My SHS fosters (part 3) ~ What's wrong?

To read this story from the beginning click here.

To read the previous installment click here.

As the kittens continued to grow I started to notice that Deanna was not flourishing like the other kittens. I payed her special attention and fed her extra, but something was still off. She began to have a head tilt so I brought her to see the Vet. They gave her an antibiotic for a possible infection that may cause this. 

Deanna before getting sick

Deanna was a good little girl and took her medicine with out any issues. She continued to want to eat and had a playful streak. I was hopeful that she may get better, but she instead continued to worsen.
My Vet was very realistic with me and let me know from the get go that what ever was going wrong with her was not going to end well. I went into treating her knowing that I was not guaranteed success.  

Deanna's head tilt was getting worse.

I continued to treat her at home with the recommended medications, and I hand fed her because it was getting hard for her to be able to latch on to her mother because she was so disoriented. She still wanted to eat, but she was very weak and getting worse by the day. When she walked she was starting to circle and fall down. It broke my heart to see her like this and know that there was nothing that I could do to stop it. 

I took her to the vet again even though I knew that there was not much else they could do. They ran some more tests and found that she was very anemic (low blood count) and that her blood sugar was very very low. Her body temperature was low too. I was given two options: I could euthanize her, or give her a last ditch effort treatment. I chose not to euthanize her. I know that I probably should have, but I wanted so badly for her to make it I gave her one more chance to live. The doctor gave her the treatment and I wrapped her up with a heating pad and took her home.

I fed her some dinner and let her sleep in a basket with a hot water bottle in it on my bed that night. I woke up sometime in the wee hours of the morning to check on her only to find her tiny body was cold and stiff. She was gone. I felt like I had failed her. At that very moment the world felt very cruel. Here was this tiny lifeless body that just a week or so ago seemed healthy, and now it was just an empty shell that once housed a loving and bright spirited kitten. I had only known her for a few weeks, but I would carry that little kitten in my heart for the rest of my life.

To read more about my foster kittens look for the next installment titled:

Kahless too