Carlo is improving

Carlo is doing a better than he was yesterday.  I reread my blog entry from last night, and realized that I really didn’t do a good job of expressing just how grave I thought Carlo’s condition was - I really thought he was close to dying.  When I got up this morning, he was extremely weak and exhausted, and barely opened his eyes—quite a change from the little guy who was always wiggling and doing the “hula” at feeding time.  However, even though he could barely move, he ate.  He ate a lot, much more than he’s been eating.  He also had a pretty decent poop (it was the right colour) for the first time in many days.  After eating he went back to sleep instantly, and when I fed him a few hours later, he seemed a bit stronger.  He’s eaten two very good meals today, and even though he’s still not a normal, perky kitten, I definitely feel that he’s improving rather than regressing.

I don’t know why Carlo’s appetite suddenly improved, but maybe he really does prefer canned KMR over powdered.  Or, maybe he did have an internal parasite problem that was helped by a deworming (his fecal test was negative, though).  Whatever happened, he came dangerously close to the point of no return, but I think he’s turned it around.  I’m giving him canned KMR, as well as doses of Rebound in a syringe.  He’s still really sleepy and isn’t doing much walking, but I’m glad he’s conserving his energy.

This incident reinforces for me how badly I want a “pet intensive care unit”, so in situations like these I’ll know that the kitten is warm enough and in an environment with proper humidity.  I do so much worrying about what I might be doing wrong, and taking the environmental issues off the table might give me some peace of mind.  A PICU is also a controlled, safe way to regulate exact temperatures, so orphaned kittens could only benefit from it.  It’s certainly not a necessity, and thousands of people around the world raise more kittens than I do, with fewer resources, but it might help my burden of worry.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 04/06 at 09:33 PM

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  1. Oh, I’m so glad he’s doing better.  I was worried.

    Posted by Helly  on  04/07  at  10:16 AM

  2. I haven’t had much time to be online this last few weeks and you have posted some great stuff in my absence. I hadn’t even read that about the Royal Canin & vit D issue before.
    Anyhow. I am glad Carlo is doing better now. Hope he continues to thrive. Maybe it was a false negative on the fecal? I know some things like giardia are often missed.
    Happy Easter!

    Posted by Carina  on  04/08  at  03:55 AM

  3. Well, whew!  Poor little kitty.  I’ll be sending ‘get strong’ vibes his way.

    Posted by Von Krankipantzen  on  04/08  at  01:27 PM

  4. This is such a relief to hear that Carlo is doing better, the poor little guy.  We’ll keep our fingers crossed for continued growth and stable health.

    Posted by Print  on  04/08  at  02:35 PM

  5. I’m glad Carlo is doing better. Do you know if kittens have liver shunts and the like? Mom might have eaten something bad at some point and his body absorbed something that interfered with normal organ development… making him smallish due to systemic inefficiency? I’m thinking some congenital thing making him frail…

    I hope he really turns around. Frankly I’m still very worried for him.

    Posted by Semavi Lady  on  04/08  at  10:57 PM

  6. How is the wee man doing?
    I linked back to you on a couple of your recall posts by the way. Saved me the time of doing my own research. :D

    Posted by Carina  on  04/09  at  11:14 AM

  7. Oh, thank goodness! I’ll take ‘no bad news since this post’ means that he’s hanging in there?

    Posted by Diana  on  04/09  at  01:56 PM

  8. I guess Carlo is doing fine, because he’s still eating and still gaining weight.  His growth is slower than his sister’s (she’s two ounces heavier), and she seems more advanced overall.  I hope that if I just keep working patiently with Carlo, he may eventually catch up.  Last year we had a foster kitten named Anya who was also very tiny, and she grew up to be fine, just tiny. 

    I’m happy that Carlo seems to be digesting food properly (finally).  Even though the fecal tests came up negative, he was vastly improved after being treated with Nemex.

    Here’s a great webpage about “fading kitten syndrome”:  http://www.rapidvet.com/fading.html .  Liver shunt is definitely a possibility in kittens.  Overall kitten mortality is amazingly high.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  04/09  at  09:55 PM
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