Jelly succumbs to the worms

Jelly just passed away about an hour ago.  I am devastated but it is not totally unexpected.  Her body was not able to fight off the worms and the infection.

Since Thursday, she was already on an antibiotic, specially for the gut.  She was also dewormed.  The surprising thing is that her appetite was good, yet she was losing weight and losing condition quite drastically.

I had been feeding her round the clock since then, and she became better yesterday evening.  Her stools were well-formed and she was gaining back some life in her.  Things were looking up. 

However, by nightfall, she suddenly started shooting blackish diarrhoea.  In the evening, I had rushed Butter to the vet for an evaluation and was told I should rest his gut since Butter was also shooting watery diarrhoea.  But resting the gut of such a young kitten is compromising on nutrition and lack of nutrition kills. 

It is just so hard with kittens.  Their immune system is immature and they go down so easily.

So I fed both of them glucose water to prevent hypoglycemia round the clock until about 2am when Jelly's condition deteriorated badly.  I then rushed them both to the PJ vet which takes emergencies. 

The vet came in at 3am, examined them both and said they were still quite perky and there was no need to admit them or put them on drips.  However, when she examined their stools, Jelly STILL had a lot of hookworms and roundworms.  This was surprising because Jelly was just dewormed two days ago.  The vet dewormed her again.  Butter's stools had no worms at all. 

The vet then gave both of them subcutaneous fluids and said I should just continue giving the glucose water until the clinic re-opens again this morning when I should bring them in for a blood test.  The vet suspected parvo virus since both were having diarrhoea.

So I brought them home and settled them in to sleep, but still feeding them the regular glucose water.  At about 4.30am, Jelly started making a lot of noise.  I didn't know how else to comfort her except to put her on my chest and hold her close. 

By this morning, Jelly looked really bad, so I started giving her ID at 8.45am.  She ate heartily, and perked up again. 

At 10am, I took both to the vet, and the vet said there was nothing more they could do for Jelly as she was fast fading.  The blood test revealed that it was not parvo virus, but a bacterial infection coupled with her worm problem.  Looked like the antibiotic was not quite helping the infection.  The vet said we had already done everything possible - the antibiotic to address the infection, the glucose water to keep up hydration and the regular feedings which she took heartily.  Her body just could not fight the worms or the infection.

I was told to take both of them back and continue doing everything I was doing, and just hope for the best, but all three vets said Jelly was fast fading.  Butter has a better chance at recovery, but it would still depend on his own body. 

I drove home with a heavy heart, but I wasn't about to give up.  After getting home, I settled Jelly in, and she seemed to asked for food.  I gave her a bit.

Just as I left the room, my daughter called me back in, and showed me a lifeless Jelly. 

Jelly passed away the moment I left the room. 

May she be in a better existence now.