Conference misery::feline_v1

    I think you should consider taking her to a specialist, to find out
    exactly what's wrong with the legs (xrays, etc.) and what the prognosis
    is.  Possibly a temporary splint might help, or a partial amputation of
    both legs would give her mobility, or.....  Perhaps she could walk with
    a (temporary or permanent) brace on the better leg.
    

    I've heard that a test done prior to 4 months isn't a true test. I've
    researched this, as my cats were tested before they were 4 months. My
    vet, (and others too) says that this is untrue. It is not suggested
    that you DRAW blood from a cat that is less than four months old. But
    if you CAN draw enough blood to do the test, the test is as accurate
    as any feluk test. In my case, we HAD to take the blood from Callie
    before she was 4 months. She was going into a house where we already
    had one cat, and I would NEVER expose them to each other w/o being sure
    first.
    
    I think that what you are doing is courageous & very sweet. I lived
    next door to a family who's cat had what this sounds like. It's front
    paws were both bent in, but couldn't be bent back out. The cat walked
    on its elbows and lived a pretty normal life INDOORS. I don't blame
    them for keeping it in, it could become prey to almost any animal.
    
    It sounds like you know the difference between keeping the cat alive
    for THE CAT, and keeping it alive FOR YOU. That's the most important
    part, IMO.
    
    Best of luck, and keep us posted!
    Bonnie

    Don't know if this will help you but, Miss Flea was born in a dumpster
    in Marlborough, MA.  She had three deformed feet, she was able to walk
    but her legs and paws were weak.  She was hit by a car at 6 months and
    thanks to a great vet she recovered and spent the rest of her 8 years 
    without a hip joint.  Cats are increadible creatures.  
    
    IF YOU ARE IN THE US.
    
    Our vet at the time was Dr. Peduzzi, now at 5 High Street, Hudson, MA.  
    In your position I would try the Angel Memorial Animal Hospital
    in Boston, MA, or the nearest university teaching animal hospital.  The 
    kitten is young enough that correction, if at all possible, should be 
    effective.
                                                         

    Poor little kitten.  If you plan on keeping her for the rest of her
    life, then I'd try the specialists' route, if you cannot keep her, I'd
    think about having her put to sleep, much kinder than leaving her to
    "this one" or "that one"; she'll need lots of TLC (and understanding) for
    the rest of her life -- not everyone is equipped to deal with this.
    
    Best,
    Romy
                            

if she can learn to walk on three legs, and all three legs are strong, then
she has a chance of a happy life.  In the event that the other front leg is
not healthy, or "fixable", the kindest thing to do is euthanasia...I know,
it is hard to make such decisions - and it seems so unfair to be forced to
when all you want to do is be kind, but the kitten will not be able to help
herself if at least one front leg won't support her.  I think it is imperative
that you find out NOW as the longer you wait - the harder the final decision
will be.  Good luck to you both.

    Sounds like it might be clubfooted in which case the vet setting a
    splint on it (especially at such an early age when healing can be
    easier) might do the trick of straigtening out the foot.  I knew of a
    kitten (a long time ago) that was born with both front legs clubfooted
    and the vet suggested breaking and resetting those legs and it worked
    for that kitten who grew up and lived to be 10.  
    
    Pat_who_is_owned_by_a_crippled_cat_but_not_the_one_mentioned_above.
    

    I spent some time with my leg in a cast as an infant because my
    foot was born turned inward.  I can't tell you which leg it was
    cause they corrected it 100%.  I think the cast might be worth
    a try.
    
    IMHO - its MUCH too early to even consider euthanasia.
      Nancy DC

    I have thought of your situation a dozen -at least- since you entered
    this note. Not seeing your kitten it is hard for me to make any
    comparison between her and one of my cats,  Dory. But about Dory-
    she was born with "defective" hind legs. The knees in both legs would
    lock (actually I guess they slipped) but Dory would be rendered
    totally unable to move. Her back legs would rise outward behind her and
    she would balance on her front legs. She also would cry in pain. This
    is how my local humane society came upon her. I was asked to care for
    her until the vet could give her an operation to help her out. So I
    did- but during the operation she threw a blood clot in on leg and then
    she couldn't walk at all! But some feeling eventually returned and she
    started walking on the top of her foot - wearing the hair and skin off
    (which sounds like your little one) and eventually starting to bleed.
    Well, I worked with her (physical therapy) and with the vet and eventually
    she overcame her handicap. She can never go out, she misses the litter 
    box alot, - but SHE thinks she is just fine. Anyone who sees her knows 
    immediately that she is handicapped - but since she feels no pain now -Dory
    thinks she can do what my other cats can do. She has adapted to her 
    handicap.
    
    I guess the whole point of this story is- if you think she can overcome
    her handicap to a point where she has a good quality of life altho it
    may not be the typical life of a cat, if she feels no pain, if YOU can 
    live with her problem, and if you are committed to keeping her entire 
    life, then maybe she has entered your life for a reason. Dory has
    taught me patience; to look beyond the obvious and see what qualities lie
    inside a living creature. Cats like these require alot of work, but you
    can learn alot and feel good too. Also- they give back ALOT of love.
    Pat
     
    

    Gee, Pat, I wish I'd written that!!  Being Mom to 5 month old Beth,
    who's 99% blind, has been a real eye-opener (no pun intended) to me. 
    Beth may be blind, but don't tell her that!  When she was much younger
    (not that 5 months is an old timer!), her blindness was a handicap. 
    She was afraid of going down stairs, and she was constantly bumping
    into everything that moved and didn't move.  Now, she's refined her
    prowling skills and if you were to come into my house and she her
    running all over the place, you'd never suspect she's "handicapped".  I
    doubt she thinks she's handicapped at all.  
    
    Good luck with your little one...keep us posted!
    
    Mary

Thanks for the replies.  We're still not sure what's going to happen with 
her.  We may be taking some x-rays next weekend, so hopefully that will 
help us finally make a decision.  I'll also talk to the vet about seeing a 
specialist.

I've started mixing some canned cat food with the KMR.  I'll gradually 
increase the proportion of canned food until she's weaned from the KMR.  We 
started litterbox training this weekend and she's doing OK.  She uses the 
box if I happen to catch her starting to go, but she's still going on her 
bedding if I'm not there.  How long does it usually take before they're 
fully trained?

She had a little cold when I first got her and the vet put her on
Amoxycillin.  When that gave her diarrhea the vet said to stop the Amoxy.
The diarrhea is almost gone but now her cold is back even worse.  I've got
a call into the vet to see if I should start her back on the Amoxy.  I'm
hoping where she's getting some solid food into her now the diarrhea won't
come back. 

I can't believe how much she's grown in just a week!  She stays awake for 
longer periods of time and she's gotten very playful.  She loves to roll 
over on her back so I can tickle her tummy while she tries to bite and kick 
at my fingers.  She's starting to clean herself - right now she can only 
reach her toes and a small area of her chest.  She's running around as best 
as she can and she's attacking and biting everything in sight!

Thanks for all your support and I'll keep you posted.

Paula

    There are a couple of things you can do for the diarrhea/cold problem. 
    You can add some yogurt to her diet to help put back the good bacteria
    (that the antibiotic probably killed, causing the diarrhea), or you
    could put her on medication to help the diarrhea too.  But, if she has
    an upper respiratory, she needs to be on something due to her age. 
    URI's can quickly become life threatening in a young kitten.  Talk to
    your vet about it.
    
    Also, the KMR could be aggravating the diarrhea even more.  Getting her
    on solid foods might help.  Try mixing cottage cheese into her baby
    food, that will also help with diarrhea.
    
    Jo

    How are you and your kitten doing?
    Pat
    

RE: .12

Pat, you must be psychic.  We were taking x-rays at the vets office when 
you entered your note.

Basically, there's nothing that can be done for her.  The problem is with 
the radius, which is one of the major bones in the forearm.  It's too short 
in her left arm, and it's completely missing from her right arm.  Also, 
there's a bunch of little bones that are missing from both wrist areas.  
But the vet feels that where she's otherwise healthy and she's getting 
around well, that we should wait and see how she develops.  The left leg 
may become strong enough to compensate for the deformities.  On the other 
hand it may not, in which case I'd have to think about euthanizing her at 
that point.  Everything's just so iffy.  I can't stand the thought of 
seeing her grow up, getting even more attached, (if that's even possible) 
and then having to put her down.  But how can I put her down now, knowing 
she could live a long, pain-free life?  I don't know if I can be objective 
about this any more.  

You can't convince her there's something wrong with her legs.  She comes
running toward me when I open her door in the morning and tries to climb my
legs.  Sometimes she'll get that wide-eyed look, flatten her ears back and
charge at whatever's in her way.  She acts like a normal little kitten.

The diarrhea and the URI are almost gone - she's on a pill (Albon) for the
diarrhea and Amoxy for the cold.  I tried the yogurt suggestion and that
seemed to help also.  She's completely litter trained and she's almost 
weaned from the KMR.  She's come such a long way in a short time.

Paula

      Yaaa!!  Great to hear she is doing so well.  She sounds so full of
    life.  She surely must have the will to live and be as normal as
    possible.  Animals can amaze us sometimes with how well they can adapt
    to obstacles that seem so overwhelming.  She'll find ways to compensate
    for her problems and get stronger.  It is so noble of you to do all you
    have for her and give her a chance at love and life.
    
     Denise and the gang of 11

My supervisor found the momcat and the rest of the litter last week.  There
are four more kittens and they're all living in her barn.  Pam has seen the
mom around in the past and she's sure she's a stray.  Unfortunately, one of
these kittens also has a problem with her front legs.  Her problem seems to
be more with her upper arm or shoulder as she can't really stretch the legs
forward.  But her forearms go out straight, rather than curve in like my
little one.  The other three seem perfectly normal and healthy.  They're
about five weeks old now, but the momma is keeping them in a box that they
can't get out of, so they're getting virtually no exercise.  So we'd like
to find homes for them as soon as possible.  Pam has been handling them all
so they're very good with people.  She's keeping one kitten, but will be
bringing the rest to a shelter if they're not placed in a couple of weeks. 
I have my hands full with the one I took, not to mention my other two who
are not amused with the little stranger.  Here's a description of the
family: 

Momma is an all black longhair with a little spot of white on her neck and 
bright yellow eyes.  Pam suspects she's only a baby herself, maybe a year 
or so old.  She's gotten more affectionate to Pam as she's gotten used to 
her.  She's even gotten better about letting Pam handle the kittens.  I 
think with a little bit of time and patience, she'll turn into a wonderful 
pet.  I would be willing to help with the cost of spaying.

Male - charcoal longhair - a bit shy
Female - shorthair - black with faint tabby markings - probably the 
	 friendliest of the bunch.
Female - gray and black longhair, with white paws (this is the one with the 
	 defected paws, but she gets around just fine).  She's definitely 
	 the prettiest.

I live in Manchester, NH and work in Tewksbury, MA and would be willing to 
deliver within a reasonable distance.  Please contact me at 247-2395 or 
SASE::MORRIS if interested in any of these kitties.

Thanks,
Paula

    Perhaps some sort of prosthesis could be made for this little one
    when she's old enough.  I'm certain there is some creative soul out
    there.  
      N
    

Just wanted to update everyone on what's been happening with the kitties.
Pam was able to find a shelter that would take Momma kitty, spay her and
keep her until she's adopted.  All the kittens found wonderful homes, even
the other kitten with paw problems!  I get updates periodically and they're
all doing fine. 

We're keeping the first kitten and we've named her Bandit, although we
sometimes think we should have named her Terror :-) Despite her handicap,
she's running and jumping all over the place and even starting to climb the
cat tree!  We had her tested for Leukemia last week which turned out
negative.  So this weekend we introduced her to her new big sisters,
Snuggles and Peaches. Things were pretty tense at first, Snuggles kept her
distance, but Peaches acted like she wanted to kill her!  But as the
weekend progressed, things calmed down and we were able to play with all of
them at the same time.  I think Peaches is even starting to initiate
playtime with her.  When she knows Bandit's looking, she'll go to the top
perch of their cat tree (about 4 1/2 ft high) and sort of hang over the
edge like she's daring Bandit to go up after her.  Bandit will stare back
at her from the bottom and climb the tree to the first landing.  Then
she'll start climbing again until Peaches is able to give her a good bop on
the head.  Bandit jumps to the bottom and they start their game all over
again.  There are still times, though, that the older ones hiss and swat at
her.  So I'm hoping in time they'll all be best buddies. 

The only problem we're having with her is her biting.  You can't touch her
or pick her up without her literally *attacking* your hand.  We firmly say
NO and are starting to use the spray bottle, but it's not helping much.
We've never played with her with our hands either, so I'm not even sure
where this is coming from.  Is this just excess energy or do we have a big
problem?  Snuggles and Peaches never did this, so we're not sure how to
deal with it. 

I'll keep you posted on her progress. 

Paula 

    That biting thing is a toughie. I don't know if I would counteract
    undesirable behavior w/ more undesirable behavior. It's kind of like
    saying "Be nice to me, you jerk!" On the other hand, you don't want 
    to encourage it either. Do you suppose that she could be in some sort
    of pain? Some cats just don't like to be touched/held when they are
    excited, they can't handle all of the excitement & they just get a
    little rough. Does she let you hold/touch her when she's sleeepy (more
    vulnerable?)  She may just need some time to adjust & gain trust in
    you. It does sound like things are going rather smoothly so far, tho.
    
    Please keep us posted on the critter!
    
    Bonnie

    She may be teething.  Kittens teeth at 5-6 weeks, and again at about 5
    months.  If it is teething, she is chewing and biting to relieve the
    pain.  Be consistent about discouraging the behavior now, so that it
    doesn't become a habit later on.
    
    Jo

    Actually, she makes it well known when she DOES want to be petted. 
    When she gets sleepy she'll cry to be picked up and if she's on your
    lap and you stop petting her, she'll cry for you to start again.  But
    any other time, forget it.  She's also bitten my nose, ear and lip, so
    we have to be really careful around her.  The aggravating thing is,
    when we say NO or squirt her, she gets even madder and attacks even
    harder.  One time she was absolutely soaked and she still tried to
    attack.  I just wish I knew WHY she does it.  We found her when she was
    2 weeks old and she was doing it then!  We're going to try isolating
    her when she does it, but I have a feeling it won't help.  Hopefully
    her big sisters will start teaching her some manners!
    
    Thanks,
    Paula

    re: .19
    
    We hoped at first it was just teething, but when it continued for weeks
    we knew we had a problem.  Uh oh, what will she be like during her next
    teething time? :-}

    That's what I was talking about w/ the spray bottle, my kids would 
    just get crazier if I used one on them. I'm lucky enough to have
    compassionate cats tho. Really, it's kind of funny. If one of them is 
    playing to rough, I just say "Ouch!" and they chill out!
    
    I think I'd try telling the cat "NO! THAT HURTS!" and push it away
    (lightly) act like you don't want to have anything to do w/ it if it's
    going to be rough. This may sound silly, but it works for me. If I want
    to be all lovey-mushy and the cat doesn't, she just acts like she
    doesn't want anything to do w/ me & it works on me. Hissing works too!
    
    Bon