derrycats posted: " It has been a tough few days...the downside of foster life sometimes. The Creamsicles were doing wonderfully, eating up a storm and then they weren't. When you only weigh a pound of less, you really can't stop eating if you want to continue on in this li" The Blessing of Animal Companions
It has been a tough few days...the downside of foster life sometimes. The Creamsicles were doing wonderfully, eating up a storm and then they weren't. When you only weigh a pound of less, you really can't stop eating if you want to continue on in this life, and when the little ones won't eat, there's reason to worry.
Last Thursday most of the kittens weren't eating much or some at all, and by Friday I was on the phone to our vet the moment they opened. Thankfully they got me in on Friday - a busy day at any vet office - and spent almost an hour getting them all examined and treated. One had a small fever, and three were dehydrated from not eating, so they got fluids. Their poop is olive green, which is not the desired color, but with kittens this young our options are limited. So I am giving them all Albon to kill the most common intestinal problem, Coccidia...I haven't had a kitten in years who didn't have it. And the Albon includes a little bit of antibiotic too. I also took home the set up to give fluids to the little ones as needed. I was a touch nervous about being able to give sub-cutaneous fluids to one-pound kittens, but it wasn't as hard as I thought. You probably don't want to know how this is done, but in case you do, here's a short video.
Over the weekend eating was pretty light, with an occasional good appetite from one kitten or another. Any kitten who skipped two feedings got fluids. It was incredibly frustrating, especially at the middle-of-the-night feedings when I was extra-tired and wanted to go back to bed, but had to keep trying to get the munchkins to eat. I spent the weekend feeling pretty sleep deprived.
Finally at the bedtime feeding Sunday everyone ate. And then they all ate at the 3 am feeding. And 4/5 ate at the morning feeding. But the one who skipped the morning feeding had drunk an entire bottle of formula at the 3 am feeding. So, I am breathing a little easier, and feeling more hopeful that we may be turning the corner here. They were all either staying at their current weight or losing weight for several days, and today they had all gained 10-20 grams. These little ones can tank so quickly, and be gone in a couple days. Tough on the nerves.
All are active, however, and eating and doing better, so paws crossed that this continues. A couple pictures below. I can tell them apart if I can see their ears but don't ask me who is who in these photos. I can identify the runt, Cody, who is the only orange one, and Casper, the other boy, has a white necklace around his neck. But the three girls are still hard to tell apart unless I can check the lipstick on their ears.
Think good thoughts for these little ones. As the vet said, I've invested too much in them at this point to lose them!!
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