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Question for those with a great deal of experience fostering kittens.?
Thank you for reading this. I'm a vet tech at a cat-only hospital and we were brought a litter of 6 kittens to foster about 2 weeks ago. We only have one left. Each kitten that has died has presented with the same signs and pattern leading to demise and as the vets we have aren't entirely sure what is up with them (not much fostering experience) I figured I'd ask those who have had many a tiny kitten in their care.
The litter was about 8 days old when brought in. 3 showed neurologic signs from the get-go (uncoordinated/uncontrolled circular motions of the head, often getting stuck in a dorso-flexion position.. maybe cerebellar hypoplasia from panleuk exposure?) and one of those was already extremely lethargic and had missed a couple meals. We attempted to tube-feed that kitten and it vomited a copious amount of pale white/green liquid that smell of feces and rot, and died later that afternoon. Over the next two days the other neurologic kittens also refused meals, vomited, and died.
That left the three "normal" kittens who were all eating well and growing. I had two of these kittens in my care. Then last sunday the lone kitten refused a meal, went lethargic, vomited that foul stuff and died. He'd been otherwise normal before that. This naturally made me nervous.
Yesterday morning my male kitten repeated that pattern, despite eating vigorously the meal before and toddling about with his normal energy level. I am now very worried that my seemingly healthy, eating, urinating, defecating and lone remaining kitten is going to follow her siblings. Have any of you encountered this before and if so, was a diagnosis made?
Thankyou Connie. I actually just bought the KMR powder when I got them, and have since gotten another one so they are "fresh" and the powder is kept refridgerated. The vomiting also only occurs directly before death, so my little girl has done none of that. She's well hydrated, and to help ensure she stays that way I'm actually using LRS iv fluids as 1/4 the total volume of water I'm adding to reconstitute. Her urine is also properly dilute.
1 Answer
- Connie SLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
I've been doing this for years, and I've not seen the signs you mention.
I once had a kitten vomit regularly after feeding, but never did it smell like feces. Her stomach cavity was up in her rib cage so there was no room for the food.
I agree with the neurological thoughts of CH or panleuk. so hard to tell though when they are so young, and unowned you don't want to invest a lot in testing to find out.
I just had a thought - what is the expiration date of the KMR you are using? There have been issues of milk replacer being expired / rancid.
have you given the remaining kitten some fluids to help with the dehydration of vomiting?
Man, I wish I had a good answer for you. If this kitten were in my care I'd be looking at the milk, giving fluids, and spending a lot of time rubbing and stimulating the kitten to try to keep things from shutting down.
Source(s): foster home for a local shelter for years. I've had my share of oddities, but this one is perplexing.