Odd Kitten Behavior

I didn't think I'd get through this year with an 'easy' lot

Kittens that stack on grams and are healthy and happy just haven't turned up this year.

Monday morning I fed the kittens before work and they were fine. When I got home my mother said there was some 'spilled milk' in the cage. I'd removed the milk bowl earlier so there couldn't have been. I went in to check and sure enough there was a puddle of milk, vomit however.

The Quads had vomited before but then were behaving like idiots so I figured that someone had overfed and then went crazy before going 'Oh I'm not feeling so good....hurk'

I noticed Pip was sitting on Rebel and that Rebel appeared to be stuck with her head in against the litter tray and the side of the cage. I assumed she'd got her leg caught or one of her sharp darn claws stuck in the cage or something so I moved her to the center and she face planted the floor of the cage.

Rebel being bright and happy before weird behavior

She staggered a few steps but never lifted her face off the floor of the cage.

The only way I could describe what I was seeing was that Rebel's head was too heavy for her to lift. I immediately brought her out and showed her to my mother and it was obvious something was severely wrong. I called the shelter manager who at first advised to wait it out I was going to try but when Rebel didn't even seem to have the ability to swallow food (milk) then I called the shelter manager back and inquired if I could get the pitiful kitten into the vets.

Rebel cried out every time she was shifted and would stumble against the edges of the dome bed until her head was pressed up against a wall.

At the vets they took her into the back room and I was waiting for the whole 'she has something bad we cant save her' talk. Amazingly the vet called me into a room and said that since she was so little it was hard to pin down any specific cause of her odd behavior and all I could do was keep her warm and offer food and water. He told me to skip out any force feeding or any milk.

Over the afternoon Rebel began coming around, she could lift her head, she would wobble out of the dome bed to snuggle on someone and she began eating AD (weight booster) off a teaspoon. The kitten food consistency was chunky so I went for the smoother consistency AD.

I separated her from her siblings and kept her with a hot water bottle over night. She was eating, drinking and moving around nearly 100% better, if a little wobbly.

We still have no idea of the cause. She could have used all her resources up after vomiting so she had no energy to lift her head, she could have been climbing the side of the cage and fallen landing on the litter tray edge or who knows. It's a mystery. Pretty sure neurological problems are ruled out because she's fine now.

The Duo...

Troublesome Duo

Cant have one with odd problems without the other having some too. Sparky and Flash are yo-yo-ing.

They aren't consistently rising in weights. It seems they either plateau and stay the exact same or they're going downwards. Sparky did vomit last night but so did some of the Quads and I'm putting that down to being out at the shelter vets from 12.00 to 2 in the afternoon with no food so they likely wolfed food down when I got them home and then got queasy.

Flash and Sparky 'should' be getting up near 600 grams but they're tottering around 500 grams or 520. They have been wormed recently and they're not due again yet. I'm pretty sure they still have a few fleas but I've never really heard of them making cats not eat. Their bowls are occasionally touched but never as spotless as when the Quads are done eating...

Since I've had them a week I was going to lift quarantine and let all 6 romp together for a bit but until they're all gaining better I cant...maybe by Christmas they'll be all going well.

As a pointer of what weight difference is going on Rebel who was sick has stacked on the grams and reached 520 this morning. Sparky is 515- ish and Flash seems to like 509 so the Quads are getting closer to overtaking the Duo who are supposed to be older....

Odd Odd Kittens. If anyone has suggestions to help these fussy little kittens eat or know of any causes to their yo-yo-ing feel free to comment below. I had Flash checked because of his weight drop and the vet checked his temp and heart and stuff and found nothing.

(darn kittens should speak English.....)

Hope everyone is prepared for the ever approaching Christmas and I'm hoping by then I have some much better photos of happy kitties.