Nursing emaciated and dehydrated cat back to health

[Gudrun]

Hello! I have one cat left in my feral cat colony, a small 2 year old female. She was the only one who didn't want to move inside with me after recovering from trap-neuter-return, so she lives a spoiled life outside as a pampered feral kitty who is pretty friendly once she knows you. Unfortunatly, about 2 weeks ago she stopped coming by to eat, and stopped sleeping in her little house. Today I found out that what happened was the elderly couple next door shut their garage door while she was playing in their garage, the door broke, and they couldn't let her out. They would hear her crying, and go in to look for her, but she'd hide as soon as the door opened, so they were never sure if she was really in there or not and didn't put out any food or water. I managed to discover her, they let me in and I was able to catch her and bring her home in a carrier, and although emaciated (her spine and hips can now be felt right under her skin, but she still has some weight around her tummy) and a bit dehydrated she seems to be doing just fine. She's never been so happy and affectionate, and she's happy to be inside right now because she longs for companionship so much. So unless she shows signs of lethargy or liver failure I think we're just going to nurse her back to health indoors until she seems like she wants to go back outside. Am I better off feeding her regular dry food or special canned food for kittens/reproduction? And do I need to limit her food intake at all as long as she isn't throwing up? Is there anything I should really be on the watch for so I know if I need to take her to the vet for emergency sub-q fluids or an IV? Any help is appreciated.

[Traci]

You would be taking a risk by a "wait and see" approach...since you mentioned two weeks here, I wouldn't wait another minute. Get kitty to your vet for a complete examination and at least a CBC and test liver enzyme levels. The drastic weight loss and dehydration coupled with with no food and water for an unknown number of days is every reason to get her evaluated ASAP. Liver damage could already have occured and if you wait or naturally assume she can recover with minimal support, she could fail quite rapidly, the extent of the damage could be irreversible, don't take that risk.