Hi, Kim - I've been doing this only 19 years, officially - before then it was on my own, since I was a kid, with my parents, etc. That sounds like a horrible case....I have never come across anything like that as the mother cat killing her kittens....And, yes, the Strongid-T dosage depends highly on the size and weight of a cat/kitten. My vet is very careful with it, always warning me to dose appropriately! I remember another vet years ago who was very lax in the use of the amount of Strongid-T that was administered....You still shouldn't blame yourself for any part for the kitten's death, after all, one hopes to be able to rely on a veterinarians' expertise! I suppose the lesson is to always listen to your inner voice and when in doubt, rely on it more. Natalie
-----Original Message----- From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Kim Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2010 8:37 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] I killed my kitten last night... Hi Natalie, I've been doing this for 20 years now and this year has been my worst year ever. About 2 months ago, I removed a cat from the pound who just had 4 kittens the night before. The kittens weren't even 24 hours old yet and they were waiting in line to be pts. Well, 2 weeks after she was in my home she came down with a horrible URI and my vet assured me that the kittens would be protected by the mother's milk and they would not get it. Well, long story short, they got it. Then the mother cat decided to drown one in the water bowl and she deheaded the other one. After feeding the other 2 with a stomach tube and doing sub q fluids I had to take the last 2 of her kittens to be put to sleep because they kept fading. The mother cat is doing fine now though. This is only a small sample of my year with kittens. I was talking to my husband and we both feel like the kitten was given too much wormer. I doubt the kitten that only weighed 3/4 pound should have been given the same amount as her siblings who weighed 2 and 1/4 pounds. I can only go by what my vet tells me. I brought them all in to the vet's office when I first got them. My first guess was worms when the little kitten was throwing up. My vet tested the poop samples and they came back negative. Then I was told the little kitten who was throwing up had mega esophagus. I babied her for a month and had her in and out of the vet's office. Thursday night when I saw the roundworms being thrown up I felt like she would improve once wormed. This time I saw a different vet in the same office who agreed that she could be full of worms and that was causing her to throw up; might not be mega esophagus. The breathing problems only started Monday night, 5 days before I saw the worms being thrown up. I'm trying not to blame myself but I do feel like if the vet had wormed them all at four weeks old this would be a whole new story with a different ending. I do blame myself for not being more assertive in getting them wormed earlier. My vet doesn't like to worm animals if their poop samples don't show any signs of parasites. I've told them time and time again that animals can have normal samples but still have parasites. They just don't show up at the time of the testing. I also blame myself for not questioning my vet for not giving me an antibiotic to give at home when we were there on Monday night. She gave my kitten an antibiotic injection but nothing went home with me. When I was there on Friday getting them wormed I asked about the need for antibiotics (in case she had pneumonia) and she told me that she had forgotten to give me an antibiotic on Monday and remembered it after we had left the office. I don't know why my vet couldn't have called me and had me come back to get it. When I left the vet's office on Monday my vet told me that my kitten would most likely die that night. Well, she didn't, she actually improved and was playing and eating well and throwing up minimally. She had a bad day Thursday and after I saw the worms being thrown up I knew in my heart what her problem was all along. I had very high hopes of her improving after she was wormed but that didn't happen. It was her worst, last few hours ever. I am so sorry about your kitten, Puddles. I've raised the newborn orphans for 20 years now (it's what I do for the humane society here because no one else wants to put the time into them that's needed to keep them alive) and I've syringe fed them all with very good outcomes. I've lost only a handful and several have had FeLV or congenital problems or neurological disorders but have done well. I appreciate what you did for Puddles and I know Puddles did, too. Kim "...Saving just one pet won't change the world....but surely the world will change for that one pet..." The top ten reasons to spay and neuter your dog or cat were killed in a shelter today. -----Original Message----- From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Natalie Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2010 4:29 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] I killed my kitten last night... Dear Kim, I am so sorry about your kitten's death! I'm sure that at one time or another, each one of us who has dealt with sick cats and kittens, takes the blame for their death. You did all you could! Your kitten seems to have had some serious health problems and was probably underweight because of them; at 2 months old, she should ideally have weighed almost 2 lbs. I would probably question whether the vet gave her the right dose of dewormer etc. Don't blame yourself...you did NOT kill the kitten! It's so natural for us to question ourselves when something goes wrong! I have just gone through a kitten death two weeks ago. A practically newborn kitten was found in a window-well filled with water after a heavy rain. Someone looked down and saw a tiny orange kitten - under water except for the head. A call went out to anyone who might have a nursing mother - I did and still do. The kitten was probably 4 days old by then...our kittens were already 4 weeks old and gigantic compared to this baby. The mother was very willing to accept little Puddles, but he showed no desire to suck....I had to feed him with an eyedropper. All went well, but after 5 days, Puddles didn't want to drink as much KMR and started feeling cold, although I kept him in a small carrier on heated disks for warmth, and fed him every two hours except for 4 hrs at night. I took him to the vet, and as he examined him, Puddles died right then and there...his temperature was only 95.6!. I blamed myself for just about everything, but I know that I did what I could correctly...I have raised so many tiny kittens to adulthood, why not this one? Maybe Puddles never got to drink his mother's milk to get any colostrums....we'll never know. Natalie -----Original Message----- From: felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org [mailto:felvtalk-boun...@felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of Kim Sent: Saturday, November 06, 2010 2:53 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: [Felvtalk] I killed my kitten last night... I am having such a hard time today with my kitten's death. My little kitten that was 2 months old died last night. She weighed 3/4 of a pound. She was the runt of the litter that I had raised since they were four weeks old. She has been a huge challenge for me the month I had her. My vet first thought she had mega esophagus but then wasn't so sure when she threw up roundworms. She had a problem keeping her food down since the very beginning. Anyway, Friday, my vet wormed her, and her three siblings. She was doing great yesterday until around 7 pm. I gave her a small bowl of KMR and shortly afterwards she started having difficulty breathing and was breathing through her mouth. She had eaten canned kitten food earlier and was doing fine. She died while I was holding her trying to give her a sub q injection. I don't know what I was thinking. I know I killed her. She couldn't breathe and I was trying to hold her still and evidently I had her in a position that her breathing worse because she just went limp and died in my hands. It was so fast that I didn't even get to give her any fluids. I knew she was having troubles breathing but yet I held her still and she was unable to breath because of it. I'm having a hard time with her death. She was such a sweet kitten and even though I can't admit it in front of her other three siblings she was my favorite. Can anyone explain this to me? Were the worms fighting the Strongid and migrating to her lungs making her unable to breathe? Did the KMR have something to do with it? I feel so bad. When I saw her throw up the worms Thursday night I told her to hang in there and I would get her all better in the morning after the vet wormed her but instead I feel like I killed her and did wrong by her. I am so sorry I did this to her and wish I could take it all back. She didn't deserve to die this way. Kim "...Saving just one pet won't change the world....but surely the world will change for that one pet..." The top ten reasons to spay and neuter your dog or cat were killed in a shelter today. _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org _______________________________________________ Felvtalk mailing list Felvtalk@felineleukemia.org http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org
