We Adopted a Stray Kitten But Now She's at the Vet

 Two weeks ago, my brother said a little kitten followed him home from the village gate, which is a few blocks away from our house. Since he's very fond of taking care of cats and he currently has more than 5 under his care, he allowed the Calico kitten to follow him. Once they reached home, he gave the kitten some water, food, and shelter so she could rest. We named the kitten, Maple. 

To be honest, the kitten didn't look healthy. We thought that feeding her and letting her rest were good enough. As days passed, we noticed her ears were unclean and thought she might have ear mites. After searching about ear mites on Google, we thought it could be life-threatening, so my sister, who is a cat lover, decided to take her to the vet. 

Please note that taking a pet to the vet is not cheap, so we don't just take pets to the vet out of the blue or whenever we feel like it. We have to prepare a budget first before going as we don't have a high income. 

The Initial Checkup

We told the vet to check Maple's ears because she could have ear mites. We also mentioned that she was a rescue cat, so we want to have her checked overall. The vet checked the ears and it was positive that she had ear mites according to the lab test. The vet prescribed some ear drops for the ear mites, clean her ears every day, and gave her some vitamins. She also mentioned letting her take a bath to help with the scabs. 

So we did everything religiously as prescribed by the vet. 

Changes After the Checkup

So we did what the vet said - the daily ear drops for the ear mites, cleaning the ears, giving her wet food with vitamins. We also placed a collar on her so she won't scratch her ears. Everything was in order. 

Maple on her 4th day of 
ear mite treatment. :( 

On the second day of treatment, we noticed she was always alone and isolated from other cats. I also noticed that she was eating less than before. We thought it was a normal side-effect of her having a cone and the ear mite treatment so we let it slide. 

On the 3rd day, we decided to give her a bath because the doctor also advised it to get rid of possible lice. Giving her a bath was very difficult because she hated the water. She was really fighting it, even if the water was warm. So multiple scratches later, we smanaged to finish bathing her. 

After Bathing...

Maple slept for long hours. She did not eat. She drank water, but she would vomit it up. She did not eat for more than 12 hours already. She had watery stool more than 5 times in a day. My sister was alarmed. We didn't know what to do, so we took her back to the vet the day after. 

Back to the Vet

Maple before going to the vet :( 

We explained everything to the new vet who was assigned that day. She looked older than the first vet we had, and she also sounded more experienced and more knowledgeable. She explained to us that since Maple was a rescue kitten, she could have had a sickness that's already inside her, and the symptoms are starting to show. The vet also checked her teeth and we discovered that some of her teeth were deteriorating, making her eat in discomfort.  

Maple would need blood testing, stool testing, and others just to check what she has. In the meantime, she will be confined for 3 days in the vet office so they can monitor her vitals. Our priority is to get her immune system healthy. 

Realizations When Adopting a Stray Kitten

Here are two things that we have realized after all that's happened. 

• First, we should have taken her to the vet as soon as possible to check her overall health—whether she's infected with an illness or whether she has skin conditions, etc. 
  
  
• Secondly, we should have been clear to the vet that she was a stray kitten (although we did mention it), so blood testing was essential, or any other tests that could tell if she has other illnesses aside from ear mites. 

Maple is currently confined. I'll post an update once she's home.