Cats

» ThatCrazyCatLady - Buddy... the 8th afternoon

In response to Buddy... the 8th afternoon posted by gnarly2:

OH, this is all just wonderful news! Thanks so much for sharing with us! And congratulations on the BM

Wish we had more vets around like Dr. Rob!

I'll bet you are more relaxed after such improvement! I think Buddy is going to be just fine. In a few days, he'll be able to hear you, and he'll open his eyes, and it will be a whole new world to him. You're going to have great fun watching him become a little man

Have a wonderful day!
Dar

-- posted by ThatCrazyCatLady

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» gnarly2 - Buddy... Day 9 and all's well

In response to Buddy... the 8th afternoon posted by ThatCrazyCatLady:

We're settled into a regular (and non-stressful!) routine now. Buddy has to be woken for feeds at 3-hourly intervals but he wakes as soon as he is uncovered and sucks at a finger while waiting for his milk. We are feeding him up to 4mls from a thin rubber teat on a syinge - he takes the first 1.5mls and than takes a couble of pauses (& burps) before continuing. We are going to try changing to a bottle and teat to let him suck by himself next feed. Weight steadily, if slowly, gaining. He reached 100 grams today.

-- posted by gnarly2

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» ThatCrazyCatLady - Buddy... Day 9 and all's well

In response to Buddy... Day 9 and all's well posted by gnarly2:

OH, this is all wonderful, wonderful news! Congratulations on the results your efforts - they are certainly paying off!

Thanks again for updating us!

-- posted by ThatCrazyCatLady

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» gnarly2 - Buddy... A worry

In response to Buddy... Day 9 and all's well posted by ThatCrazyCatLady:

Buddy is not looking so good, he seems lethargic and has lost his strength. We're very concerned about Fading Kitten Syndrome - perhasps the long sleeps were not so good after all. We're off to the vet again but Rob is away for a few days.

-- posted by gnarly2

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» gnarly2 - Buddy - Quiet but OK

See below

-- posted by gnarly2

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» gnarly2 - Buddy - Quiet but OK

Still fairly lethargic but the vet says no need for panic. Suggestion is that Buddy isn't getting as much disturbance and stimulation as would occur in a family where he was competing with other kittens. We are to wake hiim a little more often and get im to move a little more. We're still a little concerned but hoping..

-- posted by gnarly2

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» ThatCrazyCatLady - Buddy - Quiet but OK

In response to Buddy - Quiet but OK posted by gnarly2:

Oh my goodness, I hope your vet is right! We will say some prayers right away! You can try a drop of Karo syrup on his tongue and see if that gives him a little energy boost. My heart's with y'all and little Buddy! Will keep an eye in and do some research to see if I can find out anything that we haven't tried yet...

-- posted by ThatCrazyCatLady

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» ThatCrazyCatLady - Help saving rescued kitten...

Hello everyone,

I heard from Martin about little Buddy today and an experience he had with the vet and a very helpful breeder. He gave permission to repost this here for him just in case anyone else is at their wit's end trying to help save an orphaned kitten. I thought the suggestions given by Sue might help others, so here's how they're proceeding...

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We were back to feeding Buddy every two hours last night - he had to be woken and stimulated and took about 2mls a feed, if reluctantly. We were concerned about his lack of movement and he seemed not to be using his left back leg. Then we noticed a very swollen right front leg. The combination of the legs plus the lethargy took us back to the vet this morning but we felt all but scolded for over-reacting. It was the same vet that we saw last night and she thought there was no change from the night before - she in fact was initially all but refusing to see us on the grounds that there was little to be done and we were seen by a vet nurse who talked sternly about "letting nature take its course" and "perhaps we should think about helping things along." However, Nicki, the vet gave us some feeding syringes although she said part of the problem might be that we had been feeding Buddy so he wasn't bothering to try sucking by himself. We came away feeling like naughty parents.

We then (about two hours ago) contacted a breeder of Siamese to ask if she had any suggestions. She was here in ten minutes with advice and backup - what a difference in attitude to the vet! She has given us something called Carbo Veg from a homeopathic store in [our town] and prescribes two drops with and between feeds. She also suggested we add the contents of a "Symbiotics Colostrum" capsule to every 100mls of formula for a couple of days. She then gave Buddy a brisk but gentle rubdown and by the time she left Buddy was much brighter.. So were we!

Presumably the Carbo Veg is having the same effect as the Karo syrup. The vet suggested the legs problem was circulatory. Sue, the Siamese-breeder, said at the moment, the legs are not the problem, lets try and get him feeding and perky. It was interesting to see here feed Buddy, she used a 3ml syringe with no teat. "At this stage we just need to get some food into him."

It's like riding an emotional rollercoaster but we are all hanging in there.

-- posted by ThatCrazyCatLady

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» gnarly2 - Sad News

Sadly, I have to report that little Buddy left us last night (which was his 11th day). In spite of the valiant and caring efforts of Sue in the morning, he never really regained the strength or spirit he showed at about day 7 and 8. He was reluctant to feed and was making little effort to suck and he also a smaller voice and less energy. At 8.30 pm I knew he was not really responding but I made him comfortable lying on my chest (that's the best temperature-controlled heating pad I know of). I talked to him and tried to stroke his as I imagined a mother cat would like him and I tried to will him to stay with us. He was still snuggly and made his little contented squeaks but I could feel him fading. He had about a 1ml feed at 9pm but then settled into a deeper sleep and did not wake at 11pm when I should have fed him. I think by then he was in a coma. At 11.15 pm his breathing changed to a sharp intake followed by a slow expiration and at 11.30 he just quietly stopped breathing. Such a dear wee kitten and he was gone.

Would we go through this all again? Of course. For a brief moment we had a chance to save a little helpless soul that for reasons unknown had been left behind by his mother. It could well be that the abandonment was due to some congenital defect that was instinctively recognised by the mother, but it was also possible that some trauma had caused the mother to flee.

We felt very alone at the outset, information and knowledge was remarkably scarce. Three local vets approached seemed to be lacking any detailed experience in raising a kitten so young. (Remember it was probably only hours old when picked up, it still had the umbilical cord and part of the placenta attached.) We did have a "Veterinary Milk Powder Formula" and a syringe to start with but we were unable to find a satisfactory teat form some days and Buddy failed to thrive on the feedings formulated as per the product label. Nobody seemed to know if the answer to our problem was in allowing Buddy more food than prescribed or in giving him a more concentrated mix. We eventually tracked down some "Royal Canin Babycat Milk" powder and were able to give him his first satisfactory feed on day 7. (I say satisfactory because it was only after his first 3ml feed of Royal Canin at 9.45 on day 7 that he went off to sleep with contented little squeaks - before that he always seemed to be hunting for something but was too full to eat any more.) Apart from one little episode about the time of change of formula, his bowel and urinary functions appeared normal and according to the first vet we took him to, "nigh on perfect." He put on weight steadily for a couple of days and we really began to hope that he was going to thrive. Then we had the relapse and took him to a second vet. Rob who had been so helpful and supportive in not only lending us a heating pad but also in refusing payment for the consultation was away on holiday. The symptoms taking us back to the vet were a loss of energy and appetite and a general rundown in condition as well as a swelling of a front leg and apparent lack of movement in a back leg. I was told that the leg problems were probably circulatory and the lack of energy etc were possibly due to a lack of stimulation from a mother cat and the lack of competition from siblings. So the answer was probably more stimulation - stroking, cleaning and rolling the kitten over as would happen in a family of kittens. We took this diagnosis seriously and did our best to stimulate Buddy according to the recommendations.
But on the morning of Saturday, Day 10, we could see a marked deterioration in his general condition and the leg swelling was also worse. I rang the vet and made an appointment, indicating some urgency. Some minutes later the veterinary nurse rang back to say that as the vet had seen Buddy the night before, there was little that could be done, that perhaps we "should let nature take its course unless we wanted to speed things along." I said we were not ready to do that and I would still like an appointment. When we reached the vet clinic, the receptionist told us that she was a trained veterinary nurse and that the veterinarian had asked her to look at the kitten first. We (that's my wife Colleen and me) explained the history and the present symptoms and more or les insisted that we se the vet. The outcome of that was in the letter posted via Darlene above - Post 22.

As I said in that letter, we then received help, support and encouragement from a breeder of Siamese cats as well as two other prescriptions never mentioned by any veterinarians and for a few hours it seemed little Buddy was improving again.

But finally, we lost the little kitten. Many will say it was probably inevitable, and we have to accept that it may have been. But I am also sure that we would have benefited if we had access to a decent little nipple for feeding and some more knowledge about milk replacement formula right at the outset. Very possibly, Buddy was past helping by the time we saw that second vet, but it would have been real nice to get encouragement and positive advice rather than feeling treated like neurotic parents. At 3.30am on Day 5 of the Buddy saga, I was feeling both inept and helpless and went online. Darlene replied with helpful advice and was caring and supportive - Colleen and I were touched and strengthened by her response. We believe we did the very best we could for him, but I also think that there enough positive signs in his condition - normal temperature, healthy bowel and urinary tract and glossy coat and general brightness - to indicate that if the right things had been in place, we could have saved him.

He was such a dear little fellow and in the short time we had him, he had his own little responses and personality. We loved him very much and would like to think he knew he was loved.

And if anyone thinks it was all a wasted effort, I can only point to my previous experience mentioned in one of the earlier postings. Gnarly, the 5-day-old kitten I hand-reared grew into the most beautiful and characterful cat.

So that's me signing off. Thank you all who had kind thoughts for Buddy. Thanks especially to Darlene and this forum.

-- posted by gnarly2

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» ThatCrazyCatLady - Sad News

In response to Sad News posted by gnarly2:

(((HUGS))) You're very welcome, Martin! I always wish there was more that we could do, but sometimes it's just out of our hands. And I do feel that Buddy knew he was well loved!

I am sure that some people reading in do wonder why folks keep going through all this hard work when kittens may not be able to be saved. But what are we to do when we find a tiny baby lying helpless?? I think we have to try for every single one!

Thank you and your family for trying for little Buddy!

-- posted by ThatCrazyCatLady

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