Found Kitty - Very malnutritioned

[esheaman]

My daughter found a kitty on her way to school. She kept telling me it was really skinny and was kind of limping like it was hurt. The next day we went to look for it. I was apalled. This cat was literally skin and bones and was limping. We carried her home and she didn't fight us.

She moves very slowly. Like I said she is literally skin and bones. Her backbone comes out about 1 1/2 inches when she bends over to eat. Her head is very out of proportion to her body - huge. Her claws are very long. Her legs are thin. She limps when she walks. Her breathing is seems labored and is shallow. Her fur is kind of greasy but I think this is from laying under cars.

We are feeding her moist cat food - small amounts at a time so she won't get sick, and giving her kitty milk. The first time we fed her, she was literally gulping the food down. Since then she eats a little more calmly - and chews even! She eats well, and has been drinking the milk.

She will walk about 2 feet at a time, then stop and sit. Sometimes she will move more than that. She doesn't move her tail, which I thought was kind of odd. She can jump out of a box, and climb stairs.

Money is kind of thin in our house, so I don't want to rush her off to the vet and incur a huge bill. We are trying to nurse her back to health and fatten her up a little at a time to see if that is the only problem.

With the symptoms I mentioned, does it seem that she is sick? or just malnutrioned? Are there other things I should watch for?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[gurl2005bby]

You really need to take a kitten to a vet... Because there could be so many things that was wrong with kitten... She might have possibly have a broken leg and all kind of things with lung problem..

But you need to take her to vet because kitten can go downhill fast... But to answer your question yes she is sick and malnutrioned...

But we cant say what it is since we are not vet or vet tech... There is alot of vets that will do payments or you can do care credit (tambrey can give you a web site) But I really hope you can call the vet and just explain to them about your situation and you can be surprised what they can help and if you really cant take care for a kitten, You can give it to someone who can take care of kitten even we know you care for it...

So there will be someone who can help you more then what i can...

[Catastrophe]

Talk to your local rescue organizations. I know ours takes sick and pregnant cats no matter what before healthy cats.

They will have a vet evaluate it and if it is "just" malnourished. Depending on the age there could be some complications from the malnourishment that they can better take care of.

And of course, if the cat is really ill they will know how to handle that too!

Good luck!

[Cleo]

We can't and don't diagnose on this site. We can just offer advice and proper direction. That being said, my advice would be to get this cat to the vet for a full evaluation. The cat needs to be tested for disease, probably treated for fleas and worms. Make a few calls and find a vet who will take a payment plan if money is tight.

Good luck.

[Tina B and crew]

I'll agree a vet visit is the only way to go as this cat could have numerous problems. I'd hold off on the milk since most cats can't tolerate it....like others have said, call around to see what you can arrange. Let us know how things go..

[esheaman]

Thank you all so much. I think I will get in touch with one of the rescue missions around here. I wouldn't mind keeping her. She has a very sweet disposition. We have two other cats though, and I want to make sure she is healthy.

[MJ]

I would be very very concerned about diseases with this cat... A lot of the health problems it has could be caused by serious diseases, or a serious disease could have been contracted more easily because of the kitty's poor health.

If you have any other animals I would be especially concerned.

There's definitely no guarantee you can help this cat without a vet. It may need medicine, or it may be terminally ill.

I know it sucks to be broke... And vet bills hurt... I've wrestled with taking my cats to the vet a lot of times... But if you want to save such a sick cat... It really needs to go to a vet. Maybe you can find an organization that will help you for free or reduced fees... but it needs to be done even if not.

[Tina B and crew]

I hope you are keeping this cat seperate from your other cats....

[esheaman]

I hope you are keeping this cat seperate from your other cats....

Yes, we have her in the garage away from the other 2 cats. She seems very content there. She has a litter box and food there as well. We have been very diligent about washing our hands after handling her as well.

[Tina B and crew]

good for you and kudos for taking this kitty in and wanting to help her. Do let us know what happens when you call the rescue mission