Judith gsd Posted July 13, 2009 Report Share Posted July 13, 2009 We took a cat into rescue who was pregnant semi feral and from the Birmingham area, here is my post from another forum, you can see why I am not doing it all again when you see how much sleep we have lost the last few days:- We are gutted that the poor cat was in such poor condition that she had no chance to save herself or her babies. We thought at first the reason she wouldn't eat when she came in on Thursday night was that she was scared of her new situation, from being semi feral to a home situation. We obviously kept the pen covered completely to guard against possible infection, and also to make her feel more calm. She still was not interested in food, and by Saturday morning we were getting concerned, so much so that I cooked her fish at about 2 am! Again she refused it, so the next trick would have been the vets, but she had given birth some hours later, and in the morning before everyone was up, I was faced with 3 kittens still attached to their placentas bar one who looked at death's door. I grabbed that one, and ran upstairs to Graham, who didn't get his usual cuppa, but a kitten to warm up and revive. I had a vet appointment booked, so when we had settled the babies onto the milk bar, and all seemed calmer, I went to see Ross, and obviously told him what had happened. He agreed there wasn't a lot we could do, as hand feeding is best avoided, and not always successful. I also had been told earlier in the morning, that my older daughter may be going down with swine 'flu, so we went in search of Tamiflu. All kittens were feeding, but Mum was spaced out and in shock. We looked in about half an hour later, and found she had birthed another two kittens. Again they seemed to be feeding well. But Mum was just not interested, so we were worried that she was so shocked or may be ill. Graham spent all of Saturday night sleeping on the sofa, and every time one baby cried, he did it's bottom, as Mum did,t do a thing. I stayed down until 3 am, but he told me to go up and then in the morning I would be of more use. So we ended up at our vets again, not our usual branch but one of their own vets, who set a drip up for her, she spoke to Ross, and we brought her back with her drip in place. We had to turn the dial to a different setting at about 8 pm. Again Graham spent the night with her, sometimes he got up every quarter of an hour to place a kitten with Mum and to make sure the heat pad was under them. Whilst I went to bed, having decided that our Old Boy with the mouth tumour will have to go to Rainbow Bridge tomorrow to save his dignity, as his ability to eat and drink on his own had now almost ended. Sad We had a car full today, with the Old Boy, two girls to be spayed, and also the poorly Mum and remaining 2 kittens. One died at about 11 pm Sunday night, one at about 7 am, and the third one at about 7.25 am today. I signed the paperwork for the spay ops, and we held the Old Boy and he purred his way to a peaceful sleep. Ross gave him a top up of medication and his heart stopped beating. We brought him home with us, and let the animals that he shared the kitchen with say their goodbyes. We obviously left the kittens and their Mum to be looked at as soon as possible. Ross telephoned later, he said that her uterus didn't seem right, so he would open her up, and check for FIP, and also send off what he needed to the lab. She didn't have FIV or FELV, as he tested her for those. He said we would probably lose the other kittens soon too. If she looked like she had FIP he wouldn't wake her up, but let her go quietly. True to his word, he 'phoned me later to let me know it was FIP, and that the kittens had also died. He asked me to let Angie know. I don't think it has hit me yet, with all of this going on, but as usual, humans are to blame, she shouldn't have caught FIP, and she definitely shouldn't have been pregnant, she looked quite young, and looked as if she had been around for a while. It is lucky that the girl asked us to help, everyone else said they couldn't due to room. RSPCA offered to pts, as did a local vets without even seeing her. Perhaps they would have been right in the end, knowing what we know now. But if she had have been left on the streets, she and her babies would have had an awful death. So let's be positive and hope we did the right thing in the circumstances. Usually we get them for longer before they give birth and get to have a good relationship with the Mums to be, however not this time. I have been washing all related laundry on a very hot wash, as recommended by our vet nurses, and they have disinfected the kitten cage, and my litter tray and the scoop we kept for that tray. Whoops, I have accidentally washed my Snugglesafe heat pad on a hot wash with some bedding. Not a good few hours for us at Coventry Cat Group and in our house as a whole! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickentikka Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 what a sad time for you, but thank you for trying to help. Run free mum, kitties and your Old Boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesB Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 How sad. But at least with your care mum and kittens didn't suffer as much as they would have if they were still on the streets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycas Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 I'm so sorry, but glad you were there and able to help mum and kits if only a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebob Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 What a horrible time you've been having So glad you were there for them though. Run free Mum & kitties and Old Boy too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudi Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReikiAnge Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 That's so sad I'm very sorry for the loss of your Old Boy and the mum and her babies - thank goodness you were there to ensure that they got the care and attention that they needed to make their passing easier though Sleep tight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel n Hardy Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 so very sorry what a terrible loss for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amanda Jvv Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 thinking of you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fee Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 How awful for you, but at least you know you did everything possible for mum and the kittens. So sorry to hear about Old Boy, too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly1712 Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 Oh no, what an awful time for you all. So very sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 What a flamin nightmare...but think how much worse it would have been if you had not got her to the vet....a slow horrible death.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owl Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 What a tough time, you must both be exhausted. At least you made things as easy as they could be for the animals in this situation. Hope your daughter gets well soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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