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1338123 tn?1275858857

kitten shaken

My son shook a kitten we have and now she is scared and will not look at you in the face and when you try to pick her up she hisses at you. The color of her eyes look crackled. Is there a such thing as kitten shaken syndrome? Will she grow out of this?What can we do?


Thanks,
Nikki
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996946 tn?1503249112
Dressing our cats up in doll clothes......boy, does that ever bring back memories.  We even gave them milk in a doll bottle, rocked them to sleep and strolled them around....when they didn't jump out...in a doll baby carriage.  Funny...the cats/kittens usually went along with it.  We thought they liked it, lol
Helpful - 0
1301089 tn?1290666571
Nothing much to add but want to reiterate "Get that Kitty to the Vet!!"  Tomorrow morning!

How old is your son?  A very small child may not realize that it's not a doll.  Is he old enough to know the difference?  I'm sure he didn't mean to harm the kitty but just needs some instruction.  I had kittens around my children.  After explaining in language they could understand, the worst that happened was being dressed in doll clothes and taken for a ride around the house in a baby buggy!   I did tell her not to dress up kitty again. So they definitely can learn.
Helpful - 0
587315 tn?1333552783
I totally agree w/ PIP, the kitten needs to go to a vet ASAP!  The shaken baby syndrome you're referring to, is brain damage.....this is very possible with your kitten.  Animals should ALWAYS be supervised around young kids to avoid either kid or animal from getting hurt.

Let's pray that this is not a serious injury.
Helpful - 0
996946 tn?1503249112
That poor baby, she may indeed have a concussion or worse.  I really think you should have her checked out by a vet.  They can better evaluate her condition. Like Pip said, it will take her awhile to regain trust.  Is your son a young child who didn't understand the consequences?  If he's older then you need to find out what is going on inside his head to do something so mean.  And you need to take the responsibility of making sure that kitten is in a safe place. I'm glad you wrote because it shows you do care about the kitten and are interested in it's welfare.
Helpful - 0
506791 tn?1439842983
Hey Nikki;

Definitely, if it looks like something is wrong physically, get her to a vet.  Like a young human, kitty is still growing and her bones (head, neck, body and limbs) are not fully developed, neither is her nervous system, including the brain.

It is quite possible that she suffered a sort of "shaken baby" injury.  The condition of her eyes is not something with which I am familiar, but it doesn't read good.

As for the fear, that can be overcome with persistent and gentle kindness.

That is how, over the course of a year, my wife and I re-socialized a 10 1/2 year old, formerly abused feral cats that the previous folks had been kind to, but had done anything but give her a safe haven.

When Teia first joined our household, she'd hiss at us, growl at the other cats, hide, wouldn't eat or drink when we were around...

Now, she sits by her plate waiting at meal times, rubs against our shins, lets me pick her up, purrs, plays and is even forming a friendship with one of the other cats.

With a kitten, the one incident should take much less time to overcome.

With your son, he must be shown that these little animals are our guests and wards within our care.  That we must never life a violent hand to a member of our family, human or animal.

Take care - Pip
Helpful - 0
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