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Head trauma in kitten 8 weeks and 6 days old need support
Hey guys, if you love cats and kittens please read this need your support, been all over the web the past 24 hours searching for the best possible way to help my now adopted stray cats kitten, here's the story in full/short of what happened:
On sunday the 5th may 2013 the evening I saw one of the kittens had a blood filled eye(Ginger), but it was foggy blood looked like under the surface, she was lethargic and I immediately set her in a seperate room, as it was sunday evening and the kitten did not look distressed at all I was under the assumption it was probably a scratch of some kind of an accident when playing with the other kittens, and decided if it did not look better in the morning i would take her to the vet, I applied some human eye anti-septic cream(not alot just enough to clean) cleaned the surrounding eye and snuggled her on a spare bed with water, a bit of milk which she loves, and kitten food.The next morning she was fine, playful, eating well and back to herself, I than let he brothers and sister come play before I put them all back in there room. All seemed normal.
On the 7th of May 2013 around about 7 p.m. I gave 4 of the kittens and there mom there food, I found Ginger in a tree approximately 7 feet of the ground which she and her brother loves to climb, put them all in the room and let them be, usually at 9 to 10 pm I put them into bed cover them up, last night at around about 8:30pm my brother found ginger on the ground underneath the tree she loves to climb which is about 7 feet off the ground, her head was tilted upward to the side, our first reaction was neck or spinal injury so carefully with a base support and side support moved her inside, after contacting numerous emergency vets no one was available, this morning the vet said it is a head trauma.He gave her a half a mil injection of steroids I think and gave me six days of steroids which I have to inject every morning.
I am feeding her with milk, nutrients, I let her brother come lay with her and he is licking and supporting her, 8 weeks old and he knows something is wrong, he put is head against her head with his paw around her, I know these kittens, the paw around her may be a coincidence but the head against her head is not.
Current condition of ginger. . .
*Head tilted backwards to the right side
*Slight redness on the bottom of the one eye reducing daily
* Stiff legs, they are bendable, but prefer to be straight
*Not hungry, feeding with tube is at a slow pace and takes alot of time
* Pupils do react to light and is not dilated
* Seems to me she is aware of her surroundings, is not confused, but motor functions are altered and involuntary.
*Does purr sometimes
Actions now will be to raise her head at a 30 degree angle to increase bloodflow to the brain, providing comfort.
I am believing now she sustained a head injury on the 5th of may and had a seizure last night in the tree, I did ask the vet but he said the blood in the eye had nothing to do with the head injury. She also was not in a confused state sunday, also no symptoms of a concussion then.
Im worried sick, I know it takes time, but want the best possible environment to recover ( vet hospital is not an option unless if I sell my kidney) any advice will be greatly appreciated
On sunday the 5th may 2013 the evening I saw one of the kittens had a blood filled eye(Ginger), but it was foggy blood looked like under the surface, she was lethargic and I immediately set her in a seperate room, as it was sunday evening and the kitten did not look distressed at all I was under the assumption it was probably a scratch of some kind of an accident when playing with the other kittens, and decided if it did not look better in the morning i would take her to the vet, I applied some human eye anti-septic cream(not alot just enough to clean) cleaned the surrounding eye and snuggled her on a spare bed with water, a bit of milk which she loves, and kitten food.The next morning she was fine, playful, eating well and back to herself, I than let he brothers and sister come play before I put them all back in there room. All seemed normal.
On the 7th of May 2013 around about 7 p.m. I gave 4 of the kittens and there mom there food, I found Ginger in a tree approximately 7 feet of the ground which she and her brother loves to climb, put them all in the room and let them be, usually at 9 to 10 pm I put them into bed cover them up, last night at around about 8:30pm my brother found ginger on the ground underneath the tree she loves to climb which is about 7 feet off the ground, her head was tilted upward to the side, our first reaction was neck or spinal injury so carefully with a base support and side support moved her inside, after contacting numerous emergency vets no one was available, this morning the vet said it is a head trauma.He gave her a half a mil injection of steroids I think and gave me six days of steroids which I have to inject every morning.
I am feeding her with milk, nutrients, I let her brother come lay with her and he is licking and supporting her, 8 weeks old and he knows something is wrong, he put is head against her head with his paw around her, I know these kittens, the paw around her may be a coincidence but the head against her head is not.
Current condition of ginger. . .
*Head tilted backwards to the right side
*Slight redness on the bottom of the one eye reducing daily
* Stiff legs, they are bendable, but prefer to be straight
*Not hungry, feeding with tube is at a slow pace and takes alot of time
* Pupils do react to light and is not dilated
* Seems to me she is aware of her surroundings, is not confused, but motor functions are altered and involuntary.
*Does purr sometimes
Actions now will be to raise her head at a 30 degree angle to increase bloodflow to the brain, providing comfort.
I am believing now she sustained a head injury on the 5th of may and had a seizure last night in the tree, I did ask the vet but he said the blood in the eye had nothing to do with the head injury. She also was not in a confused state sunday, also no symptoms of a concussion then.
Im worried sick, I know it takes time, but want the best possible environment to recover ( vet hospital is not an option unless if I sell my kidney) any advice will be greatly appreciated
well thats great news to hear!!!! head injuries do seem to improve given time and patience especially with a young kitten....so thats great.
how is she having trouble eating/drinking and using the litter box? can you explain all this better?
how is she having trouble eating/drinking and using the litter box? can you explain all this better?
Im glad to report ginger is seemingly making a full recovery, still having difficulty to eat and use the litter box and especially drinking, the rehab is starting, after the coarse of the steroids and alot of time and effort in feeding her seems she is going to make it, hopefully full recovery but she has started to play today
Can feeding has started last night, im glad to report that she has started trying to walk, cant yet but didnt see improvement last yesterday but saw big improvement today, bowels are working and she tells you when she wants to go the litter box, I just hope now recovery will be full, or atleast happy, because her present state is unhappiness because she cant play with her brothes and sisters, but hopefully its momentary, a fighter she is. hope you doing well opus88
She still hasn't started with can feeding, but I can see progress, she can keep her own head above now and it seems she is gaining a bit of coordination, hopefully it isn's misleading me, but I hope she will recover or so a bit of improvement tomorrow aswell, im taking her to the vet tomorrow morning again, the eye is worrying me, its still red but it almost seems the blood is spreading before it goes away, its hard work, she only fed a little bit, but it seems her weight loss is under control, when I lift her skin it still retracts, hoping for the best tomorrow wish her luck
good she at least had a pee, thats working:)
go slow on the first day of canned feeding, may cause some diarrhea, but at least it should get her bowels going...just don't want her to be too loose and get more dehydrated.
keep us updated, I will be away for the day/evening tomorrow though, should be someone else around that can help I hope:))
go slow on the first day of canned feeding, may cause some diarrhea, but at least it should get her bowels going...just don't want her to be too loose and get more dehydrated.
keep us updated, I will be away for the day/evening tomorrow though, should be someone else around that can help I hope:))
I will get tomorrow, I did feed her with I content nutrients based cereal, like pro nutro, did follow the instructions on the vid found it on a forum, and the nibble bits I removed as I saw she didnt want them but wont in the future, she did pee about a while ago a bit, not alot but for her size I was excited that she did,
coco now with her both of them sleeping will update tomorrow thanks opus88
coco now with her both of them sleeping will update tomorrow thanks opus88
yes it must be heartbreaking for sure, she is such a sweet little girl:)
can you get some canned kitten food and add more water so its nice and smooth and liquidy? than use one of those large droppers to slowly add a little into her mouth...she needs more nutrients than just milk. I will send you a video on how to do this and how to feed properly....you cannot put it directly in the front of her mouth this may cause her to choke, you must add it to the side of her mouth slowly....they show using a syringe on the video but you can also buy a large dropper from a pharmacy or pet shop...like the ones you would use to do eye drops only alot larger...or your Vet can supply you with the large syringe's like the one in the video...
DON'T attempt to put the hard kibble into her mouth...not even softened ones she will CHOKE on these.
when she gets more solids in her and with some stimulation she should have a bowel movement within a day or two or she will need to see a Vet same as with her bladder...she must pee and SOON...she cannot go without passing fluids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6o17wH6ujk
can you get some canned kitten food and add more water so its nice and smooth and liquidy? than use one of those large droppers to slowly add a little into her mouth...she needs more nutrients than just milk. I will send you a video on how to do this and how to feed properly....you cannot put it directly in the front of her mouth this may cause her to choke, you must add it to the side of her mouth slowly....they show using a syringe on the video but you can also buy a large dropper from a pharmacy or pet shop...like the ones you would use to do eye drops only alot larger...or your Vet can supply you with the large syringe's like the one in the video...
DON'T attempt to put the hard kibble into her mouth...not even softened ones she will CHOKE on these.
when she gets more solids in her and with some stimulation she should have a bowel movement within a day or two or she will need to see a Vet same as with her bladder...she must pee and SOON...she cannot go without passing fluids.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6o17wH6ujk
Thank you alot, yeah its really heartbreaking to see a kitten like this and you can't do anything, no bowel and bladder activity as yet, but I think she is adjusting to the new diet, she is aware of what is around her I put kittie food for her sister and she smelled the food but couldn't physically eat it, so I took it away as it almost felt like it was disturbing her that she couldn't eat it. Also tried softening one and put it in her mouth but does not seem she is use to it, when I give her milk she knows how to drink and licks her mouth so I think she doesn't have an appetite, but still gently let gravity go in her throat then she drinks it. Her mother was with her and tried simulating bowels by licking it but nothing happened, also tried putting her in the litter box but her movements make it difficult and I think she knew what it was but didn't want to be there, it is incredible the love she receives from coco the black cat, she licks her, lies next to her and gives her love, I have always been a firm believer that a happy or friendly supportive situation will lead to an increased mental state and better chances of physical recovery. Its really just disturbing me constantly can't do anything else.
yes we love cats and kittens here and obviously so do you....you are doing a wonderful job caring for this poor little Ginger kitten. We are not Vets here only pet parents, so our help will be very limited.
what a sweet photo of the two kittens together...
You are doing all the right things for her...food, comfort and a Vet check ...IMO there is not much more that can be done now but continue as you are and wait to see if the steroids reduce the inflation enough and see is she is able to recover.
You should start to see some small improvements everyday...if there are going to be any, slowly she will start to straighten her neck and bend her feet voluntarily
are her bowels and bladder working? ..
what a sweet photo of the two kittens together...
You are doing all the right things for her...food, comfort and a Vet check ...IMO there is not much more that can be done now but continue as you are and wait to see if the steroids reduce the inflation enough and see is she is able to recover.
You should start to see some small improvements everyday...if there are going to be any, slowly she will start to straighten her neck and bend her feet voluntarily
are her bowels and bladder working? ..
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