Not Rocket Science

This is Jenny, one of our excellent nurses, with a kitten we'd like to call Lazarus - perhaps just "Laz."

The kitten has been an orphan since about 2 weeks of age - he's now around 6 weeks but is very stunted, weighing about the weight of a normal kitten half his age. He was brought in moribund, showing agonal breathing, so we all thought he was bound to die. At that time rectal temperature was 32.1oC (normal for an adult cat is around 38.5oC, kittens are often slightly lower but should be at least 37.5oC), heart rate was 40 beats a minute (normal is certainly > 200, probably more like 250), breathing rate was very low (I only counted 4 deep gasps in the first minute, most normal cats have a respiratory rate around 25-40 breaths a minute but it can be hard to count the breathing of a normal cat because they usually seem to make so little effort).

Nothing ventured ...

I gave the kitten some 50% glucose into the peritoneum (body cavity) - he was too small and far too ill to try to find a vein. Started him on oxygen (via a little face mask) and started to warm him up. This is precisely the way I used to try to revive orphan lambs when I worked on a farm. Indeed it's the same sort of approach James Herriot would've used 80 years ago... We also gave some sterile fluids under the skin.

The kitten gradually revived, miraculously.

Within 30 minutes heart rate had risen to around 100bpm, breathing rate to about 15 a minute and body temperature had climbed to about 35oC.

This picture; taken with Jenny, who was nursing him, shows the kitten (shall I call him Laz?) about 90 minutes after he was first brought in. Soon after this picture was taken Laz started to eat. When I left the practice 5 hours later he was having a nap, but he looked like he would survive the night.

I hope he does.

Jenny, the other nurses, and I, have invested a lot of effort into this wee creature. If he lives we'll all be delighted.