Goodie

 
This little boy was found crying at the end of a driveway with no Mom to be found.
 
He arrived at the Duncan Home For Wayward Cats on Friday 10/29/2021 infested with fleas and very lethargic and fading fast by the time we started working with him. His left eye was partially closed like something was wrong.
 
We named him Goodie and he weighed in at 400 gms and not eating, so we immediately began syringe feeding our “patented formula mix” 🙂 every 2 hours, but the results were not good. I thought perhaps it was also anemic under the burden of soooo many fleas eating it alive.
 
He was too weak and small to risk Capstar flea med, so the only other option was a Dawn flea bath, but baths are very risky for a weak young one like this; however, the alternative was a kitten fading to death. A bath was the lesser of two evils.
 
We employed our special bathing and rapid rewarming procedure with frequent temperature checks until its temp was back up to normal. Dozens of dead fleas were in the bathwater and on the drying towels, plus a few still alive on the towels.
 
Unfortunately, an hour later fleas were still active all over this baby and it was still lethargic and not very responsive. I do not know where those fleas were hiding during the bath or how they survived the amount of Dawn we used. With great trepidation, a 2nd flea bath was undertaken and rapid rewarming again.
 
Those were the toughest dang fleas we have ever encountered and after 2 baths, there were still a few bloodsuckers active on this baby, but we decided to ignore those few for now and focus on frequent nutrition to get this baby some energy.
 
Goodie also had some odd hair loss of the top of the head. That can indicate ringworm, which will often glow under a blacklight (but not always. While not definitive, the hair loss does not seem to be a ringworm fungal infection.
 
Syringe feeding every two hours is challenging and hard on human caretakers, but it is an absolute necessity for little ones in trouble to have a chance to survive. Their little bodies need hydration and every calorie they can get to fight whatever is trying to do them in.
 
Often weak ones will not eat very much and as a result, their energy level may continue to decline if feedings are spaced normally. In my experience, a better response is to feed as much as they will take and do it very frequently. In some supercritical cases it may be necessary to feed every 15 minutes. GOD BLESS the angels who do that to save a tiny life.
 
We continued feeding this mostly flea-free baby every two hours Friday night, Sat, and Sunday. We noted a small improvement in energy on Sunday.
 
We weigh before every feeding and after every feeding, because that is the only way to know for certain how much food got IN rather than ON the kitten.
 
We continued feeding and Goodie's appetite began to grow and the amount ingested increased daily. The left eye seems to be open equally as the other and energy levels began increasing significantly as evidenced by Goodie beginning to explore the cage.
Then today, (Wed 11/03/2021) Goodie was offered a bowl of Duncan Wayward House gruel and the video shows how that went. 🥰🥰
Goodie weighed in at 498 gms after scarfing down a huge serving of Wayward House Gruel. 🙂 Now if poop will stay normal and no diarrhea erupts, then this baby seems to have a fighting chance. Knock on wood.
 
UPDATE:
11/08/2021  Weigh-in 558 gms
 
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