Thursday, October 25, 2007

Another loss ...

We lost little Maude on Tuesday. She was fine earlier in the day but when I got home from work she had hidden herself behind the kitten shelter and when I found her and picked her up she was limp and unable to stand on her own. She passed soon after but I did get to take her over for Beth to say good-bye.

On a better note, though, Midnight Smoke has now been to the vet and has a good prognosis. HE does have a slight rasping in his lungs and a slight fever but he is now receiving liquid antibiotics and vitamins (it looked so easy to do at the vet's office...) and the vet says he should be fine. She thinks he is only 6 weeks old - younger than I thought - and says he is a beautiful kitten and if she didn't already have a houseful of cats she would take him home herself. She also said he should continue to nurse as long as Momma cat allows. Appetite and activity are good. He is climbing everything he can reach and eating both dry and moist food and drinking well as well as nursing when Momma lets him. He was very good at the vet's office and the vet and her two assistants made over him the whole time we were there. They sent us home with kitten food as well as the medication and vitamins and a topical pest repellent and wormer that I will put on him this weekend when I can stay home with him and make certain he does not have a reaction to it. I am also adding a small amount of pedialyte to the cats' drinking water with the vet's approval.

He also MAY have a home. The neighbor across the street saw us taking Smoke to the vet and has expressed an interest in getting a kitten. We didn't pursue it too much just then as I wanted to be more certain of his health (and I still thought he was she at the time). Now I want to wait until he is weaned and has more of the meds in him. He will still need some tests done but the vet said we should wait a few weeks on those due to his age.

If possible, we will get Momma cat to the vet at a later time, though I do not anticipate that being an easy thing to do. She is still somewhat wild with everyone but me although she does allow Joe to pet her. I think a steel reinforced transport and thick shoulder length leather gloves may help...

1 comment:

Mary C said...

Oh, Martha, I'm so sorry to hear about another kitty not making it. How sad. It was good that you took the third one to the vet. Is it possible that the other two kitties succumbed to a respiratory illness? I think that's what happened to my daughter's kittens, too. Gosh, can't believe that was 11 years ago.