As I write this, my daughter grieves for a 3 week old tuxedo kitten that we started caring for 9 days ago. He was due to be euthanized at the local county animal control office, but a nonprofit pet rescue group snatched him up. From there, he was placed on a list for foster caregivers, and my daughter took him. We have done quite a few other ones in the past, but this little guy was special. He was very affectionate, and easygoing with our two dogs - also adopted. We dewormed him when we found he had toxocara last week, but otherwise, he was thriving. Sigforum, meet Wesley:




This morning, he woke up, ate a great meal, played with us and our two dogs, then took a nap on his blanket. An hour later, he had some kind of sudden event, that was followed by respiratory arrest. We provided CPR and took him to the vet - a 15 min ride. He was already showing signs of serious brain damage, and they had to put him down. No prior symptoms, he just dropped dead. I'm thinking it was probably some kind of cardiomyopathy. This orphan kitten had a good 9 days with us.

I'm still reeling from it myself, but my daughter is devastated. I guess we're lucky we'd never lost an animal under our care before.

This was our deal today.

Condolences on the loss of Wesley kitty. Thank you for your kindness to the little guy.

I’m so sorry. Hopefully slabsides may have some insight.

So sorry you had to go through this. Any way to track any of Wesley's siblings and see if there are others with problems? Maybe a little comfort finding out the others are ok.

Very sorry to hear about your kitten.

At least he had a wonderful 9 days with a loving family. Give your daughter a hug from us.

It’s always hard when your kids have to learn the cycle of life.
I grew up on a farm/ranch.
We learned pretty early that sometimes, creatures come here looking for a place to die. My kids had to learn the same lesson. It’s like it’s that point that the innocence starts getting sucked out of them.
You always try, but sometimes no matter what, it’s a losing battle.

Condolences to your little girl.

Oh man, that is rough. Good for you guys for giving him those nine great days.

Sorry to read this. The kitten had a wonderful nine days with your family.

That's so sad Kittens are such wonderful little creatures--all play and affection. My condolences to you and your daughter. RIP, little Wesley.

Lord, I'm always at a loss to open these kinds of threads because of the heartache, mine, and those who share these threads. Still, with reluctance I open them because I feel that these special friends deserve to be recognized. I'll sit in silence and shed a tear, as well as a smile to share in the joy of another post like elmers kitty smoke and other new additions like Ripley's Blue.

Maybe I'm feeling my age but it seems that the older I get the softer my heart gets, especially when it comes to our pets, our special friends. I know it's ok to mourn the losses, each of their stories should be told and recognition of the love they created, the lives they touched, the joys they brought to us.

I'm deeply sorry for your loss, and thank you for sharing. I'm certain as those who also read these posts, we who have the heart will miss them too, always.

quote:

Originally posted by just1tym:
Maybe I'm feeling my age but it seems that the older I get the softer my heart gets, especially when it comes to our pets, our special friends. I know it's ok to mourn the losses, each of their stories should be told and recognition of the love they created, the lives they touched, the joys they brought to us.

You aren't the only one, Will. I'm also pretty sure there's quite a few folks here that feel the same way.

Sad story, but kudos for trying to help.

Dammit, I’m sorry to hear.

However, a big thank you for giving him a Safe warm place to be for a few. I’m sure he appreciated it and that it will add a few positive tally marks to your card.

I am sorry.

I am sorry to hear of your loss. Take some comfort in the fact that you provided your kitten with a warm, safe, loving place over the past weeks.

Wow
Sorry that you had to experience this
As I get older I think I am getting soft but then I realized that even at a young age I had a soft spot for animals but not people

It was good of you and your family to take the little guy in even though it was only for a few weeks. At least he was taken care of and loved even if for only a short period of time

It sounds like he had some type of seizure then went into respiratory distress. It happened to my Panzer (shep mix).

Thank you all for your kind words.

My daughter is just fostering these little guys. She's due to head off to college in less than a year, and we're definitely not going to be able to adopt any of them. Young kittens can live close to 20 years, and I feel I'm just not the right age for them, and they should have the chance to have a younger family. Wesley was just shaping up to be a real affectionate cat - a "catdog". Our two dogs had warmed up to him and were keeping a watchful eye on him when he'd nap.

It was just too sudden, and too soon.

I'm very sorry for your loss. Kinnets are the best, and the smaller and feistier, the cuter!

I'm afraid I can't offer much in sensible interpretation of his death, given the limited info we all have. He played well AFTER eating, so he didn't aspirate anything directly associated with a feeding, and it wouldn't have been hypoglycemia with him eating well. He took a nap and then started the issues, so I suppose he could have had some reflux and aspirated it (kitties don't have much reserve lung capacity, takes very little fluid to cause issues). No way you'd have been able to control this if that was the case.

You mentioned that he'd had roundworms, so he could have had a case of larval migrans that hit a very sensitive area (vein/artery) or migrated through other tissue.

They can have heart issues that are birth defects, and if so they can have catastrophic failures secondary to those issues. These account for about 20% of all neonatal kitten deaths. Again, absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Of course there are infectious diseases that they can have, FeLV, FIV, FIP, and they can cause catastrophic failures as well.

I'm sorry, I'm just babbling and trying to think of all the things (soooo many more I can think of) that cause issues in young kitties. If it helps your feelings any, studies show up to 17% mortality on mixed breed kittens from birth to weaning. So even with the most loving care possible, unfortunately sometimes we get the crappy end of the deal... Again, my deepest condolences.

Please tell your daughter thank you for giving him 9 days in a loving home. The little guy won the lottery being rescued by you guys, even if the time was short. Condolences.