The 6 month quarenteen is due to Mass laws regarding rabies. Whatever bit him has to be assumed to have been a carrier. Every one in contact with the kitten, by law is advised to get rabies shots (i ain't gonna do it and jan is prevacinated). This boy was grabbed by the head by some animal, let go and in the split second the animal let go- he got away. (Probably from the trash dumpster right up the duct into the store- Dr. Bird said wounds are approx. 1 week old; oh so maybe not). Anyway, she thinks the anemia is primarily from initial severe bleeding from these 5 teeth wounds, and that the fleas likely feasted on it and then left for the most part- as he was depleted of rbcs. The damage to his tongue could be muscular, neuro, or both. Dr. Bird said it is not worth sedating him and finding out right now, best to let him heal first, and see what happens with his tongue as he heals. The only way he can eat is by Jan holding the bottle up so the liquid food can go straight down his throat but not so fast so he'd aspirate. Since his tongue isn't working, the food has to roll down to point where he can swallow. The damage is maybe at the early part of the esophogeal (hindering the tongue's ability to reach). He LOVES his bottle! He loves to grab the nipple as it stands up right to say, time to feed me! The bite wounds are horrific. He has live round worms but no eggs (odd) so jan will continue with Strongid. She needs to do hot to wrist compresses as frequently as she can through out the day to wounds and continue bottle feeding. clavamox twice daily for 2 more weeks. Then call with update. Dr. Bird was very thorough. No temp! Age guess- born in June.
What ever the animal was- this boy was lucky the bite didn't include a pull on or shake on it!
Jan, gonna show everyone how clean he is now? (BTW, the hole in chin does not perforate through to his mouth but it is possible that the bottom of his mouth debrided some from muscular atrophy (which Dr. Bird did see under the tongue) and that is what the pinkish stuff was- the rest could have been leaves or veggies from trash)...
Jan is gonna be busier than ever! fyi Feline Hospital is the vet my cats go to that from time to time I post about here because they are so good- expensive but thorough! It's worth it when one doesn't know what one is dealing with! I'm glad Jan decided to get sqeezed in today!