Scary

Yesterday took a definite turn for the worse a couple hours after this shot. Here is Skeeter on top of the world, or at least the scratching post (thank you Stacy - the kittens love it!). Very shortly afterward he started vomiting, and rapidly became dehydrated and lethargic. It's scary how fast kittens can go bad, especially these little runts.

Fortunately, he responded to a couple of boluses of SQ fluid, and didn't have signs or tests that suggested an infectious process. I think the most likely culprit is that the food and formula he was getting to try to put some meat on those skinny bones was too rich for him, and once he started vomiting he just got too behind on his fluid status and went belly up, as it were.

Can you imagine what might have happened if he was really sick? I think one of the first important lessons folks who foster kittens, especially orphans, learn is to trust that gut instinct that when a kitten looks bad, don't wait. Get help. Bad things can happen unexpectedly rapidly.

Today the littlest Johnsons are eating well and playing up a storm, just like yesterday morning. Maybe yesterday efternoon and evening were just a bad dream.