Very sad news about the new kitten :-(

[Ashley V]

Please nobody start bashing me for this... I've been crying since it happened and feel awful enough... I don't need the extra stress.

Some of you may know, we adopted a 7 week old kitten. She was perfectly fine until about 8:30 tonight when she started being really limp. The second we would put her down, she would try to walk and fall over on her back. She ran over to her food and tried to eat like she never had food before. She seemed like she suddenly lost a ton of weight and just didn't look good. I was about to run to the store and get emergency formula and I tried to feed her water through an eye dropper so she wouldn't dehydrated but her muscles were spasming and I couldn't get the water in her. My mom took one look at her and we both said at the same time she needed to go the vet right then. My cousin wrapped her in a couple towels and my cousin, Adam, and I took her to the ER vet. They, of course, took her right back and started working on her. Her glucose level dropped deathly low and her temperature dropped to 94 degrees. For a cat it should be between 100 and 103. On the way to the vet she was meowing loudly for about 3/4 the trip, but she just stopped. My cousin kept blowing on her to make sure she was still alive. Anyways, the vet bill was going to be over $1,300. Between all of us, there was no way we could have paid for that. Unfortunately, the ER was basically saying, pay up or give us the cat. We had no choice. The vet actually adopted her on the spot and is taking her for her own. They are still not sure whether she is going to make it, depending on her diagnoses. They are going to test her for everything and if it's AIDS or leukemia, they are going to have to put her down. If it's something curable, they're going to do whatever they can to save her. They said that she was basically dead when we brought her in. When we went to say good bye, she was at least sitting up meowing at us.

Now, for the part that made us mad....

The tech said that we should call the "rescue" lady because sometimes they will help out with the cost. Well, my cousin called and they were very snippy with him. They blamed all of it on him, because "her sisters are fine". They were practically screaming at him on the phone. My cousin did NOTHING wrong. In fact this is what happened. After he got off the phone with her, the lady called the office and was screaming at them. Thankfully the tech had enough sense to give it back to them. The tech told us what was said. The woman LIED about Lexi's age. She was actually 6 weeks, not 7, so that makes her 7 weeks now. She also was rescued from a very bad environment that was in a completely different climate and they only had her for a week and never gave her little body time to adjust. They only tested one kitten in the litter for AIDS/leukemia and none of the others and if it's in the genetics, only one of the babies could get it, not all. In fact, the lady told my cousin "I don't have time for this, I have to go to bed and get up for work in the morning." He had also signed at contract saying that if he couldn't care for her, that he would give her back to them. She told him to do whatever he wanted with her. Such a caring person she is, isn't she? Tomorrow I'm going to research and try to report her to the humane society. I have her name and address. Oh yeah, the lady also told the vet tech that Lexi was the weakest one of the litter. She told us just to feed her extra wet food to help her gain weight and she'd be fine, but she had diaheria from day one... of course we aren't vets and don't any better. Also, this is what got me. There were 3 kittens in the litter. When we went to see the kittens, there were only two. It was Lexi and her sister. The sister was already spoken for... but why was she still there? Why did she stay for awhile longer, while Lexi had to go right away. I think she was let go so soon because they knew she was sick and didn't have the means or heart to take care of her, so they let her go to people completely unsuspecting that saw only a precious face.

Please pray for her. She really meant the world to us. Please also give your babies, no matter what species and extra hug. One second they could be completely fine and the next they won't. When we got home, we did our rounds through all the animals and gave them love. Chippy's birthday has been postponed to tomorrow afternoon because of all of this. No one was really in the "mood" and my aunt is in pain because she thinks she broke a rib. Chip and Smokey are also completely worn out from todays events and I think it's too late for them to eat that stuff. If Chip understood what was going on, I know he wouldn't mind.

[cataholic]

It sounds like she has panluekopenia(feline distemper). What rescue did you get her from? I know several in the Northern Va area.

[yorkiegirl83]

I'm really sorry, I'm sure that was really traumatic for you .

I'll keep her in my prayers!

[Ashley V]

Originally Posted by cataholic

It sounds like she has panluekopenia(feline distemper). What rescue did you get her from? I know several in the Northern Va area.

She was a private rescue, unfortunately. I know her name and address... thats about it.

[Ashley V]

Oh yea one of the lady's comments to my cousin "Why did you take her to the ER vet?"
Cousin - "Because she was dying and the regular vets office is closed"
Lady - "well why didn't you take her earlier then?"
I hear this then yell in the background "Cause she wasn't sick then!"

If she had been showing signs before hand, I would have wrapped her up and taken her earlier myself, but she was perfectly fine until about 8.

I just have a few thousand words I'd like to call her.

[daisy mae06]

I don't feel what happened is your fault at all it sounds like this (private) so called rescue is to Blame. I would report them!. I feel you did the right thing turning her over to the vet. I pray that she gets well soon and Remember you did what was right for the sweet kitty.

[altigger74]

I am so sorry this happened. I am so glad though that the vet will be keeping her and will be doing everything they can to save her. At the very least you will be able to know that she is with someone who will love and care for her as much as you do.

That woman should be arrested for neglect and possibly for harrassment.

It sucks though that the vet wouldn't work with you.

[Patti]

I am so sorry you did all you could. Hopefully the vet can oull him through and he will live a great life. I so understand about the finances.

[Ashley V]

I'm glad we got her to the vet when we did... she wouldn't have made it. The sad thing is, I had gone downstairs to ask my cousin if he wanted to go to Walgreens with me and he said "no I think I'm going to moniter Lexi... she doesn't look to good" and at that point she wasn't doing too bad. Within 5 minutes she was almost dead. If he had gone with me, we would have come back to a dead kitten. :-(

He's calling the vet to check on lil Lexi and hopefully it will be good news.

[cataholic]

Can you PM me with her name and address?

[MyLadies]

I'm so sorry about that. Such a beautiful little kitten too. No one should "bash" you, this wasn't your fault. you did all you could! Sorry you had to go through all that.

[sexiixtc]

I'm so sorry for what you and your family had to go through.
I will keep checking in for updates.

[wnturner]

I'm sorry to hear. I pray everything turns out okay.

[For My Coby]

What an awful situation. How lucky that baby is to have been in your care at that time. I shudder to think if she'd been with the rescue.

[Ashley V]

Originally Posted by For My Coby

What an awful situation. How lucky that baby is to have been in your care at that time. I shudder to think if she'd been with the rescue.

The woman told my cousin she had about 30-40 other cats to deal with. We think she would have just let her die if she was there.

Update on Lexi:

My cousin called the vet to ask about Lexi. They said she's taking baby steps but is still in bad shape. They still aren't sure whether she'll live or not.