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My kitten died this morning, what to do about his brother?

8 replies

Infamy · 01/10/2019 16:50

My beautiful 5 month old rag doll kitten died in the night. I found him this morning and we have had the most awful day. We and the children are devastated. We all loved him so much.

They had both seen the vet on Thursday and were fit and we’ll. They were weighed and the one that died was smaller/ lighter and less hungry than his brother. They had spot on flea/wormer administered by the vet. The following day, the little one was sick and was v sleepy. We sought advised and were advised this was normal and to keep an eye. By Sunday he was his usual self.

Then this morning. There was no sign of trauma or injestion, he’d expelled from both ends and just died.

10 mins later, his brother was sick.

We took both to the vets - we took the children too; they were too distressed to go to school and thought it would be best to be open and honest and let them see what was happening.

The vets confirmed no trauma and said that they thought it was most likely to be a congenital heart condition. We have opted for a post mortem and will have the results this week.

This was in case his brother is affected too.

His brother was examined, found to have a slight temperature, has had bloods taken and is on anti bs. We’ll make decision about further testing and cardiac scan pending the outcome of his brother’s pm.

We are home now and surviving kitten is very lethargic and sleepy. Took him back to the vets in the afternoon as we are anxious and worried but they think he is ok.

They don’t think the flea treatment is an issue.

The kids are very sad and tearful but talking about him and having lots of cuddles so they will be ok in time. Not sure about us though.

Does anyone have any thoughts/ advice/ experience? Should we be panicking about his brother?

They are rag dolls and we used a registered breeder who we met, read reviews , met both parents etc etc. Lovely lady, she is also devastated and says none in the family history. They saw the vet three times before they came to us and were given a clean bill of health.

The other thing, not for now but the brothers were always together, sleeping and playing. Will he be lost without his brother? We could never replace our boy but should we consider a same age kitten for our remaining boy or would this be worse for him? I don’t want to really but I don’t want our remaining boy to be lonely either.

There is someone at home all the time if that makes a difference.

thoughts welcome.
Sad

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ScreamingValenta · 01/10/2019 17:20

What a sad story - I'm so sorry you lost your girl kitten Flowers

I think in your position I would wait to see for certain what the position is with your boy kitten's health. If he is fit and well, then another kitten would be a good idea, but if he is 5 months old you should be prepared to introduce them gradually.

If your boy is poorly, though, and likely to need ongoing treatment, he will probably be better as an only cat - a new arrival in those circumstances might be too stressful for him.

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ScreamingValenta · 01/10/2019 17:21

Sorry, I said girl kitten but have just realised they were brothers, not brother and sister. Flowers

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Fluffycloudland77 · 01/10/2019 18:54

Poor kitten, you must be so worried about his brother now.

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flapjackfairy · 01/10/2019 19:08

Wasn't there another thread about this recently ? It was a couple of cats who died after a worming treatments or some such thing. Maybe have a search and see if there is any useful advice on there. So sorry about your kitten x

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Infamy · 01/10/2019 19:44

Thank you everyone. I will search for the other thread.

My one boy seems a bit brighter and has been playing and eating so I’m hoping he’ll be fine.

Good point about waiting to see - we won’t rush into anything. We have an older tortie girl but they tend to ignore each other.

Thanks again. It’s awful when we lose pets.

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Toddlerteaplease · 01/10/2019 21:45

Did the breeder have a breed screening heart scan done before you got him. Persians and ragdolls are unfortunately prone to heart disease. And responsible breeders should get them scanned. I would get another cat, but would wait till your other kitten has been throughly investigates first. Thanks

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mainecoonmum · 10/10/2019 19:16

Did you get your results?

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Infamy · 13/10/2019 09:29

Yes, he has brain swelling. Plus his lungs were enlarged and lymph nodes not quite right. Waiting further micro tests. Poor little boy.

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