The vet discussed Juno’s slow weight gain with me today. That’s when I plucked up courage to ask if Juno might be afflicted with lymphoma and she said no. What a relief.
But Juno might have some underlying undetected medical issues which may be congenital in nature.
Even though Juno has tested negative for FIV twice now, there is still a chance that she might be FIV+ because the FIV test is an antibody test and sometimes it takes time for the antibodies to develop. But for FeLV, which she also tested negative twice, it is confirmed she doesn’t have it as it’s an antigen test.
Antigen vs antibody: the basics
An antigen is any substance that prompts your body to trigger an immune response against it. Antigens include allergens, bacteria and viruses. Antibodies are Y-shaped proteins that the body produces when it detects antigens. Antibodies are produced by immune cells called B cells.
The above explains it well.
The vet also mentioned the fading kitten syndrome.
Fading kitten syndrome refers to a kitten’s failure to thrive during the period between birth and when they wean from their mother or a bottle. This period lasts about four to five weeks, when a kitten is most vulnerable to sickness.
Fading kitten syndrome is typically fatal, but recognizing the symptoms can help you to understand when to get veterinary help.
More: https://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/fading-kitten-syndrome
But then again, the fading kitten syndrome usually happens to newborns to around one month old. Juno is estimated to be around three months old now. So let’s hope it isn’t this although the inability to gain weight is a symptom.
Juno was gaining weight very well after she was rescued. The slowdown only happened after the first vaccination and maybe 1-2 weeks after that. She hovered around 1.3kg to 1.4kg without the leaps and bounds which we observed earlier.
Perhaps like human children, kittens also grow in spurts?
Let her overcome this gut infection first and we shall work on this.
Her second vaccination would have to be delayed now because of this terrible gut infection. It’s supposed to be due this Sunday but the vet says to postpone it until she has fully recovered from this infection. If that’s much later, then we might have to repeat the whole vaccination schedule again.
Photos taken this afternoon.
I will definitely put her on RC Kitten kibble or any kitten kibble she likes for now until she turns 6 months old. This coccidia infection has really frightened me so much. I’ve never experienced it before.