10/13/2026
🚨⚠️KITTEN HAS BEEN ADOPTED⚠️🚨
🚨⚠️ Is no longer in my care ⚠️🚨
🚨⚠️ DO NOT MESSAGE ME ABOUT THIS KITTEN ⚠️🚨
I am NOT a breeder and firmly DO NOT condone the breeding of ANY cats as long as there are thousands of wonderfully furred cats suffering and remain homeless on our local streets.
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Two weeks ago, I received a message asking for help on behalf of a kitten who had been purchased through a backyard breeder advertising on Kijiji, who was located in Kitchener. The individual who messaged me said that two Sphinx kittens had been purchased by a family member ten days prior but one had already died and the second one wasn't doing well. I told them that they could surrender the kitten and drop off at my vet clinic.
The kitten was dropped off an hour later and once the kitten had been examined, my vet called me to say that the kitten had an extremely poor prognosis. She was emaciated to her bones, her temperature wasn't even reading to the digital thermometer, which means less than 32.0°C (89.6°F), thus she was hypothermic. She was severely dehydrated, hypoglycemic, her resp rate was 22 and her heartrate at 50. The blood work showed an elevated BUN, which indicated kidney issues and an alarmingly high WBC, which meant infection.
The vet's clinic note described the kitten as: MORIBUND.
Moribund is an adjective that means approaching death, in a dying state, or completely lacking vitality, activity, and force.
As is customary, with these types of calls, the vet asked me what I wanted to do and I replied, please try and save her.
Over the next five or six days, this tiny kitten was given intensive care around the clock. The team at Clearwater took care of her during the day and I took her home at night. The infection she was fighting was GI in nature and since she was skeletal, she was unable to maintain a regular body temperature unless a heating pad was wrapped around her.
She was given antibiotics to fight the infection, but her temperature was of most concern because a hypothermic kitten shuts down their digestive tract, causes them to lose their swallowing reflex, which can then lead to fatal bloating, aspiration, or intestinal death.
I found some cozy socks donated for the auction, which I cut holes in so she could wear as a sweater. The socks did a great job of helping to keep her warm when she wanted to move around to eat or use the litter box. Thank you Mandy!!
I'm happy to say that by the tenth day, the vet was happy with her progress and considered her stable.
By this time we had done all of our routine diagnostics as we do for all CARA cats and she tested negative for FIV/FeLV, but her f***l showed Giardia - not surprising since she was conceived, grown and sold as a commodity. I can't imagine that the conditions she was raised in were hygienic in any regard. I expect the mom and dad are both positive for this parasite also.
The kitten has now been adopted by someone I know personally and fully trust and is no longer in my care.
There are several lessons which can be learned from this situation:
LESSON 1️⃣:
STOP buying cats from losers on the internet!!! If there wasn't a market for backyard breeders, they'd stop doing it!!
LESSON 2️⃣:
When you take an obviously sick cat or kitten to the vet, and after the veterinarian finishes their examination and takes the cat's history, and the vet recommends diagnostics, do at least ONE of the recommended tests! And if money is an issue, which it is for many, tell the vet you can afford only one test. Or how much you have available to spend.
I don't understand people who take their cats in for an exam and then expect the veterinarian to use their crystal ball to give you a diagnosis.
Had the purchaser of this kitten, who did take them to a vet clinic for help, but turned down all diagnostics, allowed just the CBC to be done, the extremely elevated WBC would have indicated that this kitten needed antibiotics. The antibiotics would have been administered. If other supportive care had been given, it is very likely this kitten wouldn't have required intensive life-saving care.
LESSON 3️⃣:
Mammals, ALL species, should never be fed when they are hypothermic! This means that humans MUST fight their base instincts to immediately feed every being they meet. This applies to wildlife AND domesticated animals. Safety and warmth are the most important factors for stabilization if you are rescuing or taking in any sick or injured animals.
I was told, but I cannot confirm this as fact, that the other littermates died also.
So this little female is one very lucky kitty!
My forever thanks goes to Dr. Jammu and his awesome team for saving yet another life! ❤️
