The first photo above shows a little kitten rescued by Devi just a few days ago. Devi did not know what was wrong. The kitten looked very pale and had refused to eat. So, Devi had been force-feeding him with glucose water. Today, when we saw this kitten, he looked really bad, so we immediately offered to take him to the vet.
The vet did a check of his faeces and found hookworms in it. Hookworm infection results in severe dehydration because the worms “hook” onto the intestines and suck whatever is there. Hence, the cat will not get any nutrition at all.
The vet said the first thing to do is to rehydrate the kitten, so he was put on drips. His temperature was also subnormal (only 33 degrees). He was already in shock.
At 6.30pm this evening, I text the vet, and he said the kitten was still very weak. And just a few minutes ago, the vet text to say the kitten had just passed away.
There are several lessons to be learnt here:
1. NEVER ever delay bringing to the vet when an animal is sick, especially young animals. We are not experts and we might not know what is wrong. Do not self-medicate either. We might sometimes do more harm than good.
2. Always, always deworm the animals after consultation with the vet. Worm infections can cause severe harm to the animals.
I had a friend who fostered four baby kittens which another friend had rescued once, but three of them passed away. It was also because of worms.
May this little kitten be in a more peaceful place now, free from suffering. We feel very sad that he could not be saved. But the important thing is that we did our best.
P.S. Recently a rescuer had been asking AnimalCare to supply her with medications for diarrhoea, flu, etc. for the animals that she feeds. We do not and we cannot do this, because none of us are vets. Even vets have to diagnose the illness before prescribing the proper medication. PLEASE do not self-medicate.
P.P.S I might as well clarify here that I am not a vet. Some people assume I am just because I like animals and I have the “Dr” in front of my name. I am a PhD holder in Mathematics Education (hence, the “Dr”), and I do not know anything about medicine (veterinary or human). I just love animals, and I started AnimalCare so that we can collectively do our best to save the animals.