighbors across the street have a black cat & I thought he might be the kitten of her, so I took him inside for the night, assuming he was lost.
When I finally got in touch with the neighbors two days later, I found out he wasn’t there’s. I went door to door asking. I put an ad on Craigslist for a lost kitten, stating that if I hadn’t found his owner in a week, I’d give him to an excellent home.
He appeared healthy, happy, and loved to play. I could not afford a vet trip for a full check up, but I did get them to prescribe a dewormer for him, because I knew kittens needed to have one. And boy, did he have worms. (I’ll spare the details, but it was pretty bad – tapeworms, as confirmed by a pic I took).
After that, he stopped eating and drinking. I literally had to force feed him pedialyte. He was lethargic, and barely moved. A couple of days later, he perked up. He still wasn’t eating, but I’d gotten him to drink some Step 2 kitten milk. I noticed a sore on his neck. I treated it with triple antibiotic ointment, as recommended when I called the vet. He continued to refuse food (but he was barely weaned in the first place, so food was new to him). He started getting a runny nose, sneezing all the time, and crusty eyes. I have run a humidifier most of the time for him, and was taking care of him round the clock. (I work from home, so I’m literally with him all day).
I called the vet. They wanted to do a feline leukemia test, which, just with a test an office visit alone was $140. There was no way I could afford that. I felt helpless, and guilty, but also in a bad predicament – I never intended on adopting this kitten, but I couldn’t very well give him away being so sick. So what was I to do?
One night, he started foaming at the mouth and was having a tough time breathing. I decided I’d rush him to the vet first thing in the morning, and beg and plead with them to work out payments with me, if he made it through the night.
Well, he made it through the night alright and I woke up to find him being the energetic and playful kitten he was the week before.
His nose continued to run just a little bit, and he has been stuck on the kitten milk, but for the past few days, he’s been a perfectly behaved playful kitten. He still had the sore on his neck, which seemed to have gotten bigger. I cleaned the area and most of his fur in that place fell off to expose a small hole. His fur was sort of matted over it because of my putting medicine on it, so I didn’t notice how big it was until then. I continued to treat it. He sure didn’t appear to be affected by it.
Yesterday he even started eating food again! I was so happy! Finally, after taking care of this sick kitten day in and day out for almost 3 weeks, things seemed to be looking up.
This afternoon, I noticed he wasn’t as energetic. When I went to clean his neck, fur fell out in clumps all the way around the underside of his neck from one ear to the other. He has 3 huge gaping holes (about the size of a pencil eraser) with brown stuff oozing out and is obviously in pain.
I decided I’d do whatever it took to come up with the money, and am bringing him to the vet in the morning.
I’m so worried for him. The holes look as if he’s been attacked and punctured by something. (He hasn’t. He’s been inside with me the entire time I’ve had him). And we don’t have fleas, by the way. So that’s ruled out. I check him religiously for fleas.
I cannot imagine what has caused these sores and holes on his neck, but they look awful. I hope and pray they don’t have to put him to sleep. So now, all there is to do is care for him, and wait until morning. And write this to vent, I suppose.
If anyone is still reading this, please do not fuss at me for not taking him to the vet sooner. I’ve done the best I could do in the situation I’m in. I’m a struggling single mom. Sometimes there’s just not extra money.
As I said before, I never intended on having a kitten – Upon taking him in that first night, I just thought I’d found someone’s lost pet and would keep him safe for the night.
I’ve taken care of this kitten like a newborn. I have only had maybe one full night’s sleep in weeks. He’s never out of mine or my daughter’s sight. If anyone is reading this, please send good thoughts/vibes his way.
I’m praying for a good outcome, but I know he is seriously ill, because it’s been one thing after another. The holes on his neck are by far, the biggest mystery/worry.
Thanks for reading.