When I did a cursory check of her, what I found concerned me. Her abdomen was swollen. I don't mean wormy-belly-swollen. I mean full out crazy big swollen. And hard too. Although my first hope was worms, it doesn't look like that is the cause. (Fecal is ok, no vomiting wriggly parasites, etc.) We dewormed her anyway and there is another dewormer scheduled in a few days, but her abdomen has swollen larger, not smaller.
The swelling now includes nearly her entire abdominal section. She began having a runny nose last week (sneezing, cloudy-milky fluid, drippy, etc.) and we have her on antibiotics which started on Sunday. In addition to this, the kitten doesn't seem to have grown since arriving at our house (except her abdomen of course!). Her teeth look to be that of a 3 month old kitten (which doesn't make much sense because she's been at our house for a month, at the finder's house for a month, plus however long she was with mom-cat -- assume 7 to 9 weeks).
We took her to the clinic and after examination, the vet there says that there is a very strong chance (85%) that the kitten has Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). FIP is fatal. Lucky for our resident cat, it is not airborne, it travels through body fluids.
Our vet gave us few options; mainly keep her comfortable until she is in pain/discomfort ... then euthanize. We are very sad. We had been considering keeping this one since we only have our one resident cat and black cats are so difficult to adopt out.
We are planning on keeping the kitten in our house (quarantined in a crate) until she begins to show signs of discomfort. We will go through with the dewormer in a few days and finish off our remaining 8 days worth of antibiotics. We will keep our fingers crossed that our vet is wrong. I don't think she is wrong (it would be a first!), but we can hope.
13 comments:
That's so very sad about the kitten. At least she will get to spend her days in a home where she is loved, but I wish things could have turned out differently.
Oh, this is sad news. Thank-you for caring for this kitty. I also hope the vet is wrong, and that it turns out to be something she can recover from. Please keep us posted.
Oh that is so sad. I am really sorry to hear that. We are big fans of black kitties. I sure hope the vet is wrong. Miracles do happen and we will be praying for one.
That is so sad. :( I'm very sorry to hear this. It is wonderful that you have taken her in though and are keeping her safe and comfortable.
I'm sorry to hear this. This is sad indeed. Euthanizing never sound like a good idea. But we can all take comfort in the knowledge that she will be taken care of by someone who cares enough to make her feel as comfortable as she could until the time comes. Hope you're ok and take care..
I am sorry to hear about your kitten, that must be hard to deal with. :(
This is so sad. The poor kitty. At least she got so spend her last days or weeks with someone who truly cared about her.
Sad news indeed,
I will say a little prayer for your kitty and you family. I agree with others. At least she will be loved...
awww, that's so sad. :( I really hope the vet is wrong, and she heals up quickly. She looks adorable - I'd add her to my Black Cat Brigade over here in a heartbeat!
you have a very nice site about cats.:-)
sorry to hear that, still hoping things will turn out right
So sorry to hear about this. Keep the cats separate if your cat has not been vaccinated against the corona virus. While not airborne, this virus is extremely contagious through body fluids (although only a smaller percentage will actually develop FIP).
FIP is not easy to diagnose, have the vet check for corona virus (which doesn't mean the cat has active FIP, but will show if it has been exposed to it)...you should also have the vet do a a full cbc/vetscreen blood test, FIP will usually show in the liver kidney results.
There is a wet and dry form of this virus, depending on which form a cat has they may respond to treatment with steroids. Best of luck to you, and remember sometimes it really is most humane to euthanasia, but knowing that makes you a kind compassionate person.
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