Last night, @urbancatmke took in a mom + kittens babies, and it was immediately clear that the runt of the litter was struggling. At 4 days old and only 67g, she is one of the tiniest kittens we’ve ever had. She was lethargic, struggling to breathe, and cold to the touch; all signs of a crashing kitten.
Due to her fragile state, leaving her with her mom would have been more dangerous than separating, so I went and picked her up. I immediately got her in the toasty warm incubator, started oxygen, and administered karo syrup every 3 minutes for about 2.5 hours until she began to improve. I then switched to tube-feeding formula every 2 hours and knew that it was time to let her decide if she was able to keep fighting.
Amazingly, she continued to improve all night and is thriving this morning! She’s not out of the woods by any means, but I’m thrilled with her progress and am cautiously optimistic. So, everyone meet kitten Dahlia, the tiniest little fighter there ever was ❤️
@emiliexfosterskitten Said.
kitten Dahlia is really struggling this morning 💔 She has overcome so much already in her short little life, but I’m hoping she still has a little bit of fight left in her. We’ve started her on an antibiotic, put her back on oxygen, and I am back to tube feeding every 2 hours. These things never really get any easier, no matter how many kittens you foster. Please be okay, Dahlia, we all love you ❤️🩹
@emiliexfosterskitten Said.
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Well, kitten Dahlia is officially the trickiest neonate I’ve ever had; no small feat with as many difficult cases as I’ve taken on! 😓
For anyone who missed her introduction post, kitten Dahlia came to me after being transferred to @urbancatmke with her mom and littermates. While her siblings were between 85 – 110g, she was a measly 67g (and that was at 4 days old!). She began to crash and by the time I got there, she was struggling to breathe, cold to the touch, and barely hanging on.
I truly didn’t even think she’d survive the drive home, but — miraculously — she did. It was touch and go for several hours, but then she appeared to come back to life. For the next 2 days, she was the perfect bottle baby: ate every meal, had perfect poop, and was gaining well. But then she crashed again.
She wasn’t eating as well during her night feedings on Wednesday, and when I went to feed her early Thursday morning, she was barely responsive and severely tremored. I immediately put her on oxygen, began administering a sugar water mixture with electrolytes, and went back to tube feeding once she was responsive. Within a couple of hours, she was “stable,” but still seemed very off: weak, tremoring, and not wanting to eat.
Since then, she has pretty much maintained that baseline and hasn’t really improved or declined. I’ve never had a kitten go through something like this, so I really have no idea what her future holds. For now, she remains stable, but I’m really hoping for some improvement this weekend. Neonates are never easy, but some stump you more than others.
C’mon, kitten Dahlia, you can do this ❤️
@emiliexfosters Said.
If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever 💔
It became clear this morning that while her physical body was still with us, Dahlia was gone. Since crashing on Thursday, she has remained in a “neither here nor there” state, unable to eat, pass stool, or move her body very much. It was an absolutely gut-wrenching decision, but I knew that it was her time and she was humanely euthanized.
We aren’t entirely sure what happened but think it’s likely that she was deprived of oxygen and sugar for too long during one or both of the times she crashed. I’m devastated over this loss because I was so incredibly hopeful she’d pull through. I know it was the right thing to do, but it doesn’t make it any easier. It would mean a lot to me if you would consider making a donation to @urbancatmke to honor her short, but impactful life.
I love you, Dahlia. I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you.
@emiliexfosters Said.
Related Story > this kitten was found scattered across someone’s backyard with no mom 🙁
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