Today was terrifying. at their 5am feed, all kittens were fine, ate well. At the next feed I noticed that F(The tortie female, now named Bailey) was unresponsive, limp and listless. I called for a drive from my dad, which wouldnt come for an hour but ended up going next door and getting a drive from the Super's husband, which was amazing of him.He drove me to a clinic which was closest but I had not been to before. Here, I have never been treated more poorly in my entire life.They took Bailey back and took her temperature, which was low, and tested her blood sugar, which was fine. They then brought me back and put me in the "consoling room" and the vet came in to speak with me. He abruptly, and in no uncertain terms told me she was dying, was going to die, and that I should euthanize now(though he had no idea what was wrong) and hope that all the others didn't need to be euthanized too. He gave no answers. Obviously I was devistated, and I wanted to wait till my dad got to the clinic so I could talk with him. Multiple times while I was holding my limp, unresponsive kitten he poked his head into the room to let me know he wanted to "get her euthanized so he could go into a booked surgery" he had for that day. After examining the kitten myself I noticed now that she was over 5 hours without feeding, she appeared dehydrated which I thought wouldnt help the situation, and called the vet in to ask him if I could get any other tests, as well as some sub-q fluids and tube feeding. He told me it was pointless, he needed me to euthanize now so he could get around to the surgery. I called my dad and told him I wanted to take Bailey to another clinic because I felt that this one was not interested in helping her and was too busy caring about something else. My dad finally got there, and the vet rushed into the room and told him, just as he had told me that he wanted to get the surgery done, and needed me to say I would euthanize now so he could do that. He also mentioned that he didnt want to do anythign else for her and he had no idea what was wrong. I guess a dying kitten takes more time than a dead one to deal with. mY dad told him we were taking the kitten home with us(which the vet sais was a bad idea, and we should just put hwer down now).We rushed to another clinic after paying, where the vet was very optimistic. He warmed her to temperature, took another blood sugar reading, tried bottle feeding her and then tube fed her when she suckled poorly. After a few minutes post sub-q and warmth, Bailey started to become more alert, and after the tube feeding she became moreso. He spent over an hour with me and the kitten, was great, as was his tech. They even did research to find out the best way to help her. After all was done he gave me latex gloves filled with warm water and gave me a blanket, then wrapped her up, laying out her tube feeding equiptment telling me she could go home now, but he would stay late so I could come back and get her tube fed again if needed.
Bailey is home now and walking around and climbing as though nothing happened. Hopefully she will continue to stay this way. I am so thankful that someone cared enough to give her a fighting chance instead of euthanzing for convenience.
