Thanks for the update! Happy to hear that the kitty is improving. My sister was wondering about her. So the mystery gross stuff sticking out of her butt must have been a piece of something she chewed onā¦ and it came out. It happens! Most of shorter stringy objects can pass, as long as the owner leaves them alone. Occasionally, however, one end of a long string can get stuck in the guts, and the gut peristaltics can keep pulling on the other end, leading to intestinal damage. So glad that was not the case here.
^^^OMG, I canāt wait to put them both in D2ās room! Right now, sick kitty is in D1ās room, while healthy kitty is living in D2ās room. I have a beautiful 13 year old cat who is completely offended right now. I boarded the dog for a week while we go through this. D2 doesnāt take the kittens to grad school for another month. And D1 and my brother arrive this weekend to celebrate my Dadās 80th birthday. Not the best time for all this!
But Iām a hopeless cat lover, so weāll try to make this all work. I think these kittens will provide some great companionship for each other and D2 as she leaves for a new city all alone for grad school (dual JD/MBA). She doesnāt know anyone in the new place, sheāll be buried with work, so perhaps these little ones will help her feel less lonely and will provide stress relief. I know a person who does pet therapy at a hospital, so Iām thinking it could help D2!
Kiddo scooped my avatars from a dumpster (literally, they were hanging around the dumpsters) when they were still very young kittens. They kept her sane during her 2-year gig abroad. Now they keep me happy.
Ok, everything has just gone to hell. Weāve been keeping the kittens apart, and sick kitty has one eye that still doesnāt seem right. D2 just took her to the vet AGAIN, and was told the little girl has a herpes infection. That is what has caused her little respiratory infection. The vet said it seems mild, she may have only one incident or only a few in her lifetime, etc., but she will be a carrier for life, and eventually she will probably infect the other kitten.
DH and I think we should return the kitten to the adoption agency (and he would like them to pay her vet bills, but I think thatās a dream). D2 is crying in her car on the way home because I gently suggested that she return the kitten.
I think the vet should have been a little more firm in saying that hey, if this was your only cat, okay, live with it. But she knows she is risking the other healthy kitten.
What would you all do? If we return the kitten, sheās probably going to end up being euthanized.
D2ās adoption agreement says she has to return the kitten to them in the event she canāt keep it so they can try to place it. So am hopeful that worst case, it gets placed with a one cat family if we do return her.
Weāre still mulling it all over. BB sent a helpful PM.
Do you change clothes and do meticulous hand washing after playing with the sick kitty? There is a chance that it can be spread to your healthy cat and other kitty. There are also complications that can occur with FHV. It is more than likely that this will spread to the healthy kitty at some point as this is a latent virus and can activate with a number of factors, stress, new house, etc. Vaccines are not 100% effective. I would return the kitty and request reimbursement of vet bills. The poor kitty probably was infected through her mother and the agency should contact those who adopted any litter mates.
After a hard night and many tears shed, D2 decided to give up sick kitty. Our vet said she would be better off in a one cat family for all the reasons listed above by @ECmotherx2 . D2 was so upset, DH to take offered to take her back to the facility to spare her an emotional goodbye.
Good news: there had been a waiting list for this kitten, and one of the waiting families has agreed to take her on and plans to keep her as an only cat. We are all thrilled, though so sorry to see her go. She was VERY affectionate and playful. Physically pretty as well.
I admit I shed some tears over this situation as well.
What a great solution! Thanks for the update. It is really hard to adopt just one kitten at our local shelters. They all claim that kittens do best in pairs. Tough for a family that wants an only kitten.
I just saw this thread for the first time and oh my! what a tale of ups and downs. Iām glad that it all worked out for the best for the kitty but Iām sorry you had to give her up. As hard as it is, you did her a real favor by caring for her and keeping her bonded to humans while she waited for her forever home. Will D2 adopt another cat? I hope the other two stay healthy!
D2 has adopted a kitten who came from the same foster mom as healthy kitty. She is a very cute tortie. She is several weeks younger than healthy kitty. When you hold her, she starts āair swimming.ā Itās the most hilarious thing. Her incision from her spay surgery was concerning to the vet (she leaps around a lot), so we had to put her in one of those little soft thingies that keeps her from licking her belly. She looks like a Petunia now, and she is not a happy camper. Keeping them separate while we treat HER for some parasites. Seems to be a common affliction with these rescues.
She looks a lot like this one: https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/closeup-cute-tortie-kitten-black-background-isolated-54875870.jpg
Healthy kitty is doing quite well. We hung out today in my room, which is quite large. She had the run of the bedroom and my bathroom. Our dog came upstairs, as well as my older cat. They essentially stayed away from each other, but co-existed quite well.
Healthy kitty is a beauty. She is a Lynx point Siamese and has the cutest face Iāve ever seen.
She looks a lot like this one, though a tad younger and chubbier.
Those are adorable kittens! Lucky you! Yes, parasites are a very common affliction. I was just trained on doing kitten vaccinations for the shelter where I volunteer and we treat the itty babies with prophylactic doses of deworming medicine. (They do look very cute with little yellow mustaches after they get their dose and try to spit it back out.)
I am going through that with our new kitten, in part because we also got two new puppies that were rescues and they had hookworm (and heartworm, and another kind of parasite), and the kitten did not like the medicine either, amazing what 3 pounds of pissed of kitten can do lol). The cat probably would be fine, but given the way he and the two pups play, the vet didnāt want to chance the cat getting infected. With multiple cats it spreads because they share a litter box, these things are all spread through the feces it seems.
D2 just cannot get Tortie kitten to take her pills. I get it done easily. Guess Iāll be giving a lesson tonight to D2 on how to force a medication onto an unwilling kitten.
@nrdsb4:
If it were a dog, would be pretty easy, put it in bologna or peanut butter and it would be inhaled lol. Actually, with our kitten, I think we could put it in bologna or pastrami and it would disappear, the the kitten has class lol.
The secret I found is to get them on their back, and apply pressure to the hinge part of the jaw, that usually gets it open, then you get the pill in there, close the mouth and massage the throatā¦least that works for me (and when it doesnāt, when the pill goes flying, the claws nail me and the cat runs for the hills, well:)
@bunsenburner:
It is regular three ring circus meets MMA fighting, the three of them go at it (playing), get worn out, then they drop to the floor dead to the world sleeping, often nose to nose like some kind of flower petals:)
So the mystery gross stuff sticking out of her butt must have been a piece of something she chewed onā¦ and it came out. It happens! Most of shorter stringy objects can pass, as long as the owner leaves them alone. Occasionally, however, one end of a long string can get stuck in the guts, and the gut peristaltics can keep pulling on the other end, leading to intestinal damage. So glad that was not the case here.
